Michael Elphick

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael John Elphick (born September 19, 1946 in Chichester , † September 7, 2002 in London ) was a British actor.

biography

Michael Elphick grew up in his native Chichester, where his family ran their own butcher shop. Even during his school days he took part in numerous school performances. During his holidays he worked regularly for the British Merchant Navy .

At the age of fifteen, he began an apprenticeship as an electrician at the Chichester Festival Theater , which was then still under construction. His interest in acting grew after seeing the likes of Laurence Olivier and Michael Redgrave in action there. His role model Olivier gave him additional encouragement and he then attended the Central School of Speech and Drama at the age of 18, where he received professional training as an actor.

After attending drama school, he began his career and played a supporting role for the first time in the 1968 war film Miss Doctor . A year later he acted as the captain in Tony Richardson's version of Hamlet . He was then able to take on other roles in the films The Great Train Robbery and The Elephant Man . For his portrayal in the film Gorky Park (1983) he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also played in the films Quadrophenia (1979) and Withnail & I (1987). In 1984 he starred in the Danish crime film The Element of Crime as a detective chasing a serial killer across Europe. The film was nominated for the Palme d' Or.

On the theater stage he appeared in two different versions of Hamlet : Tony Richardon's Hamlet at the Randhouse Theater and on Broadway and Jonathan Pryce's Hamlet variant at the Royal Court Theater , which Richard Eyre directed. He had his last theater performance in 1997 with the play Pygmalion at the Albery Theater in the West End .

His most famous career to date had been as a television actor. In 1974 he played Douglas Wormold on Coronation Street . In 1979 he also appeared as a police officer in an episode of Die Profis and in the same year took the lead in Dennis Potter's television film Blue Remembered Hills . In 1981, in the drama Private Schultz, he also played the leading role of a German soldier in World War II who tried to weaken the British economy with counterfeit money.

In 1993 he took on the title role in the two-part film Harry, a former Fleet Street journalist who is addicted to alcohol and is desperately trying to restore his career. He played Captain Billy Bones in Ken Russell's version of Treasure Island (1995) and Barkis in BBC's David Copperfield (1999).

He had his last real role in 2001 in EastEnders , where he plays Harry Slater, who gets his 13-year-old niece pregnant and has a daughter with her. However, with Elphick's increasing influence of alcohol, his role was ultimately removed from the series.

Private

Since 1963 Elphick had a relationship with the teacher Julia Alexander until she died of cancer in 1996. A daughter comes from the relationship. After the death of his partner, he began to drink alcohol; he also took drugs like cocaine . These addictions ultimately brought his acting career to a standstill, causing him to suffer a severe heart attack in his home in London in 2002 and to die shortly afterwards in hospital. His remains were put to the fire in the Chichester crematorium .

Filmography (selection)

  • 1969: Miss Doctor
  • 1970: Cry of the Banshee (Cry of the Banshee)
  • 1971: Boots That Mean Death (See No Evil)
  • 1973: Adam Smith (TV series, 6 episodes)
  • 1973–1983: Crown Court (TV series, 14 episodes)
  • 1977: This Year Next Year (TV series, 9 episodes)
  • 1979: The First Great Train Robbery (The First Great Train Robbery)
  • 1979: Quadrophenia
  • 1980: The Elephant Man (The Elephant Man)
  • 1981: Private Schulz (TV series, 6 episodes)
  • 1983: Gorky Park
  • 1983: Hey, soldier - your bag is on fire (Privates on Parade)
  • 1984: Pull the Other One (TV series, 6 episodes)
  • 1984: The Element of Crime (Forbrydelsen's element)
  • 1984: Agatha Christie's Fatal Error (Ordeal by Innocence)
  • 1985–1989: Three Up Two Down (TV series, 25 episodes)
  • 1986–1995: Boon (TV series, 93 episodes)
  • 1991: Stanley and the Women (TV series, 4 episodes)
  • 1993–1995: Harry (TV series, 20 episodes)
  • 1999: David Copperfield (TV movie)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The heartbreak and shame of watching the father you adore drink himself to death - by the daughter of womanizing Boon actor Michael Elphick. Daily Mail, September 30, 2013, accessed February 11, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Elphick, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Elphick, Michael John (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor
DATE OF BIRTH September 19, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Chichester
DATE OF DEATH September 7, 2002
Place of death London