Moray watson biography of william

English actor (–)

Moray Watson
Moray Watson
Born	Moray Robin Philip Adrian Watson ()25 June Sunningdale, Berkshire, England
Died	2 May () (aged&#;88) Hillingdon, London, England[1]
Occupation	Actor
Years&#;active	–
Spouse	Pamela Marmont &#; &#; (m.&#;; died&#;)&#;
Children	2
Relatives	Percy Marmont (father-in-law) Patricia Marmont (sister-in-law)

Moray Robin Philip Adrian Watson^[2][3] (25 June – 2 May ) was an English actor from Sunningdale, Berkshire.

Life

Watson was born in Sunningdale, Berkshire, to Gerard Arthur Watson (–), a ship broker,^[4] who was killed during World War II at Anzegem in Belgium as a Captain in the Royal Sussex Regiment,^[5] and Jean, née McFarlane.^[6][7] His two elder brothers - the younger being J.

N. P. Watson (), author, hunting correspondent for Country Life magazine and formerly polo correspondent for The Times^{[8][9][10][11]} - were Majors in the British Army.^[12] He was educated at Eton College.

He met his future wife Pam, daughter of silent film star Percy Marmont, at The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.

They went on to marry in and had two children, Emma in and Robin in , both of whom went into the theatre world.

Later, Watson brought his military bearing and experience as an Army officer to the role of the retired brigadier in The Darling Buds of May The feel-good comedy drama, based on H. His two brothers later served as majors in the Army. Watson enjoyed touring in three one-man shows: as the English humorist Max Beerbohm in The Incomparable Max during the s, the architectural historian James Lees-Milne in Ancestral Voices and reflecting on his own career in Looking Back and Dropping Names , on which his memoirs were based. He was cast to type in war films such as The Valiant , Operation Crossbow and The Sea Wolves but was better utilised on television.

Career

Watson made his first appearance on stage while still a student at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art at a matinee performance in memory of Ellen Terry at Hythe, Kent. After appearances in repertory, he appeared on the West End stage, including The Doctor's Dilemma and in The Rivals by Sheridan both at the Haymarket Theatre.

In , he went to New York City to appear in The Private Ear and The Public Eye. He played the part of the Art Editor in the BBC series Compact for some years.

He appeared in several films, including Operation Crossbow and The Grass Is Greener, in which he played opposite Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons.

Watson had a series of television credits to his name, most notably as Brigadier Arthur Maiford, MC (ret.) (but always known to the Larkins as "The General") in The Darling Buds of May (–); and George Frobisher in Rumpole of the Bailey (–). He also appeared as Sir Robert Muir in the Doctor Who story Black Orchid; and had a small role in Yes Minister.

He also appeared in the version of The Pallisers as Barrington Erle and in the Albert Campion mystery The Case of the Late Pig as the Chief Constable.

The actor's family confirmed on Tuesday that Moray had died at London's Hillingdon Hospital after a short illness. Upon hearing of his death, Catherine remembered the star in a heartfelt statement: "Such sad news that the wonderful Moray has passed away," it read. A true gentleman, we shall all miss him. He was and is a national treasure. Moray earned a legion of fans playing local retired army officer the Brigadier in The Darling Buds of May , which ran from to

He also played a Chief constable in the BBC series Murder Most English and Mr Bennet in the BBC series Pride and Prejudice.

In addition to his long career on stage, television and film Moray Watson undertook three one-man shows. The first in the s was The Incomparable Max based on the life and work of Max Beerbohm, written for him by Sheilah Ward and Peter Ling.

Years later in the early s he took on Ancestral Voices, based on the diaries of James Lees-Milne written by Hugh Massingberd. His final one-man show was written and devised by himself based on his own life as an actor, entitled Looking Back and Dropping Names, which was published in book form in September Watson died at the age of 88 on 2 May ^[13][14]

Partial TV and filmography

Publications

• Looking Back and Dropping Names An autobiography, published in September

References

External links