|
Register Now!
|
|
Register now for vtap for the fastest and easiest way to watch web video on your mobile device!
|
|
Philip Madoc (born 5 July 1934 in Merthyr Tydfil) is a Welsh actor who has had many television and film roles.
Perhaps his most famous role was as the title character in the BBC Wales drama The Life and Times of David Lloyd George. However he first gained widespread recognition in two TV serials, first as the relentless SS Officer Lutzig in the WW2 serial Manhunt (1969), and then as the vicious Huron warrior Magua in a serialization of The Last of the Mohicans (1971). His trademark style in both parts was a sense of restrained, quiet menace which went further than any overt aggression. He reprised the character of Lutzig somewhat in a later episode of the comedy Dad's Army, "The Deadly Attachment", where he played a U-boat Captain held prisoner by the Walmington-on-Sea platoon of the Home Guard. Despite being surrounded by seasoned comic actors and having relatively few lines he easily stole the show. He also stole the show in an episode of Porridge ("Disturbing The Peace") by comparing his "large sexual appetite" with that of the frog. He also appeared in a controversial episode of The Goodies ("South Africa"), which satirized apartheid.
Film roles include The Quiller Memorandum and Operation Daybreak. Madoc also starred in the 1990's detective series A Mind to Kill as DCI Noel Bain. This series was made simultaneously in Welsh and English.
He has had several roles in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. In 1966 he appeared in the movie Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD. Later in the 1960s he appeared in two Second Doctor serials — The Krotons and The War Games and in the 1970s he appeared in two Fourth Doctor serials — The Brain of Morbius and The Power of Kroll. In 2003, he guest starred in the Doctor Who audio adventure, Master.
He appeared in a episode of the BBC sitcom The Good Life, playing a senior company executive.
He also made a memorable guest appearance in the Survivors television series. Madoc has also starred as Ellis Peters' medieval detective Brother Cadfael in several BBC Radio 4 Adaptations.
Madoc is also a linguist who studied languages at the Universities of Wales and Vienna and has worked as an interpreter.
He was married for a time to the actor Ruth Madoc, but they later divorced.
Philip Madoc was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, and attended Twyn School. He became interested in acting when he was a teenager. He studied at the University of Vienna and pursued a theatrical career by attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. During the 1960s, he became a familiar face on British television, often cast in sinister roles due to his dark looks and deep voice. He became particularly familiar to fans of fantasy television, playing five different roles on "Avengers, The" (1961) and four different roles on "Doctor Who" (1963). Into the 1970s and the guest appearances kept coming, including comedies such as "Dad's Army" (1968) (as a U-Boat captain in one of the most famous scenes on British TV) and "Good Life, The" (1975). Although widely respected as a versatile actor adept at accents, Madoc never really became a star until 1981, when he portrayed former British prime minister David Lloyd George on an acclaimed television series, "Life and Times of David Lloyd George, The" (1981). Madoc has not been short of work for the last 40 years, a rare accomplishment for an actor, and has worked on films, radio and on the stage as well as his prolific television career. In recent times, he has become a popular narrator of audio books.







