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John Stride

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John Stride
Born
John Edward Stride

(1936-07-11)11 July 1936
Died20 April 2018(2018-04-20) (aged 81)
UK
OccupationActor
Years active1959–1993
Spouse(s)Virginia Thomas (1958–19??); 2 children
April Wilding (1972–2003; her death); 1 child

John Edward Stride (11 July 1936 – 20 April 2018) was an English actor best known for his television work during the 1970s.

Stride was born in London, the son of Margaret (née Prescott) and Alfred Teneriffe Stride.[1] He attended Alleyn's School, Dulwich, and trained at RADA, where he met his first wife, Virginia Stride (née Thomas).

He made his first, uncredited, screen appearance in the film, Sink the Bismarck! (1960). He also played the role of Bob, the barman, in the film Bitter Harvest (1963), based on the trilogy 20,000 Streets Under the Sky by Patrick Hamilton. He made his West End debut in February 1959 in Five Finger Exercise. Directed by John Gielgud, the show featured another debutante, Juliet Mills, aged 17. It ran at the Comedy Theatre for 608 performances. He appeared at the Old Vic as Romeo in Franco Zeffirelli's long-running production of Romeo and Juliet, first staged in 1960, with Judi Dench, and also as Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part 1.[2]

At the end of the 1960s, he played Rosencrantz at the Old Vic, in the National Theatre Company's production of Tom Stoppard's play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Stride appeared in two Shakespeare production during the 1970s made for the large and small screen respectively. In Roman Polanski's version of Macbeth (1971) he played the role of Ross. For the BBC Television Shakespeare production of Shakespeare's Henry VIII (1979), he was cast in the title role.

Meanwhile, Stride had developed a career in popular television drama series. In the Yorkshire Television series The Main Chance (1969–75), he played the solicitor, David Main. It is the television role with which he became most closely associated, and lasted four series. A later series made by the same ITV franchise holder with Stride in the lead, Wilde Alliance (1978), lasted for only one series. He also played one of the main parts in the BBC's adaptation of Kingsley Amis's novel The Old Devils (1992).[citation needed]

Stride died on 20 April 2018, aged 81.[where?][2][3]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1960 Sink the Bismarck! Tom Shepard – 'Ark Royal' Air Gunner Uncredited
1963 Bitter Harvest Bob Williams
1971 Macbeth Ross
1972 Something to Hide Sergeant Tom Winnington
1973 John Keats: His Life and Death Keats
1974 Juggernaut Hughes
1975 Brannigan Insp. Traven
1976 The Omen The Psychiatrist
1977 A Bridge Too Far Grenadier Guards Major
1979 BBC Television Shakespeare King Henry VIII TV movie
1980 Oh Heavenly Dog Alistair Becket
1985 Thirteen at Dinner Film Director
1988 Hanna's War Dr. Komoly

References

  1. ^ "John Stride Biography". filmreference.com. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Obituary – John Stride, actor". HeraldScotland.
  3. ^ Obituaries, Telegraph (24 April 2018). "John Stride, actor – obituary". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 28 April 2018.