Philip Madoc
| Philip Madoc | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Born |
Phillip Jones 5 July 1934 Twynyrodyn, Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales, UK |
| Died | 5 March 2012 (aged 77) Northwood, London, England, UK |
| Cause of death | Cancer |
| Alma mater | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1962–2012 |
| Spouse(s) |
Ruth Madoc (m. 1961; div. 1981) Diane (divorced) |
| Children | 2 |
Philip Madoc (5 July 1934 – 5 March 2012) was a Welsh actor. He performed many stage, television, radio and film roles. On television, he played David Lloyd George in The Life and Times of David Lloyd George and the lead role in the detective series A Mind to Kill. His guest roles included multiple appearances in the cult series The Avengers and Doctor Who, as well as a famous episode of the sitcom Dad's Army. He was also known to be an accomplished linguist.
Madoc was born Phillip Jones near Merthyr Tydfil and attended Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School, where he was a member of the cricket and rugby teams, and displayed talent as a linguist. He then studied languages at the University of Wales and the University of Vienna. He eventually spoke seven languages, including Russian and Swedish, and had a working knowledge of Huron Indian, Hindi and Mandarin. He worked as an interpreter, but became disenchanted with having to translate for politicians: "I did dry-as-dust jobs like political interpreting. You get to despise politicians when you have to translate the rubbish they spout." He then switched to acting and won a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).
Madoc acted on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing the roles of Iago, Othello and Dr Faust. As a television actor he first gained widespread recognition in two serials, first as the relentless SS Officer Lutzig in the Second World War serial Manhunt (1969), and then as the vicious Huron warrior Magua in a serialisation of The Last of the Mohicans (1971). He played a character resembling Lutzig, but for comic effect, in "The Deadly Attachment", an episode of the comedy Dad's Army in which he played a U-boat captain held prisoner by the Walmington-on-Sea platoon of the Home Guard. He records names on his "list" for the day of reckoning after the war is won, prompting Captain Mainwaring's famous line "Don't tell him, Pike!" Madoc's ability to give life to German villains also surfaced in the TV series The Fortunes of War, directed by James Cellan Jones.
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