John Carlisle (actor)

John Carlisle (born 6 September 1935 in London as John Roxburgh Clark, died 7 December 2011 in London) was an English television and stage actor.

In his early teens Carlisle decided that he wanted to become an actor. He started acting in amateur productions until he was called up for National Service. Upon his release he worked odd jobs determined to finance an acting course at RADA. Eventually, he was able to enter RADA to find out that all his hard work would not have been necessary as he had been entitled to a council grant all along.

On completion of his training at RADA, Carlisle joined Harrogate Repertory and subsequently appeared in repertory all over the country, i.e. in Ipswich, Birmingham and Liverpool.

While appearing in repertory in Birmingham, Carlisle was spotted by an ATV casting director and asked to audition for the hospital drama series Emergency – Ward 10. Carlisle first assumed the role of the young doctor Lester Large in episode 533 in 1962. His character became a regular on the show and Carlisle made numerous appearances including in the final episode of the long-running show in 1967.

From 1972 to 1973 he starred alongside John Woodvine in the London Weekend Television crime series New Scotland Yard. He played the opinionated and sometimes callous policeman Detective Inspector (later Sergeant) Alan Ward and referred to having played the role "in kind of a Gestapo way, beating up criminals and things like that." The portrayal lead to letters of complaint so that the character was toned down in subsequent series. In 1979 Carlisle appeared in the BBC series The Omega Factor as the morally ambiguous psychiatrist Dr. Roy Martindale.

He has also made one-off appearances in series such as The Avengers, Z-Cars, Strange Report, Dixon of Dock Green, Lovejoy, The Black Adder, Hustle, Holby City, Robin Hood, The Catherine Tate Show, Midsomer Murders, Between the Lines and Doctors.

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