Rupert Davies
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Rupert Davies (22 May 1916 – 22 November 1976) was a British actor. He remains best known for playing the title role in the BBC's 1960s television adaptation of Maigret, based on the Maigret novels written by Georges Simenon.
Davies was born in Liverpool. After a service in the British Merchant Navy, during the Second World War he was a Sub-Lieutenant Observer with the Fleet Air Arm. In 1940 the Swordfish aircraft in which he was flying ditched in the sea off the Dutch Coast. Davies was captured and interned in the famous Stalag Luft III POW camp. He made three attempts to escape. All failed. It was during his captivity that he began to take part in theatre performances, entertaining his fellow prisoners.
On his release, Davies resumed his career in acting almost immediately, starring in an ex Prisoner Of War show, 'Back Home', which was hosted at the Stoll Theatre, London.
After the war Davies became a staple of British television appearing in numerous plays and series, including Quatermass II, Ivanhoe, Emergency - Ward 10, Danger Man, The Champions, Doctor at Large (1971), Arthur of the Britons and War and Peace (1972). He also provided the voice of "Professor Ian McClaine" in the Gerry Anderson series Joe 90.
In 1964 he became the first person to be awarded Pipe Smoker of the Year.
Davies also played supporting roles in many films, appearing briefly as George Smiley in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965). He also appeared in several horror films in the late 1960s, including Witchfinder General (1968) and Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), as well as such international blockbusters as Waterloo (1970) and Zeppelin (1971).
He died of cancer in London in 1976, leaving a wife, Jessica, and two sons, Timothy and Hogan, and is buried at Pistyll Cemetery, near Nefyn in North Wales.
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Photos
Films (40)
The Many Faces of Dracula
2000 · Monsignor (archive footage)
Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook
1991 · Monsignor (archive footage)
Mike Leigh: Making Plays
1982 · Self (archive footage)
The Amazing Adventures Of Joe 90
1981 · Professor Ian 'Mac' McClaine (voice)
The After Dinner Game
1975 · Bartley Humbolt
King Arthur, the Young Warlord
1975 · Cerdig, Chief of the Saxons
Frightmare
1974 · Edmund Yates
Zeppelin
1971 · Captain Whitney
The Night Visitor
1971 · Mr. Clemens
The Firechasers
1971 · Prentice
Waterloo
1970 · Gordon
The Oblong Box
1969 · Joshua Kemp
Maigret at Bay
1969 · Commissaire Jules Maigret
Curse of the Crimson Altar
1968 · The Vicar (uncredited)
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
1968 · Monsignor Ernst Mueller
Witchfinder General
1968 · John Lowes
Submarine X-1
1968 · Vice Admiral Redmayne (uncredited)
Five Golden Dragons
1967 · Comm. Sanders
The Brides of Fu Manchu
1966 · Jules Merlin
Target for Killing
1966 · Kommissar Saadi
Maigret Plays Dirty
1966 · Maigret
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
1965 · George Smiley
The Uncle
1964 · David Morton
The Big Breaker
1964 · Councillor Wally Cross
The Criminal
1960 · Edwards
Danger Tomorrow
1960 · Dr. Campbell
Devil's Bait
1959 · Landlord
Sapphire
1959 · Ferris
The Thought of Tomorrow
1959 · Geoffrey Hansbury
Bobbikins
1959
John Paul Jones
1959 · British Captain
Life In Emergency Ward 10
1959 · R.S.O. Hunter
Violent Moment
1959 · Bert Glennon
Breakout
1959 · Morgan
Sea Fury
1958 · Bosun
The Key
1958 · Baker
The Traitor
1957 · Clinton
The Dark Avenger
1955 · Sir John
The Angel with the Trumpet
1950 · Policeman
Health in Our Time
1948
Séries (30)
Father Brown
1974 · Colonel Arthur Druce
Orson Welles' Great Mysteries
1973 · Lemerie
Arthur of the Britons
1972 · Cerdig
War & Peace
1972 · Ilya Rostov
The Man Outside
1972 · Baker
Biography
1970 · Sir Almroth Wright
Play for Today
1970 · Bartley Humbolt
Joe 90
1968 · Professor Ian "Mac" McClaine (voice)
The Champions
1968 · Voss
Man in a Suitcase
1967
BBC Play of the Month
1965 · Commissaire Maigret
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965 · Lomov
The Wednesday Play
1964 · Councillor Wally Cross
Detective
1964 · Chief Inspector Jules Maigret, Chief Inspector Jules Maigret - Introduction, Chief Inspector Jules Maigret - Introduction (uncredited)
Festival
1963 · Chief of Police
Ready Steady Go!
1963 · Self
Maigret
1960 · Chief Inspector Maigret
Sunday-Night Play
1960 · Capt. Victor Mishlayevsky
Danger Man
1960 · Colonel Graves
The Third Man
1959 · Arthur Shillings, Insp. Arthur Shillings
Interpol Calling
1959 · Coetzee
The Invisible Man
1958 · Dushkin
Ivanhoe
1958 · Brother Gareth
Sailor of Fortune
1957 · Alphonso - Italian Ship's Engineer, Alphonso
Armchair Theatre
1956 · Inspector Shawcross, Banham, Det. Insp., Geoffrey Hansbury, Ramon Cintos, Miffin
Quatermass II
1955 · Vincent Broadhead
The Adventures of Robin Hood
1955 · Simon Dexter
Folio
1955 · Canoris
Lilli Palmer Theatre
1955
Sunday Night Theatre
1950 · Day-watchman, Mr. Page, Thompson, Wing Commander, Alec Roper, Oderbruch, Thomas Cromwell, Maurice Szeps, Frontier guard, Walters, Gabriel Mirabeau