John Castle

John Castle
Born	14 January 1940 (1940-01-14) Croydon, Surrey

John Castle (born 14 January 1940) is an English actor. Castle has acted in theatre, film and television. He is well known for his role as Postumus in the 1976 BBC television adaptation of I, Claudius and for playing Geoffrey in the 1968 film, The Lion in Winter. He also played Dr. Carrasco as well as the prisoner called the Duke in the film Man of La Mancha.

Early life

Castle was born in Croydon, Surrey. He was educated at Brighton College and Trinity College, Dublin, and trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Work

Castle's first appearance was as Westmoreland onstage in Henry V on 5 June 1964, at the Open Air, Regent's Park. His first Broadway theatre appearance was in February 1970, as Jos in the short-lived musical Georgy.

In 1967 he made his screen debut as the plotting Prince Geoffrey in the big-screen adaptation of The Lion in Winter. The role garnered him much praise and set him on his way as an in-demand supporting actor in London and Hollywood. The film also launched the film careers of Anthony Hopkins, Timothy Dalton and Nigel Terry.

Castle garnered strong reviews for his screen performances in Antony and Cleopatra and Man of La Mancha. He also starred as the corrupt antagonist in Robocop 3.

He appeared as Carruthers, the more honourable of a trio of schemers in "The Solitary Cyclist", an episode of Granada's Sherlock Holmes television series starring Jeremy Brett as Holmes. His association with Sherlock Holmes continued with his role as Nigel St. Clair in the film version of The Crucifer of Blood.

In 1990 Castle starred as Superintendent George Thorne in the BBC's full cast radio adaptations of John Penn's novels.

Personal life

Castle is married to the writer Maggie Wadey. In a biographical essay for Who's Who in the Theatre in 1981, he listed his favourite parts as Luther, Hamlet and O'Riordan.

Selected filmography

Film

• Blowup (1966)
• The Lion in Winter (1968) as Geoffrey
• Man of La Mancha as Dr. Carrasco/The Duke
• Antony and Cleopatra (1972)
• The Rollicking Adventures of Eliza Fraser (1976)
• Eagle's Wing
• RoboCop 3(1993) as Paul McDaggett
• Gods and Generals

Television

• The Prisoner (1967) in "The General" episode
• Softly, Softly (1973)
• I, Claudius (1976) as Postumus
• The New Avengers (1976)
• 1990 (1977)
• The Three Hostages (1977) as Dominick Medina
• Lillie (1978)
• The Professionals
• Strangers
• Reilly, Ace of Spies
• The Crucifer of Blood as Neville St. Clair
• Tales of the Unexpected
• Agatha Christie's Poirot
• Miss Marple
• Lost Empires (with Laurence Olivier and Colin Firth)
• Inspector Morse
• Lovejoy
• Nova (2001, Public Broadcasting Service) as David Irving
• Casualty
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
• Spooks
• The Princes in The Tower (2005, Channel 4 production) as Dr. John Argentine

References

• Who's Who in the Theatre, 17th ed, 1981

External links

• John Castle at the Internet Movie Database