Tenniel Evans
| Tenniel Evans | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Walter Tenniel Evans 17 May 1926 Nairobi, Kenya |
| Died | 10 June 2009 (aged 83) |
| Occupation | Actor |
Walter Tenniel Evans (17 May 1926 – 10 June 2009) was a British actor and, latterly, clergyman.
Walter Tenniel Evans was born in Nairobi, Kenya. His middle name derived from the illustrator Sir John Tenniel, a distant relation. His daughter, Serena Evans, is an actress, and his son, Matthew, is a television director.
Tenniel Evans was a direct descendent of Isaac Evans, brother of George Eliot (born as Mary Ann Evans).
Educated at Christ's Hospital, the University of St Andrews and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Evans is best known for his long-running role as Leading Seaman "Taffy" Goldstein (plus other occasional characters) on The Navy Lark, a popular BBC comedy radio series of the 1950s, which starred Jon Pertwee, with Ronnie Barker, Richard Caldicot and Leslie Phillips. Pertwee became one of Evans' best friends – he encouraged Pertwee to audition for Doctor Who, although both were unaware that Pertwee was already being considered for the role; Pertwee subsequently helped Evans get cast in the Doctor Who story Carnival of Monsters.
Frequently cast as a policeman, doctor or priest (he was in fact latterly ordained as an Anglican priest in real life), Tenniel Evans appeared in many of the most popular and successful British TV series of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, as well as many one-off programmes, over a period of 44 years. His TV debut was in the series No Hiding Place in 1960; shortly after this he played Jonathan Kail in Tess, the 1960 ITV adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles, which also featured Geraldine McEwan and Jeremy Brett.
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