Rupert Davies
Rupert Davies , FRSA (born May 22, 1916 in Liverpool , † November 22, 1976 in London ) was a British actor .
Life
He first went to sea with the British Merchant Navy . During the Second World War Davies served as a lieutenant in the Royal Air Force and was taken prisoner by Germany in 1941 . He was one of the prisoners of Stalag Luft III , who later became known worldwide through the film Explosive Chains (1963), and survived three unsuccessful attempts to escape.
During his imprisonment, Rupert Davies began his acting career through theater performances. After the war he became a busy actor for film and television .
He had his greatest success from 1960 to 1963 as Maigret in the eponymous BBC - television series . The author of the literary work, Georges Simenon , described Davies as an ideal candidate for the by many other famous colleagues such as Jean Gabin , Gino Cervi and Heinz Rühmann played Paris Commissioner . To this day, the intro of the series, in which Rupert Davies lights a match on a house wall to the melody of Ron Grainer , is one of the most famous scenes in British television history. ( Another melody composed by Ernst August Quelle was used for the German broadcast on ZDF .) After 52 episodes, Davies gave up the role of the pipe- smoking criminal hunter in order not to be stamped, but appeared a few times in other crime series as Maigret on.
Until his death at the age of 60, Davies remained present as a character actor, around 1965 as George Smiley in Martin Ritt 's film adaptation of the same name of the novel The Spy Who Came From the Cold by John le Carré or in 1968 as an opponent of Christopher Lee in a Hammer - Production like Dracula's Return .
Rupert Davies died of cancer in 1976 . He left behind his longtime wife and two grown sons.
Filmography (selection)
- 1955: The Black Prince (The Dark Avenger)
- 1958: One whiskey too much ( Violent moment )
- 1958: The Key ( The Key )
- 1960: The trail leads nowhere (The Criminal)
- 1960: Deadly knowledge ( Danger tomorrow )
- 1965: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold)
- 1965: The uncle ( The Uncle )
- 1966: The 13 female slaves of Dr. Fu Man Chu (The Brides of Fu Manchu)
- 1966: How do you kill a lady? (The secret of the yellow monks)
- 1967: The Pagoda of the Fifth Horror ( Five Golden Dragons )
- 1968: Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (Dracula Has Risen from the Grave)
- 1968: The Witch Hunter ( Witchfinder General )
- 1968: The Witch of Count Dracula ( Curse of the Crimson Altar )
- 1968: Dive to Hell ( Submarine X-1 )
- 1970: The Night Visitor ( The Night Visitor )
- 1970: Waterloo (Waterloo)
- 1971: Hunt through the fire ( The Firechasers )
- 1971: Zeppelin
Web links
- Rupert Davies in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- German site about the Maigret actors
- Interview with Rupert Davies (German)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Davies, Rupert |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 22, 1916 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Liverpool |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 22, 1976 |
| Place of death | London |