Cyril Shaps

Cyril Shaps
Cyril Shaps
Born Cyril Leonard Shaps
13 October 1923(1923-10-13)
Highbury, London, England
Died 1 January 2003(2003-01-01) (aged 79)
London, England
Occupation actor

Cyril Shaps (13 October 1923 – 1 January 2003) was an English actor.

Biography

Shaps was born in Highbury, London; he was of Polish ancestry and his father was a tailor. He was a child broadcaster, providing voices for radio commercials at the age of 12. After grammar school and Army service he trained at RADA and then worked for two years as an announcer, producer and scriptwriter for Radio Netherlands. His short stature and round face then led to a steady flow of character roles in film and television for nearly five decades.

Shaps's films included bit parts in a wide range of high-profile international films, including the Academy Award Best Picture winner Lawrence of Arabia (1962), with Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif (as the officer's club bartender), To Sir, with Love (1967, as neighbour Mr. Pinkus), and the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977, as Dr. Bechmann). One of his showier turns came in 1994, in The Madness of King George, portraying Dr. Pepys, a royal physician obsessed with the colour of His Majesty's stool. In 2002, at the age of 79, he made his final theatrical film appearances, as a pew opener in The Importance of Being Earnest, and had a larger role as concentration camp victim Mr. Grun in another Best Picture Oscar winner, The Pianist (2002).

Television work ranged from science fiction, including multiple appearances on Doctor Who, to classic literature in the BBC serials of Charles Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit (1994) and Our Mutual Friend (1998) to detective shows with appearances in Lovejoy (1993), The Saint (1966), and as Emperor Franz Joseph in Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (1991). He appeared in two Jim Henson Company television films, Gulliver's Travels (1996, as an elderly madman in Bedlam) and Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story (2001, as "Bent Little Man," the peddler who sells beans to the original Jack). To Supercar fans he is well known, for he provided the voice of Professor Rudolf Popkiss in the second series.

His television appearances include Quatermass II, Danger Man, The Mask of Janus, The Spies, Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars, The Saint, Out of the Unknown, Alexander the Greatest, The Rat Catchers, Man in a Suitcase, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Department S, Doctor Who (in the serials The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Ambassadors of Death, Planet of the Spiders and The Androids of Tara), The Liver Birds, When the Boat Comes In, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, The Onedin Line, The Persuaders!, Porridge, The Sweeney, Wilde Alliance, The Young Ones, The Bill, Dark Season, Lovejoy, Midsomer Murders and Doctors.

He also supplied the voice of Mr. Gruber in The Adventures of Paddington Bear and Great Grandfather Frost in one episode of Animated Tales of the World.

His work for radio included a spell with the BBC Drama Repertory Company in the early 1950s. Broadcast parts (his characters were often old men and/or priests) included Firs in The Cherry Orchard, Justice Shallow in Henry the Fourth, Friar Lawrence in Romeo & Juliet, Polonius in Hamlet and Canon Chasuble in The Importance of Being Earnest.

Selected filmography

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cyril Shaps — Cyril Leonard Shaps (* 13. Oktober 1923 in Highbury, London; † 1. Januar 2003 in Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex) war ein britischer Schauspieler. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2 Filmografie 3 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Cyril Shaps — est un acteur britannique né le 13 octobre 1923 à Highbury (Royaume Uni) et mort le 1er janvier 2003 à Londres. Sommaire 1 Biographie 2 Filmographie 3 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave — Infobox Television episode Title = Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave Series = Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) Caption = Season = 1 Episode = 17 Airdate = 9 January 1970 Production = 17 Writer = Donald James Director = Cyril Frankel Guests = Nigel …   Wikipedia

  • List of James Bond henchmen in The Spy Who Loved Me — A list of henchmen from the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. Contents 1 Jaws 1.1 Appearances 1.1.1 Films 1.2 Elsewhere in pop …   Wikipedia

  • Danger Within — Directed by Don Chaffey Produced by Colin Lesslie Written by Eric Ambler Starring Richard Todd …   Wikipedia

  • Tale Spinners For Children — infobox record label parent = United Artists founded = 1959 founder = Max E. Youngstein distributor = United Artists Records (America) country = USTale Spinners For Children was a series of stories and novels adapted for young audiences on vinyl… …   Wikipedia

  • Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width — Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width Genre Sitcom Created by Harry Driver Vince Powell Starring John Bluthal Joe Lynch Cyril Shaps Eamon Kelly Country of origin …   Wikipedia

  • The Onedin Line — Soren Larson, one of the ships filmed The Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series which ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886[1] and deals with the rise of a shipping …   Wikipedia

  • List of Doctor Who cast members — This is a list of actors who have appeared in the long running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who . For other, related lists, see below.A* John Abbott ** Vince Hawkins, Horror of Fang Rock (1977) * John Abineri ** Van Lutyens,… …   Wikipedia

  • Lance Sieveking — (b. March 19, 1896, d. January 6, 1972) was an English writer and pioneer BBC radio and television producer. He was married three times, and was father to archaeologist Gale Sieveking (1925 2007) and Fortean writer Paul Sieveking (1949 ). [ [http …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”