John Thaw
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John Thaw CBE |
|
|---|---|
Thaw as Inspector Morse
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|
| Born |
3 January 1942 Longsight, Manchester, UK |
| Died | 21 February 2002 (aged 60) Luckington, Wiltshire, UK |
| Cause of death | Oesophageal cancer |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1960–2001 |
| Spouse(s) |
Sally Alexander (m. 1964; div. 1968) Sheila Hancock (m. 1973) |
| Children | 3, including Abigail |
John Edward Thaw, CBE (3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English actor. He appeared in a range of television, stage, and cinema roles, his most popular being television series such as Inspector Morse, Redcap, The Sweeney, Home to Roost, and Kavanagh QC.
Thaw was born in Longsight, Manchester, to working class parents Dorothy (née Ablott) and John, a long-distance lorry driver. Thaw had a difficult childhood as his mother left when he was seven years old and he did not see her again for 12 years. His younger brother, Raymond Stuart "Ray" emigrated to Australia in the mid-1960s. Thaw grew up in Gorton and Burnage, attending the Ducie Technical High School for Boys. He entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) at the age of 16, where he was a contemporary of Tom Courtenay.
Soon after leaving RADA Thaw made his formal stage début in A Shred of Evidence at the Liverpool Playhouse and was awarded a contract with the theatre. His first film role was a bit part in the 1962 adaptation of The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner starring Tom Courtenay and he also acted on-stage opposite Sir Laurence Olivier in Semi-Detached (1962) by David Turner. He appeared in several episodes of the BBC police series Z-Cars in 1963–64 as a detective constable. Between 1964 and 1966, he starred in two series of the ABC Weekend Television/ITV production Redcap, playing the hard-nosed military policeman Sergeant John Mann. He was also a guest star in an early episode of The Avengers. In 1967 he appeared in the Granada TV/ITV series, Inheritance, alongside James Bolam and Michael Goodliffe, as well as appearing in TV plays such as The Talking Head and episodes of series such as Budgie, where he played against type (opposite Adam Faith) as an effeminate failed playwright with a full beard and a Welsh accent.
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