Wensley Pithey
Encyclopedia
Wensley Pithey was a South African character actor
who had a long stage career.
Pithey was born in Cape Town
, South Africa
. A graduate of the University of Cape Town
where he studied music and drama, he travelled to England in 1947. He appeared in various Shakespearean roles in his long career (memorably as Sir Toby Belch) as well as appearing in Eugene O'Neill
's Anna Christie
. He also directed and produced plays in the West End and appeared in a range of roles on television including the 1976 drama Edward and Mrs Simpson
(as Winston Churchill
) as well as Special Branch
and Poldark
. His British television appearances included Danger Man
(1961) among others.
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...
who had a long stage career.
Pithey was born in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. A graduate of the University of Cape Town
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
where he studied music and drama, he travelled to England in 1947. He appeared in various Shakespearean roles in his long career (memorably as Sir Toby Belch) as well as appearing in Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
's Anna Christie
Anna Christie
Anna Christie is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his work.-Plot summary:...
. He also directed and produced plays in the West End and appeared in a range of roles on television including the 1976 drama Edward and Mrs Simpson
Edward and Mrs Simpson
Edward & Mrs. Simpson is a seven-part British television series that dramatises the events leading to the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, who gave up his throne to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson....
(as Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
) as well as Special Branch
Special Branch (TV series)
Special Branch is a British television series made by Thames Television for ITV and shown between 1969 and 1974. A police drama series, the action was centred on members of the Special Branch anti-espionage and anti-terrorist department of the London Metropolitan Police.The first two series were...
and Poldark
Poldark
Poldark is a BBC television series based on the novels written by Winston Graham which was first transmitted in the UK between 1975 and 1977.-Outline:...
. His British television appearances included 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...
(1961) among others.
Filmography
- London Belongs to MeLondon Belongs to MeLondon Belongs to Me is a 1948 British film directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Richard Attenborough and Alastair Sim. It was based on the novel of the same name by Norman Collins...
(1948) - Your WitnessYour Witness (film)Your Witness is a 1950 British drama film directed by and starring Robert Montgomery. It also featured Leslie Banks, Felix Aylmer and Andrew Cruickshank. A leading American lawyer travels to London to defend an old friend from the Second World War who is facing a charge of murder...
(1950) - Father's Doing FineFather's Doing FineFather's Doing Fine is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Henry Cass and starring Richard Attenborough, Heather Thatcher, Noel Purcell and Sid James. It was based on the 1950 play Little Lambs Eat Ivy by Noel Langley.-Cast:...
(1952) - The Titfield ThunderboltThe Titfield ThunderboltThe Titfield Thunderbolt is a 1953 British comedy film about a group of villagers trying to prevent British Railways from closing the fictional Titfield branch line. The film was written by T.E.B...
(1953) - The Men of Sherwood Forest (1954)
- You Can't EscapeYou Can't EscapeYou Can't Escape is a 1956 British drama film directed by Wilfred Eades and starring Noelle Middleton, Guy Rolfe and Robert Urquhart.-Cast:* Noelle Middleton as Kay March* Guy Rolfe as David Anstruther* Robert Urquhart as Peter Darwin...
(1956) - 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) - Doctor at LargeDoctor at Large (film)Doctor at Large is a 1957 British comedy film, the third installment of the Doctor in the House series. It stars Dirk Bogarde, Muriel Pavlow, Donald Sinden, and James Robertson Justice.-Cast:* Dirk Bogarde as Dr. Simon Sparrow...
(1957) - Kill Me TomorrowKill Me TomorrowKill Me Tomorrow is a 1957 British crime film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Pat O'Brien and Lois Maxwell. It was made by Tempean Films at Southall Studios in West London.-Cast:*Pat O'Brien as Bart Crosbie*Lois Maxwell as Jill Brook...
(1957) - Hell DriversHell Drivers (film)Hell Drivers is a 1957 British film directed by Cy Endfield starring Stanley Baker, Herbert Lom, Peggy Cummins, Patrick McGoohan and Sean Connery, produced by the Rank Organisation and Aqua Film Productions.-Plot:...
(1957) - The Long HaulThe Long Haul (1957 film)The Long Haul is a 1957 British drama film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Victor Mature, Gene Anderson, Patrick Allen and Diana Dors. An American ex-servicemen settles in Britain with his English wife and becomes a lorry driver in Liverpool where he begins a relationship with the girlfriend of...
(1957) - Blue Murder at St. Trinian's (1957)
- Serious Charge (1959)
- Snowball (1960)
- Make Mine MinkMake Mine MinkMake Mine Mink is a 1960 British comedy directed by Robert Asher and featuring Terry-Thomas, Athene Seyler, Hattie Jacques, Billie Whitelaw, Elspeth Duxbury, Jack Hedley and Raymond Huntley, with cameos by Kenneth Williams and Irene Handl. A group of misfits go on a spree, stealing mink coats...
(1960) - PersuasionPersuasion (1960 series)Persuasion is a 1960 British television mini-series adaptation of the Jane Austen novel of the same name. It was produced by the BBC and was directed by Campbell Logan. Daphne Slater stars as Anne Elliot, and Paul Daneman as Captain Frederick Wentworth...
(1960) - The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's (1960)
- The Barber of Stamford Hill (1962)
- The BoysThe Boys (1962 film)The Boys is a 1962 British courtroom drama film, directed by Sidney J. Furie and with a screenplay by Stuart Douglass.-Plot:A night watchman at a garage is found murdered, and four teddy boys are put on trial for the crime...
(1962) - The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965)
- Oliver!Oliver! (film)Oliver! is a 1968 British musical film directed by Carol Reed. The film is based on the stage musical Oliver!, with book, music and lyrics written by Lionel Bart. The screenplay was written by Vernon Harris....
(1968) - Oh! What a Lovely WarOh! What a Lovely WarOh! What a Lovely War is a musical film based on the stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War! originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, The Long Long Trail in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop created in 1963,...
(1969) - One of Our Dinosaurs Is MissingOne of Our Dinosaurs is MissingOne of Our Dinosaurs is Missing is a 1975 British comedy film, which is set in the early 1920s, about the theft of a dinosaur skeleton from the Natural History Museum. The film was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company. The title is a parody of the...
(1975) - Red MonarchRed MonarchRed Monarch is a 1983 British TV film starring Colin Blakely as Joseph Stalin. It is directed by Jack Gold and features David Suchet as Lavrentiy Beria and David Threlfall as Stalin's son Vasily....
(1983) - White MischiefWhite MischiefWhite Mischief is a 1987 film dramatising the events of the Happy Valley murder case in Kenya in 1941, when Sir Henry "Jock" Delves Broughton was tried for the murder of Josslyn Hay, Earl of Erroll....
(1987) - American FriendsAmerican FriendsAmerican Friends is a 1991 film starring Michael Palin. It was written by Palin and Tristram Powell, and directed by Powell.-Plot:Palin plays Francis Ashby, a senior Oxford professor on holiday in the Swiss Alps in 1861. There he meets the American Caroline Hartley and her 18-year old ward Elinor...
(1991)