John Morley Shrapnel was an English actor, known mainly for his stage work with the RSC and National Theatre in the UK, and for his many television appearances.
As a stage actor, Shrapnel was a member of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared as Sir Oliver Surface in The School for Scandal at the Barbican Centre in 2011. Shrapnel also appeared extensively on television in roles from the 1960s onwards. He played the Earl of Sussex in Elizabeth R and Alexander Hardinge in Edward and Mrs. Simpson. He appeared in Z-Cars, ', Inspector Morse, GBH, Coogan's Run, Foyle's War, and many other dramas. He presented an episode of the 1983 BBC television travel series Great Little Railways. He performed in three of the BBC Television Shakespeare plays and as Creon in the BBC's productions of the Three Theban plays of Sophocles. He also played Pompey in the second episode of ' and the Jail Warden in The 10th Kingdom, an epic fantasyminiseries. His film career included roles in Nicholas and Alexandra, Pope Joan, Hennessy, Personal Services, Testimony, How to Get Ahead in Advertising, England, My England, 101 Dalmatians, Notting Hill, The Body, ' and Alien Autopsy. He has also appeared in historical films such as Gladiator as Senator Gaius, and in Troy as Nestor. In ' he played Lord Howard and The Duchess as General Grey. Shrapnel had the rare distinction of appearing in two episodes of Midsomer Murders as two characters, in Death in Chorus and Written in Blood. Shrapnel appeared in an episode of Jonathan Creek as Professor Lance Graumann in the episode The Omega Man. He appears in Chemical Wedding alongside Simon Callow, telling the tale of the resurrection of occultist Aleister Crowley. He played John Christie in the episode "Solidarity" of the long running TV seriesWaking the Dead. Shrapnel also had experience in the field of BBC radio drama: He played Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse and starred in William Gibson's Neuromancer. Shrapnel played the character Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Felsham in the New Tricks episode The Fourth Man. He also narrated episodes of Wild Discovery. Shrapnel was the son-in-law of British film actress Deborah Kerr and film and television executive Tony Bartley, through his 1975 marriage to their younger daughter Francesca Ann Bartley. He and Francesca had three sons, the writer Joe Shrapnel, and the actors Lex Shrapnel and Tom Shrapnel. Shrapnel lived the last years of his life with his family in Highbury, north London. His ancestor Henry Shrapnel gave the name shrapnel to the English language. Shrapnel died of lung cancer on Valentines Day, 2020. He was 77 years old.
