Francis de Wolff
Encyclopedia
Francis de Wolff was an English
character actor
. Large, bearded, and beetle-browed, he was often cast as villains in both film and television.
Born in Essex
, he made his film debut in Flame in the Heather in 1935, and went on to make many other appearances in such films as Fire Over England
(1936), Treasure Island
(1950), Scrooge
(1951), as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Ivanhoe
(1952), Moby Dick
(1956), Saint Joan (1957), From Russia with Love
(1963), Carry On Cleo
(1964) and The Three Musketeers
(1973).
He is perhaps best remembered as a supporting player in horror films of the 1950s and 1960s, many of them for Hammer Studios
. These include Corridors of Blood
(1958), The Hound of the Baskervilles
(1959), The Man Who Could Cheat Death
(1959), The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
(1960), Devil Doll
(1963) and The Black Torment
(1964).
His television appearances include The Avengers
, Danger Man
, Dixon of Dock Green
, Doctor Who
, Jesus of Nazareth, Maigret
, Paul Temple
, The Saint
, and The Tomorrow People
.
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...
character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
. Large, bearded, and beetle-browed, he was often cast as villains in both film and television.
Born in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, he made his film debut in Flame in the Heather in 1935, and went on to make many other appearances in such films as Fire Over England
Fire Over England
Fire Over England is a 1937 London Film Productions film drama, notable for providing the first pairing of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. It was directed by William K. Howard and written by Clemence Dane from the novel Fire Over England by A. E. W. Mason. Leigh's performance in the movie...
(1936), Treasure Island
Treasure Island (1950 film)
Treasure Island is a 1950 Disney adventure film, adapted from the Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. It starred Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins, and Robert Newton as Long John Silver...
(1950), Scrooge
Scrooge (1951 film)
Scrooge, released as A Christmas Carol in the United States, is a 1951 film adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. It starred Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge and was directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, with a screenplay by Noel Langley.The film also features Kathleen Harrison in an...
(1951), as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Ivanhoe
Ivanhoe (1952 film)
Ivanhoe is a 1952 historical film made by MGM. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Pandro S. Berman. The cast featured Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Emlyn Williams, Finlay Currie and Felix Aylmer...
(1952), Moby Dick
Moby Dick (1956 film)
Moby Dick is a 1956 film adaptation of Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. It was directed by John Huston with a screenplay by Ray Bradbury and the director. The film starred Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, and Leo Genn...
(1956), Saint Joan (1957), From Russia with Love
From Russia with Love (film)
From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...
(1963), Carry On Cleo
Carry On Cleo
Carry On Cleo is the tenth film in the Carry On film series and was released in 1964. The website ICONS.a portrait of England cites the Carry On films as iconic of British cinema, and describes Carry On Cleo as "perhaps the best". Regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor, Charles...
(1964) and The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers (1973 film)
The Three Musketeers is a 1973 film based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. It was directed by Richard Lester and written by George MacDonald Fraser . It was originally proposed in the 1960s as a vehicle for The Beatles, whom Lester had directed in two other films...
(1973).
He is perhaps best remembered as a supporting player in horror films of the 1950s and 1960s, many of them for Hammer Studios
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
. These include Corridors of Blood
Corridors of Blood
Corridors of Blood is a 1958 horror film directed by Robert Day. The original music score was composed by Buxton Orr. The film was marketed with the tagline "Tops in terror!" in the US where MGM released it as a double feature with Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory.-Plot:An 1840s British surgeon, Dr...
(1958), The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959 film)
The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1959 British detective film produced by Hammer Films and directed by Terence Fisher.The film is the first adaptation from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel of the same name to be filmed in colour and stars Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, Sir Christopher Lee as...
(1959), The Man Who Could Cheat Death
The Man Who Could Cheat Death
The Man Who Could Cheat Death is a 1959 British Hammer Film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Anton Diffring and Christopher Lee. It was based on the play The Man in Half Moon Street by Barré Lyndon which had been previously filmed in 1945....
(1959), The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll is a 1960 horror film by Hammer Film Productions. It was directed by Terence Fisher, and stars Paul Massie as Dr. Jekyll, and co-stars Dawn Addams, Christopher Lee and David Kossoff. It was written by Wolf Mankowitz, based on the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
(1960), Devil Doll
Devil Doll (film)
Devil Doll is a horror film about an evil ventriloquist, "The Great Vorelli", and his dummy Hugo. Decades after its initial release, it was featured on a 1997 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.-Plot:...
(1963) and The Black Torment
The Black Torment
The Black Torment is a 1964 British gothic horror film, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring John Turner, Heather Sears and Ann Lynn. The film is set in 18th-century Devon and was scripted by brothers Donald and Derek Ford...
(1964).
His television appearances include The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
, 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:...
, Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, Jesus of Nazareth, Maigret
Maigret
Jules Maigret, Maigret to most people, including his wife, is a fictional police detective, actually a commissaire or commissioner of the Paris "Brigade Criminelle" , created by writer Georges Simenon.Seventy-five novels and twenty-eight short stories about Maigret were published between 1931 and...
, Paul Temple
Paul Temple
Paul Temple is a fictional character created by British writer Francis Durbridge for the BBC radio serial Send for Paul Temple in 1938. Temple is an amateur private detective and author of crime fiction...
, 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...
, and The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran between 1973 and 1979. The series was re-imagined in 1992, Roger Price acting as executive producer...
.
Partial filmography
- Flame in the HeatherFlame in the HeatherFlame in the Heather is a 1935 British historical drama film directed by Donovan Pedelty and starring Gwenllian Gill, Barry Clifton and Bruce Seton...
(1935) - Fire Over EnglandFire Over EnglandFire Over England is a 1937 London Film Productions film drama, notable for providing the first pairing of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. It was directed by William K. Howard and written by Clemence Dane from the novel Fire Over England by A. E. W. Mason. Leigh's performance in the movie...
(1936) (uncredited) - Under CapricornUnder CapricornUnder Capricorn is an Alfred Hitchcock historical feature film.-Production:The film is based on the novel Under Capricorn by Helen Simpson, with screenplay by James Bridie, and adaptation by Hume Cronyn. The movie was co-produced by Hitchcock and Sidney Bernstein for their short-lived production...
(1949) - Treasure IslandTreasure Island (1950 film)Treasure Island is a 1950 Disney adventure film, adapted from the Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. It starred Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins, and Robert Newton as Long John Silver...
(1950) - The Naked HeartThe Naked HeartThe Naked Heart is a 1950 French language motion picture melodrama directed by Marc Allégret, based on the novel Maria Chapdelaine by Louis Hémon...
(1950) (French title: Maria Chapdelaine) - Tom Brown's SchooldaysTom Brown's Schooldays (1951 film)Tom Brown's Schooldays is a 1951 British drama film directed by Gordon Parry and starring John Howard Davies, Robert Newton and James Hayter. It is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Hughes. The screenplay was written by Noel Langley....
(1951) - ScroogeScrooge (1951 film)Scrooge, released as A Christmas Carol in the United States, is a 1951 film adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. It starred Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge and was directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, with a screenplay by Noel Langley.The film also features Kathleen Harrison in an...
(1951) - IvanhoeIvanhoe (1952 film)Ivanhoe is a 1952 historical film made by MGM. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Pandro S. Berman. The cast featured Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Emlyn Williams, Finlay Currie and Felix Aylmer...
(1952) - The Master of BallantraeThe Master of Ballantrae (film)The Master of Ballantrae is a 1953 British adventure film starring Errol Flynn, Roger Livesey, and Anthony Steel. It is a loose and highly truncated adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel of the same title...
(1953) - The Little KidnappersThe Little Kidnappers (1953 film)The Little Kidnappers, billed as The Kidnappers in the UK, is a 1953 British film, directed by Philip Leacock and written by Neil Paterson. It was remade as a TV movie in 1990.-Plot:...
(1953) - GeordieGeordie (film)Geordie is a 1955 British film based on David Walker's novel of the same title, with Bill Travers in the title role as a Scotsman who becomes an athlete at the Olympic Games...
(1955) - King's RhapsodyKing's Rhapsody (film)King's Rhapsody is a 1955 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Errol Flynn and Patrice Wymore. It was based on the musical King's Rhapsody by Ivor Novello.-Cast:* Anna Neagle - Marta Karillos...
(1955) - Moby DickMoby Dick (1956 film)Moby Dick is a 1956 film adaptation of Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. It was directed by John Huston with a screenplay by Ray Bradbury and the director. The film starred Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, and Leo Genn...
(1956) - The Smallest Show on EarthThe Smallest Show on EarthThe Smallest Show on Earth is a 1957 British comedy film, directed by Basil Dearden, and starring Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna, Peter Sellers and Margaret Rutherford. The supporting cast included Bernard Miles, Leslie Phillips, Francis de Wolff, George Cross, June Cunningham and Sid James...
(1957) - Saint Joan (1957)
- Corridors of BloodCorridors of BloodCorridors of Blood is a 1958 horror film directed by Robert Day. The original music score was composed by Buxton Orr. The film was marketed with the tagline "Tops in terror!" in the US where MGM released it as a double feature with Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory.-Plot:An 1840s British surgeon, Dr...
(1958) - The Hound of the BaskervillesThe Hound of the Baskervilles (1959 film)The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1959 British detective film produced by Hammer Films and directed by Terence Fisher.The film is the first adaptation from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel of the same name to be filmed in colour and stars Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, Sir Christopher Lee as...
(1959) - The Man Who Could Cheat DeathThe Man Who Could Cheat DeathThe Man Who Could Cheat Death is a 1959 British Hammer Film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Anton Diffring and Christopher Lee. It was based on the play The Man in Half Moon Street by Barré Lyndon which had been previously filmed in 1945....
(1959) - The Curse of the WerewolfThe Curse of the WerewolfThe Curse of the Werewolf is a British film based on the novel The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore. The film was made by the British film studio Hammer Film Productions and was shot at Bray Studios.-Plot:...
(1961) - Siege of the SaxonsSiege of the SaxonsSiege of the Saxons is a 1963 British film directed by Nathan H. Juran and released by Columbia Pictures. It is a historical epic, set in the time of King Arthur....
(1963) - From Russia with LoveFrom Russia with Love (film)From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...
(1963) - Devil DollDevil Doll (film)Devil Doll is a horror film about an evil ventriloquist, "The Great Vorelli", and his dummy Hugo. Decades after its initial release, it was featured on a 1997 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.-Plot:...
(1964) - The Black TormentThe Black TormentThe Black Torment is a 1964 British gothic horror film, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring John Turner, Heather Sears and Ann Lynn. The film is set in 18th-century Devon and was scripted by brothers Donald and Derek Ford...
(1964) - Licensed to KillLicensed to Kill (1965 film)Licensed to Kill is a 1965 superspy imitation James Bond film starring Tom Adams as British secret agent Charles Vine. It was directed and co-written by Lindsay Shonteff. Producer Joseph E...
(1965) - Ghosts - Italian StyleGhosts - Italian StyleGhosts - Italian Style is a 1968 Italian comedy film directed by Renato Castellani.-Cast:* Sophia Loren - Maria Lojacono* Vittorio Gassman - Pasquale Lojacono* Mario Adorf - Alfredo Mariano* Aldo Giuffrè - Raffaele* Margaret Lee - Sayonara...
(1968) - Rookery NookRookery Nook (1970 film)Rookery Nook is a 1970 British comedy television film starring Richard Briers, Arthur Lowe and Irene Handl. It is based on the play Rookery Nook, one of the Aldwych Farces, by Ben Travers. It was first aired on the BBC on 19 September 1970.-Cast:...
(1970, TV film)