Martin Potter (actor)

Martin Potter (born October 4, 1944 in Nottingham ) is a British actor .

English actor Martin Potter got his first roles in British television productions at the age of 24. In the television drama The Bonegrinder (1968), based on a model by Dennis Potter , Martin Potter played a small part as a bank clerk. In the same year he got a smaller part on the side of Brian Cox in the futuristic drama The Year of the Sex Olympics .

But already a year later, Potter reached his career high point: Despite little acting experience, the Italian star director Federico Fellini cast him for the main role of Encolp in his dark-looking film adaptation of the novel Satyricon by Petronius . Terence Stamp , Fellini's original choice for the main role, was no longer available for the production and so Fellini was mainly looking for a visual equivalent of his role concept. Potter's low profile to date can also be attributed to the fact that he received a significantly lower salary of $ 7,500 than the co-stars Hiram Keller and Salvo Randone .

The screenwriter and long-time Fellini collaborator Bernardino Zapponi wrote of Potter's portrayal that this is
the classic ancient Roman made of bronze or marble in profile; en face he is more of an Anglo-Saxon warrior, Prince Eisenherz or Richard the Lionheart. The women love his subtle cruelty or let his childish weaknesses move them. Unsure, but fearless, he appears in the film without looking through, looks closely at the others and tries to find out whether he should laugh or cry. Bernardino Zapponi: My friend Fellini , Munich 1997, p. 61.

After this sensational lead role, Potter's career stagnated. He worked in less lavishly produced B-movies and television productions such as the William Somerset Maugham film adaptation Olive . His better-known productions include the period film Nikolaus und Alexandra (1971) and the Raymond Chandler film adaptation The Big Sleep (with Robert Mitchums as private detective Philip Marlowe ). He also found employment in horror films (including Craze with Jack Palance ) and television series ( Dr. Who and The Doctor and the Dear Cattle ). In 1975 he regained popularity in his homeland, at least temporarily, when he played the title role of Robin Hood in a short-lived television series ( The legend of Robin Hood ). In 1985 he played again in a production about ancient Rome: In the US history multi-part series AD - Anno Domini , Potter embodied the Roman politician and Nero opponent Gaius Calpurnius Piso .

Filmography (selection)

• 1968: The Bonegrinder
• 1968: The Year of the Sex Olympics
• 1969: Fellinis Satyricon ( Satyricon )
• 1970: Olive
• 1971: Nikolaus and Alexandra ( Nicholas and Alexandra )
• 1973: Demon of Horror ( Craze )
• 1975: The legend of Robin Hood
• 1976: slave of Satan ( Satan's slave )
• 1978: The dead sleep better ( The big sleep )
• 1978: Five friends
• 1980: Lady Oscar
• 1984: Justine, cruel passions ( The big sleep )
• 1985: AD - Anno Domini ( AD )
• 1986: Gold Crash Command ( Gunpowder )

Web links

• Martin Potter in the Internet Movie Database (English)