Roger Delgado
| Roger Delgado | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto 1 March 1918 Whitechapel, London, England, UK |
| Died | 18 June 1973 (aged 55) Nevsehir, Turkey |
| Cause of death | Car crash |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1952-1973 |
| Known for | First actor to play The Master in Doctor Who (1971–1973) |
| Spouse(s) | Kismet Shahani (1957–1973; his death) |
Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto (1 March 1918 – 18 June 1973) was a British actor, best known as the first actor to play the Master in Doctor Who.
Delgado was born in Whitechapel, in the East End of London; he often remarked to Doctor Who co-star and close friend Jon Pertwee that this made him a true Cockney, as he was born within the sound of the Bow bells, even though his mother was Belgian and his father was Spanish. He attended Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, a Roman Catholic secondary school in Holland Park, and the London School of Economics. He served in the Second World War with both the Leicestershire Regiment and the Royal Signals, attaining the rank of major.
Delgado married Kismet Shahani in 1957 and they were together until his death in 1973.
Delgado worked extensively on the British stage, and on TV, film and radio. He appeared in the 1955 BBC TV serial Quatermass II, the 1956 Powell and Pressburger wartime drama Battle of the River Plate, and came to wide popular attention in Britain when he played the duplicitous Spanish envoy Mendoza in the ITC Entertainment series Sir Francis Drake from 1961 to 1962, after which he was in much demand. An in-joke in the 1971 Doctor Who story Colony in Space refers to that role, when the Brigadier tells the Doctor not to worry as the suspected sighting of the Master "was only the Spanish Ambassador". Delgado was frequently cast as a villain, appearing in many noted British action-adventure TV series by ITC, including Danger Man (1961), The Saint (1962 and 1966), The Champions (1969), and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969).
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