Wensley Ivan William Frederick Pithey (21 June 1914 – 10 November 1993) was a South African character actor who had a long stage and film career in Britain.[1][2]

Wensley Pithey
Born21 June 1914
Died10 November 1993 (1993-11-11) (aged 79)
London, England, UK

Biography edit

Pithey was born in Cape Town, South Africa.[1] A graduate of the University of Cape Town where he studied music and drama, he travelled to Britain in 1947.[3] He appeared in various Shakespearean roles in his long career (memorably as Sir Toby Belch) as well as appearing in Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie.[3] He also directed and produced plays in the West End and appeared in a range of roles on television including the 1976 drama Edward and Mrs Simpson (as Winston Churchill – a role he also played in the miniseries Ike) as well as Special Branch and Poldark.[1][4] His British television appearances included Danger Man (1961) among others.[5] He also played the title role Detective Superintendent Charlesworth in a number of BBC series including Charlesworth at Large (1958) and its sequel Charlesworth the following year. In 1964 he played a ballistics expert in the BBC series Call the Gun Expert.

Between 1961 and 1976, Pithey appeared in German TV commercials as a fake coffee expert for Tchibo.[6]

Filmography edit

Film edit

Television edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Wensley Pithey". Archived from the original on 1 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Wensley Pithey - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie".
  3. ^ a b "Obituary: Wensley Pithey". Independent.co.uk. 25 November 1993.
  4. ^ "BFI Screenonline: Special Branch (1969-74)".
  5. ^ "BFI Screenonline: Danger Man (1960-67) Credits".
  6. ^ "Filmous".

External links edit