Roy Kinnear

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Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Roy Mitchell Kinnear (8 January 1934 – 20 September 1988) was an English character actor and comedian. He was known for playing Algernon in The Beatles' Help! (1965), Clapper in How I Won the War (1967), Mr. Salt in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), and Planchet in The Three Musketeers (1973) and its two sequels. On television, Kinnear starred in The Dick Emery Show (1979–1981), Man About the House (1974–1975), George and Mildred (1976–1979), and Cowboys (1980–1981).

Early life

Kinnear was born on 8 January 1934 in Wigan,<ref name="bfi"/> Lancashire, the son of Annie (née Durie, previously Smith) and Roy Kinnear.Template:Cn He had a sister, Marjory. His parents were Scottish, originally from Edinburgh. His father was an international in both rugby union and rugby league, having played for Template:Nrut and Great Britain. He scored 81 tries in 184 games for Wigan; he collapsed and died while playing rugby union with the RAF in 1942, at the age of 38. Scotland Rugby League have named their Student Player of the Year Award after him.

Kinnear was educated at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh.<ref name="bfi"/> Aged 17, he enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).<ref name="bfi"/>

Career

Kinnear's acting career began in 1955, playing Albert in The Young in Heart, at the repertory theatre, Newquay.Template:Cn In 1959 he joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal Stratford East,Template:Cn performing in both the 1960 play and 1963 film of Sparrows Can't Sing.Template:Cn

Kinnear's television debut was on the STV children's series Mr. Fixit in 1959,<ref name="bfi"/> before gaining national attention as a participant in the television show That Was the Week That Was.<ref name="bfi">Template:Cite web</ref>

Kinnear later appeared in many films and television shows, including Help!,<ref name="bfi"/> Till Death Us Do Part, Doctor at Large, Man About the House, George and Mildred,<ref name="bfi"/> The Dick Emery Show (as Gaylord's long-suffering father) and four episodes of The Avengers.<ref name="bfi"/> He starred in Cowboys, a sitcom about builders. His best-known films are those he made with director and close friend Richard Lester:<ref name="bfi"/> Help!, A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum, How I Won the War, The Bed Sitting Room, Juggernaut<ref name="bfi"/> and the Musketeer series of the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name="bfi"/>

He appeared with Christopher Lee in the Hammer horror film Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970).<ref name="drac">Template:Cite web</ref> Also in 1970 he played Mr. Perkins, Melody's father in Waris Hussein's Melody, a puppy love story.<ref name="melody">Template:Cite web</ref> He played the father of spoiled rich girl Veruca Salt in the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), an adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.<ref name="willy">Template:Cite web</ref>

He guest-starred in The Goodies'<ref name="bfi"/> episode "Rome Antics" (1975) as the Roman Emperor, and in the BBC's Ripping Yarns episode "Escape From Stalag Luft 112B" (1977) as the fearsome German Sergeant Vogel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He narrated and provided voices for the stop-motion children's television show Bertha.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He appeared in two music videos for Mike and the Mechanics ("All I Need Is a Miracle" and "Taken In")<ref name="bfi"/> as the band's manager; in the former, he was reunited with his Help! co-star Victor Spinetti.<ref name="bfi"/>

He narrated Towser and Bertha, voiced Pipkin in the 1978 film Watership Down and voiced Texas Pete's henchman Bulk in SuperTed (also with Victor Spinetti, who voiced the evil Texas Pete). Kinnear appeared regularly on the stage. In later life he appeared in productions such as The Travails of Sancho Panza (playing the title role), and in The Cherry Orchard, in 1985.

His final completed roles were in A Man for All Seasons (1988) a made-for-television film directed by and starring Charlton Heston, John Gielgud and Vanessa Redgrave, as a patient in the BBC One hospital drama Casualty, and a voice role as Mump in The Princess and the Goblin, which was released in 1991, three years after his sudden death in September 1988. Following his death, the Casualty episode was postponed. It finally aired in August 1989.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In October 1988 Radio 4 first broadcast The T Machine, an episode of the comedy series The Fall of the Mausoleum Club in which he played the lead character, Mr Tilly.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life and death

File:Roy Kinnear's grave.jpg
Roy Kinnear's grave in East Sheen Cemetery, London

Kinnear was married to actress Carmel Cryan, and they had three children: Karina, casting director Kirsty, and actor Rory.<ref name="guard" /> Karina, who suffered from quadriplegia and profound learning disabilites,<ref name="tele">Template:Cite web</ref> died in May 2020 from COVID-19<ref name="guard">Template:Cite news</ref> and was buried near her father.

On 19 September 1988, Kinnear fell from a horse while filming The Return of the Musketeers in Toledo, Spain, sustaining a broken pelvis and internal bleeding. He died the following day, at age 54, in Ruber International Hospital in Madrid, from a heart attack brought on by his injuries.<ref name="dead">Template:Cite news</ref> Kinnear was buried in East Sheen Cemetery, London. Following his death, Kinnear's family sued the film's production company and director, Richard Lester, receiving a £650,000 settlement in 1991.<ref name="herald">Template:Cite web</ref>

Legacy

In May 1994, the Roy Kinnear Trust, which was inspired by his daughter, Karina, was founded to help improve the life of young adults with physical and mental disabilities.

Shows

Filmography

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Theatre (partial)

References

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