Christopher Rhodes
Encyclopedia
Sir Christopher George Rhodes, 3rd Baronet (30 April 1914 – 22 June 1964) was an English
film and television actor.
, and was educated at Eton College
and Magdalen College, Oxford
. During the Second World War he served with the Essex Regiment
, reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was decorated with the Croix de Guerre
and the United States Legion of Merit
.
, Danger Man
, Dixon of Dock Green
and The Saint
.
in 1955. Rhodes died at his home in Blakeney, Norfolk
, on 22 June 1964.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
film and television actor.
Early life
Rhodes was the only son of Sir John Rhodes, 2nd BaronetJohn Phillips Rhodes
Sir John Phillips Rhodes, 2nd Baronet, DSO was the son of Sir George Rhodes, a Justice of the Peace for Cheshire. He was Chairman of Thomas Rhodes, cotton spinners and manufacturers and represented Stalybridge and Hyde in the House of Commons as a Conservative from 1922 to 1923. He succeeded to...
, and was educated at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
. During the Second World War he served with the Essex Regiment
Essex Regiment
The Essex Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army that saw active service from 1881 to 1958. Members of the regiment were recruited from across Essex county. Its lineage is continued by the Royal Anglian Regiment.-Origins:...
, reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was decorated with the Croix de Guerre
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
and the United States Legion of Merit
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
.
Career
Rhodes began his acting career after the war, his television appearances included The Quatermass ExperimentThe Quatermass Experiment
The Quatermass Experiment is a British science-fiction serial broadcast by BBC Television in the summer of 1953 and re-staged by BBC Four in 2005. Set in the near future against the background of a British space programme, it tells the story of the first manned flight into space, overseen by...
, Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
, Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...
and The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
.
Selected filmography
- BetrayedBetrayed (1954 film)Betrayed is a 1954 war drama film made by MGM. It was directed by Gottfried Reinhardt, from a screenplay by Ronald Millar and George Froeschel. The music score was by Walter Goehr and Bronislau Kaper, the cinematography by Freddie Young....
(1954) .... Chris - The Colditz StoryThe Colditz StoryThe Colditz Story is a 1955 prisoner of war film starring John Mills and Eric Portman and directed by Guy Hamilton.It is based on the book written by P.R...
(1955) .... 'Mac' McGill - The Feminine TouchThe Feminine Touch (1956 film)The Feminine Touch is a 1956 British drama film directed by Pat Jackson and starring George Baker, Belinda Lee and Delphi Lawrence. It is based on the novel A Lamp Is Heavy by Sheila Mackay Russell...
(1956) .... Dr Ted Russell - Tiger in the SmokeTiger in the SmokeTiger in the Smoke is a 1956 British crime film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Donald Sinden, Muriel Pavlow, Tony Wright, Bernard Miles and Christopher Rhodes. It is based on the 1952 novel The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham, although the film omits the principal character of...
(1956) .... Chief Inspector Luke - Ill Met by Moonlight (1957) .... General Bräuer
- DunkirkDunkirk (film)Dunkirk is a 1958 British war film directed by Leslie Norman and starring John Mills, Richard Attenborough and Bernard Lee. It was based on two novels: Elleston Trevor's The Big Pick-Up and Lt. Col. Ewan Hunter and Maj. J. S...
(1958) .... Sergeant on the beaches - Wonderful Things!Wonderful Things!Wonderful Things! is a 1958 British comedy romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Frankie Vaughan, Jocelyn Lane and Wilfrid Hyde-White. Two fisherman brothers clash over the love of a woman.-Cast:* Frankie Vaughan ... Carmello...
(1958) .... Codger - Operation AmsterdamOperation AmsterdamOperation Amsterdam is a 1959 British action film, directed by Michael McCarthy, and featuring Peter Finch, Eva Bartok and Tony Britton. It is based on a true story as described in the book Adventure in Diamonds, by David E Walker. The action of the story covers a few days in May 1940 when the...
(1959) .... Alex - The Lady Is a SquareThe Lady Is a SquareThe Lady Is a Square is a 1959 British comedy musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and featuring Anna Neagle, Frankie Vaughan and Janette Scott. An aspiring singer goes to work as a butler in the house of a classical music patron...
(1959) .... Greenslade - Tiger BayTiger Bay (film)Tiger Bay is a 1959 British crime drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson and produced and co-written by John Hawkesworth. It stars John Mills as a police superintendent who investigates a murder, his daughter Hayley Mills, in her first major film role, as a girl who witnesses the murder, and Horst...
(1959) .... Inspector Bridges - Shake Hands with the DevilShake Hands with the Devil (1959 film)Shake Hands with the Devil is a 1959 film directed by the English director Michael Anderson.It is set in 1921 Dublin, where the Irish Republican Army battles the "Black and Tans," the ex-British soldiers sent to suppress the IRA with excessively harsh measures.The film stars James Cagney as Sean...
(1959) .... Colonel Smithson - A Terrible BeautyA Terrible Beauty (film)A Terrible Beauty is a 1960 drama film, directed by Tay Garnett and starring Robert Mitchum and Richard Harris. It was adapted from a novel of the same name, written by Arthur Roth.-Plot:...
(1960) .... Tim Malone - Gorgo (1961) .... McCartin
- The Guns of NavaroneThe Guns of Navarone (film)The Guns of Navarone is a 1961 British-American Action/Adventure war film based on the 1957 novel of the same name about the Dodecanese Campaign of World War II by Scottish thriller writer Alistair MacLean. It stars Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn, along with Anthony Quayle and Stanley...
(1961) .... German Master Gunner - El CidEl Cid (film)El Cid is a historical epic film, a romanticized story of the life of the Christian Castilian knight Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, called "El Cid" who in the 11th century fought the North African Almoravides and ultimately contributed to the unification of Spain.Made by Samuel Bronston Productions in...
(1961) .... Don Martín - The Piper's Tune (1962) .... Captain
- Lancelot and GuinevereLancelot and GuinevereLancelot and Guinevere is a British 1963 film starring Cornel Wilde, his real-life wife at the time, Jean Wallace, and Brian Aherne...
(1963) .... Ulfus... aka Sword of Lancelot (USA) - The CracksmanThe CracksmanThe Cracksman is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Peter Graham Scott.-Plot:Charlie Drake plays an honest locksmith whose problem is that he cannot resist the challenge of a lock. He gets smoothtalked into a safecracking scheme by a couple of ruthless gangsters. He is duped by a debonair con...
(1963) .... Mr. King - Becket (1964) .... Baron
Personal life
Rhodes was married twice, first to Mary Kesteven in 1936, whom he divorced in 1942, and then to Mary Florence Wardleworth in 1943, who bore him two sons and a daughter. He succeeded to his father's baronetcyRhodes Baronets
The Rhodes Baronetcy, of Hollingworth in the County Palatine of Chester, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 29 May 1919 for George Rhodes. He was a Justice of the Peace for Cheshire...
in 1955. Rhodes died at his home in Blakeney, Norfolk
Blakeney, Norfolk
Blakeney is a coastal village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Blakeney lies within the Norfolk Coast AONB and the North Norfolk Heritage Coast. The North Norfolk Coastal Path passes through the village...
, on 22 June 1964.