Gordon Rollings

Gordon Rollings
Born	Gordon Charles Rollings 17 April 1926(1926-04-17) Batley, Yorkshire, England
Died	7 June 1985(1985-06-07) (aged 59)
Years active	1959-1985

Gordon Charles Rollings (17 April 1926 – 7 June 1985^[1]) was a British actor who mainly appeared on television, but also appeared on-stage and in feature films. He was born in Batley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England and started his career in radio in Israel. He later trained as a clown in Paris, appearing in the Medrano Circus.^[2]

Rollings made an uncredited screen appearance in the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night. He played the man in the pub who is shocked to find that Ringo has thrown a dart into his lunch.

Then after a number of small parts in TV shows such as Z-Cars in the early 1960s, on 21 April 1964, he was one of the first presenters of BBC 2's daily programme for young children, Play School, alongside Virginia Stride.^[3] In the same year he played the character of Charlie Moffitt in Coronation Street. He was a storyteller in Jackanory in 1966-67, reading among others, the story of Worzel Gummidge. He later narrated The Herbs, and as the character Arkwright with his small dog, Tonto, in the adverts for John Smith's Bitter.

Partial filmography

• The Comedy Man (1964)
• A Hard Day's Night (1964) - Man with sandwich in pub, uncredited
• Press for Time (1966) - Bus conductor
• Carry On Doctor (1967) - Night porter
• Rhubarb (1969) - Artist Rhubarb
• The Bed-Sitting Room (1970) - Drip feed patient (as Gordon Rawlings)
• The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) - Inmate
• Jabberwocky (1977) - King's taster (as Gordon Rawlings)
• Superman II (1980) - Fisherman
• Superman III (1983) - Man in cap (as Gordon Rawlings)
• Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984) - Man at bar

References

1. ^ "Biography of Gordon Rollings". British Film Institute. http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/88586. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
2. ^ "A Proper Charlie" (jpg image). TV Times. 1960s. http://theherbs.homestead.com/GordonRollings/Clown.JPG. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
3. ^ "Play School (Episode 1)". National Media Museum. http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/Television/tvh_detail.asp?tvhid=14133&search=&genre=1. Retrieved 2007-12-30. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• "IMDb entry for Gordon Rollings". http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0712606/. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
• "Gordon Rollings,The Herbs,John Smiths advert". The Herbs and The Adventures of Parsley. http://theherbs.homestead.com/GordonRollings.html. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 

Persondata
Name	Rollings, Gordon
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	17 April 1926
Place of birth	Batley, Yorkshire, England
Date of death	7 June 1985
Place of death