William Gaunt
Encyclopedia
William Charles Anthony Gaunt (born 3 April 1937 in Pudsey
, West Yorkshire
) is an English
actor
, sometimes credited as Bill Gaunt.
and Waco University, Texas, and then at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
. He then spent 3 years working in repertory theatre at Worthing, Bath, Salisbury and Cheltenham.
He then spent a year in America and returned to direct productions at Birmingham, Coventry and Cheltenham, interrupted by a spell in the army.
After minor roles in series such as Z Cars, The Avengers
, and Edgar Wallace Mysteries
through the 1960s he gained a role as the super-powered secret agent Richard Barrett in the 1968 British
espionage
/science fiction
series The Champions
.
He had also appeared in a recurring role in Sergeant Cork
following policemen in Victorian London.
He subsequently made many guest appearances in other series such as Juliet Bravo
and in the Doctor Who
episode Revelation of the Daleks
. From 1995 to 1997, he starred in the sitcom Next of Kin
opposite Penelope Keith
. In 2010 he appeared in the Globe Theatre
production of Shakespeare
's Henry IV, Part 1
.
William starred in the 2004 Doctor Who
audio series Dalek Empire III
.
He is currently appearing in the Channel 4
series Cast Offs.
He Also Made A Brief Appearance In The Last Episode Of The Series Airline Starring Jack Ruskin (Roy Marsden)
and a theatre director, including a notable success in playing the Micheál MacLiammóir
character in Gates of Gold by Frank McGuinness
at the Finborough Theatre
, London
, and in the West End
.
William appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company
production of The Seagull
, sharing the role of Sorin with Ian McKellen
; and appeared in King Lear
as Gloucester at the New London Theatre
in Drury Lane
, London, opposite McKellen in the title role following a United Kingdom
tour.
He revived his performance as Gloucester in the TV film of the same name
released in late 2008.
Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in West Yorkshire, England. Once an independent town, it was incorporated into the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds in 1974, and is located midway between Bradford and Leeds city centres. It has a population of 32,391....
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
) is an English
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...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, sometimes credited as Bill Gaunt.
Early life
His father was a lawyer and he attended Giggleswick SchoolGiggleswick School
Giggleswick School is an independent co-educational boarding school in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England.- Early school :...
and Waco University, Texas, and then at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
. He then spent 3 years working in repertory theatre at Worthing, Bath, Salisbury and Cheltenham.
He then spent a year in America and returned to direct productions at Birmingham, Coventry and Cheltenham, interrupted by a spell in the army.
After minor roles in series such as Z Cars, 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...
, and Edgar Wallace Mysteries
Edgar Wallace
Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was an English crime writer, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and numerous articles in newspapers and journals....
through the 1960s he gained a role as the super-powered secret agent Richard Barrett in the 1968 British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
/science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series The Champions
The Champions
The Champions is a British espionage/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure series consisting of 30 episodes broadcast on the UK network ITV during 1968–1969, produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company...
.
He had also appeared in a recurring role in Sergeant Cork
Sergeant Cork
Sergeant Cork is a British detective television series which first aired between 1963 and 1968 on ATV. It featured a police procedural show which followed the efforts of two police officers and their battle against crime in Victorian London. In all 66 hour-long episodes were aired during the five...
following policemen in Victorian London.
Later career
Between 1983 and 1987 he starred as harassed father Arthur Crabtree in the sitcom No Place Like Home.He subsequently made many guest appearances in other series such as Juliet Bravo
Juliet Bravo
Juliet Bravo is a British television series, which ran on BBC1 between 1980 and 1985. The theme of the series concerned a female police inspector who took over control of a police station in the fictional town of Hartley in Lancashire.-Programme name:...
and in the 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...
episode Revelation of the Daleks
Revelation of the Daleks
Revelation of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on 23 March and 30 March 1985...
. From 1995 to 1997, he starred in the sitcom Next of Kin
Next of Kin (TV series)
Next of Kin is a British sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1995 to 1997. It starred Penelope Keith in her last regular sitcom role. It was written byGavin Petrie and Jan Etherington....
opposite Penelope Keith
Penelope Keith
Penelope Anne Constance Keith, CBE, DL is an English actress.Having started her television career in the 1950s, Penelope Keith became a household name in the United Kingdom in the 1970s when she played Margo Leadbetter in the sitcom The Good Life...
. In 2010 he appeared in the Globe Theatre
Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, located on the south bank of the River Thames, but destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt 1614 then demolished in 1644. The modern reconstruction is an academic best guess, based...
production of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Henry IV, Part 1
Henry IV, Part 1
Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. It is the second play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV , and Henry V...
.
William starred in the 2004 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...
audio series Dalek Empire III
The Exterminators (Doctor Who audio)
The Exterminators is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
.
He is currently appearing 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...
series Cast Offs.
He Also Made A Brief Appearance In The Last Episode Of The Series Airline Starring Jack Ruskin (Roy Marsden)
Stage roles
William also has extensive stage experience, both as an actorActor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and a theatre director, including a notable success in playing the Micheál MacLiammóir
Micheál MacLiammóir
Micheál Mac Liammóir , born Alfred Willmore, was an English-born Irish actor, dramatist, impresario, writer, poet and painter. Mac Liammóir was born to a Protestant family living in the Kensal Green neighbourhood of London....
character in Gates of Gold by Frank McGuinness
Frank McGuinness
Professor Frank McGuinness is an award-winning Irish playwright and poet. As well as his own works, which include Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, he is recognised for a "strong record of adapting literary classics, having translated the plays of Racine, Sophocles, Ibsen and...
at the Finborough Theatre
Finborough Theatre
The Finborough Theatre is a fifty seat theatre in the Earls Court area of London, United Kingdom , which presents new British writing, UK and premieres of new plays, primarily from the English speaking world including North America, Canada, Scotland and Ireland, music theatre, and rarely seen...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
.
William appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
production of The Seagull
The Seagull
The Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
, sharing the role of Sorin with Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
; and appeared in King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
as Gloucester at the New London Theatre
New London Theatre
The New London Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden...
in Drury Lane
Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....
, London, opposite McKellen in the title role following a United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
tour.
He revived his performance as Gloucester in the TV film of the same name
King Lear (2008 TV film)
King Lear is a 2008 television film based on the William Shakespeare play of the same name, directed by Trevor Nunn. It was broadcast on More4 in the UK on Christmas Day, and shown on PBS in America in March 2009...
released in late 2008.
Personal life
William married actress Carolyn Lyster on 7 September 1974. They have a daughter Matilda and a son Albie.External links
- "20 Questions With... William Gaunt", What's On Stage, 6 November 2006