Warren Clarke
Encyclopedia
Biography
Clarke was born in OldhamOldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. His first television appearance was in the long running Granada
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
, initially as Kenny Pickup in 1966 and then as Gary Bailey in 1968. His first major film appearance was in Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's controversial A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange (film)
A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It was written, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick...
(1971) where he played a 'Droog' named 'Dim' opposite Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
. He appeared with McDowell again in the 1973 film O Lucky Man!
O Lucky Man!
O Lucky Man! is a 1973 British comedy-drama fantasy film, intended as an allegory on life in a capitalist society. Directed by Lindsay Anderson, it stars Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis, whom McDowell had first played as a disaffected public schoolboy in his first film performance in Anderson's...
.
He has appeared in a wide range of roles in TV and movie productions both in the UK and abroad. One of his most notable roles was playing a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n dissident in Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
's Firefox
Firefox (film)
Firefox is a 1982 American action film produced, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. It is based upon the 1977 novel of the same name written by Craig Thomas....
(1982). Seen mostly in serious roles, his comedic talents can be seen in Blackadder: The Cavalier Years
Blackadder: The Cavalier Years
Blackadder: The Cavalier Years is a 15 minute one-off edition of Blackadder set during the English Civil War, shown as part of Comic Relief's Red Nose Day on Friday 5 February . The episode included series regulars Rowan Atkinson as Sir Edmund Blackadder, Tony Robinson as Baldrick, and Stephen Fry...
, playing Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
.
In 1981 he played Larry Patterson in Gone to the Dogs
Gone to the Dogs (TV series)
Gone to the Dogs is a comedy-drama television miniseries that aired in 1991 in the UK. It starred Alison Steadman, Jim Broadbent, Harry Enfield, Warren Clarke and Sheila Hancock and told the story of a group of people involved in the business of racing greyhounds...
, which was followed a year later by the series Gone to Seed, in which Warren again starred. In 1984 he played the uncharacteristic role of the overtly homosexual 'Sophie' Dixon in the landmark Granada series The Jewel in the Crown. Also in 1984 he had another comedic role, playing Colonel von Horst in the satirical Top Secret!
Top Secret!
Top Secret! is a 1984 comedy film directed by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. It stars Val Kilmer , Lucy Gutteridge, Omar Sharif, Peter Cushing, Michael Gough and Jeremy Kemp. The film is a parody of the GDR era and Elvis films...
. In 1988 he appeared as Colonel Krieger in the first series of LWT
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
's Wish Me Luck
Wish Me Luck
Wish Me Luck is a British television drama about the exploits of British women undercover agents during the Second World War. The series was made by London Weekend Television for the ITV network between 1987 and 1989 and created by Lavinia Warner and Jill Hyem, who had previously produced and...
. In 1989 he played the Captain Lee in the film Crusoe
Crusoe (1989 film)
Crusoe is a 1989 film directed by Caleb Deschanel. It is a variation on the story told in the novel Robinson Crusoe, written by author Daniel Defoe. The film stars Aidan Quinn as Crusoe.-Plot:...
. The same year he played the role of Martin Fisher, the chairman of a football club, in The Manageress
The Manageress
The Manageress is a 1989 television series about a woman who becomes manager of a professional football team. The series starred Cherie Lunghi as Gabrielle Benson and Warren Clarke as the chairman of the second division club. It was independently produced for Channel 4 by Glenn Wilhide and Sophie...
. He starred in a cameo as a sophisticated bin man in the episode entitled Bin diving in the second series of the television series Lovejoy
Lovejoy
Lovejoy is a TV series about the adventures of Lovejoy, a British antiques dealer and faker based in East Anglia, a less than scrupulous yet likeable rogue. The episodes were based on a series of picaresque novels by John Grant...
aired in 1991. In 1994 he played Bamber in the ITV comedy drama Moving Story.
Since 1996 he has appeared regularly as Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel in the TV series Dalziel and Pascoe
Dalziel and Pascoe (BBC TV series)
Dalziel and Pascoe is a popular British television crime drama based on the Dalziel and Pascoe books by Reginald Hill, which was first broadcast in March 1996. It is set in Yorkshire, and is about two detectives...
.
Between 2000 and 2003 Clarke played Brian Addis, a father who moved his family from the bustle of London to a Devon farm, in the BBC TV series Down to Earth
Down to Earth (UK TV series)
Down to Earth was a BBC One television series first broadcast in 2000 about a couple who start a new life on a Devon farm. The early episodes of the series were based on a series of books written by Faith Addis about their real-life move from London to Devon.The music in the series was composed by...
.
In 2005 he appeared as Mr Boythorn in the BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
dramatisation of Bleak House.
In 2008 he starred alongside Anthony Head
Anthony Head
Anthony Stewart Head , usually credited as Anthony Head, is an English actor and musician. He rose to fame in the UK following his role in television advertisements for Nescafé Gold Blend , and is known for his roles as Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and as Uther Pendragon in...
in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Drama The Invisibles
The Invisibles (TV series)
The Invisibles is a British 2008 comedy drama series created and written by William Ivory for the BBC. It was produced by Company Pictures, shot in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.-Premise:...
and in 2009 appeared in the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
trilogy Red Riding
Red Riding
Red Riding is a television adaptation of English author David Peace's Red Riding Quartet. Published between 1999 and 2002, the quartet comprises the novels Nineteen Seventy-Four , Nineteen Seventy-Seven , Nineteen Eighty and Nineteen Eighty-Three...
.
In 2009 he appeared as Commander Peters in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
production of Agatha Christie’s
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in September 1934 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1935 under the title of The Boomerang Clue.The UK edition retailed at seven shillings...
.
In 2010 he starred in Series 3, Episode 2 of the BBC series Inspector George Gently. The episode was entitled "Peace and Love." He also played Mr Bott in the Just William series
Just William series
The William Brown series, better known as the Just William series, is a series of thirty nine books written by English author Richmal Crompton...
Personal life
Clarke is a keen golfer and has been a Manchester City supporterManchester City F.C. supporters
Since their inception in 1880 as St. Mark's , Manchester City F.C have developed a loyal, passionate and dedicated fanbase.Despite finishing 5th in English football's top division, the club were the third best supported team in English football by average league attendance in the 2009–10 season and...
since he was 7 years old.