John Nettles
John Nettles | |
|---|---|
 Nettles on a Jersey tourism advertisement in 1987. | |
| Born | John Vivian Drummond Nettles 11 October 1943[1] |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Spouses |
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John Vivian Drummond Nettles,[2] OBE (born 11 October 1943[3]) is an English actor, historian[4] and writer who is best known for playing the lead roles in Bergerac and Midsomer Murders.
Early life
John Nettles was born in St Austell, Cornwall in 1943. He was adopted at birth by a carpenter Eric Nettles and his wife Elsie and he attended the local grammar school in St Austell.[5] When he was seven years old he learned that his birth mother was a Roman Catholic Irish nurse who had been working in England during World War II. She was placed into a mental institution after illegitimately giving birth and died of tuberculosis aged 28.[6] Nettles has never discovered the identity of his father, but did discover he has a brother and two sisters.[6]
In 1962, Nettles won a scholarship and studied history and philosophy at the University of Southampton.[6] It was at Southampton that he first performed and, having found he liked acting, he was given several amateur parts.
Acting career
In 1969-70 he was in repertory at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter and in the latter year had his first screen role in the film One More Time. The following year he played Dr. Ian Mackenzie in the period drama A Family at War, a role he continued until 1972. Following that he had small parts in many TV programmes including The Liver Birds, Dickens of London, Enemy at the Door and Robin of Sherwood. Enemy at the Door was set in Guernsey during the World War 2 German occupation. The episode featuring John Nettles was Officers of the Law, first broadcast in March 1978.[7] In it he played the role of a local police detective ordered to work for the Germans. His character anguishes over the conflict between carrying out his duty and collaborating with the occupiers.
In 1981, John Nettles won the role that made him a household name, that of Jim Bergerac in the Jersey-set crime drama Bergerac. This ran for 87 episodes until 1991. Following the end of Bergerac Nettles did five seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company,[5] appearing in The Winter's Tale, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Julius Caesar, Richard III and The Devil is an Ass.[8] In 1992, he appeared in an episode of Boon and in 1993, Nettles appeared as Jim Bergerac in the spoof police comedy The Detectives.
In 1995, John Nettles was approached by Brian True-May to play Tom Barnaby in a new murder mystery series he was to produce called Midsomer Murders.[5] This was to be the second major role of his career, again playing a policeman. Midsomer Murders has made him not only a household name in the UK, but also across the world. In 2003, he played Barnaby in the Boxing Day episode of French & Saunders. Nettles narrated the BBC documentaries Submarine and Airport from 1996 to 2005 and appeared in an episode of Heartbeat. In 2007, he appeared in the BBC Radio 4 comedy series Will Smith Presents the Tao of Bergerac alongside comedian Will Smith about an obsessive fan of the series.
In February 2009, it was announced that John Nettles would be leaving Midsomer Murders after two further series are made.[9] His final appearance on-screen was on 2 February 2011, by which time he had appeared in 81 episodes.[10]
Other television work
In early 2010, Nettles wrote and presented a three-part documentary, Channel Islands At War, to mark the 70th anniversary of the German invasion and subsequent occupation of the Channel Islands.[11] He received threatening letters from some residents of Jersey, accusing him of implying that islanders were collaborators.[12] He defended the documentary saying "There is no possible way you could have avoided collaboration with the occupying power who had power over the civilian population. If you had not toed the line you would have been shot."[12] This view was supported by local historians and members of the Channel Islands Occupation Society.[12]
Books
During the filming of Bergerac, filmed on the island of Jersey, he wrote Bergerac's Jersey (BBC Books, 1988; ISBN 0563207035), a travel guide to filming locations in the series. He followed up with John Nettles' Jersey: A Personal View of the People and Places (BBC Books, 1992; ISBN 0563363185) about the island's landscape, personalities and history.
In 1991 he wrote the semi-autobiographical Nudity in a Public Place: Confessions of a Mini Celebrity (Robson Books; ISBN 0745119611) about becoming a "reluctant heartthrob" to female viewers of Bergerac.
Personal life
He married his first wife, Joyce, in 1966. They had a daughter Emma (born 1970) and divorced in 1979.[6] He married his second wife, Cathryn Sealey, in July 1995 in Evesham, Worcestershire.[13] He had met Sealey while doing a pantomime.[6] They currently live in Pyworthy, Devon .[14]
Honours
Nettles was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Birthday Honours 2010.[15]
References
- ^ http://www.talktalk.co.uk/celebrity/biography/person/john-nettles/99
- ^ http://web.researcha.com/iccquery/detail/?did=3892840&c=uk
- ^ http://www.biography.com/articles/John-Nettles-196958
- ^ "John Nettles Marks The 70th Anniversary Of The Nazi Occupation". History Times. 14 June 2010.
- ^ a b c "John Nettles". TV.com.
- ^ a b c d e "Midsomer madness". Daily Express. 13 January 2007.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0571852/
- ^ "Archive Catalogue - John Nettles". Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
- ^ Holmwood, Leigh (12 February 2009). "John Nettles to quit Midsomer Murders". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ "Nettles to leave Midsomer Murders". BBC News. 12 February 2009.
- ^ "Slavery and pain: the Nazis on the Channel Islands". The Telegraph. 21 June 2010.
- ^ a b c "John Nettles: I'm Jersey's most famous son but now I am being vilified simply for speaking". Daily Express. 26 November 2010.
- ^ "BMD Indexes 1984-2004". Ancestry.co.uk.
- ^ http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/news/murderous-Midsomer-peace-Pyworthy/article-2831283-detail/article.html
- ^ "No. 59446". The London Gazette (invalid
|supp=(help)). 12 June 2010.
External links
- John Nettles at IMDb