John Thaw
John Edward Thaw, was an English actor who appeared in a range of television, stage, and cinema roles. He starred in the television series Inspector Morse as title character Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, Redcap as Sergeant John Mann, The Sweeney as Detective Inspector Jack Regan, Home to Roost as Henry Willows, and Kavanagh QC as title character James Kavanagh.
Early life
Thaw was born in Gorton, Manchester, to working-class parents Dorothy and John, a long-distance lorry driver. Thaw had a difficult childhood as his mother left when he was seven years old. His younger brother, Raymond Stuart "Ray" emigrated to Australia in the mid-1960s. Thaw grew up in Gorton and Burnage, attending the Ducie Technical High School for Boys. He entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the age of 16.Career
Soon after leaving RADA, Thaw made his formal stage début in A Shred of Evidence at the Liverpool Playhouse and was awarded a contract with the theatre. His first film role was a bit part in the adaptation of The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner starring Tom Courtenay and he also acted on-stage opposite Sir Laurence Olivier in Semi-Detached by David Turner. He appeared in several episodes of the BBC police series Z-Cars in 1963–64 as a detective constable. Between 1964 and 1966, he starred in two series of the ABC Weekend Television/ITV production Redcap, playing the hard-nosed military policeman Sergeant John Mann. He was also a guest star in an early episode of The Avengers. In 1967 he appeared in Bat Out of Hell. In 1967 he appeared in the Granada TV/ITV series, Inheritance, alongside James Bolam and Michael Goodliffe, as well as appearing in TV plays such as The Talking Head and episodes of series such as Budgie, where he played against type as an effeminate failed playwright with a full beard and a Welsh accent.Thaw will perhaps be best remembered for two roles: the hard-bitten, tough talking Flying Squad detective Jack Regan in the Thames Television/ITV series The Sweeney, which established him as a major star in the United Kingdom. The series had two film spin-offs. Thaw was only 32 when he was cast in The Sweeney, although many viewers thought he was older.
The second role was the quietly spoken, introspective, well-educated and bitter detective Inspector Morse. Alongside his put-upon Detective Sergeant Lewis, Morse became a high-profile character—"a cognitive curmudgeon with his love of classical music, his drinking, his classic Jaguar and spates of melancholy". Thaw was the definitive Morse, grumpy, crossword-fixated, drunk, slightly anti-feminist, and pedantic about grammar. Inspector Morse became one of the UK's most loved TV series; the final three episodes, shown in 2000, were seen by 18 million people, about one third of the British population. He won "Most Popular Actor" at the 1999 National Television Awards and won two BAFTA awards for his role as Morse.
He subsequently played liberal working-class Lancastrian barrister James Kavanagh in Kavanagh QC. Thaw also appeared in two sitcoms—Thick as Thieves with Bob Hoskins and Home to Roost. Thaw is mainly known in America for the Morse series, as well as the BBC series A Year in Provence with Lindsay Duncan.
He appeared in a number of films for director Richard Attenborough, including Cry Freedom, where he portrayed the conservative South African justice minister Jimmy Kruger, and Chaplin alongside Robert Downey Jr..
Thaw also appeared in the TV adaptation of the Michelle Magorian book Goodnight Mister Tom. It won "Most Popular Drama" at the National Television Awards, 1999.
During the 1970s and '80s, Thaw appeared in productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1981 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in the foyer of the National Theatre in London.
Personal life
In the summer of 1964, Thaw married Sally Alexander, a feminist activist and theatre stage manager, and now professor of history at Goldsmiths, University of London. They divorced four years later. He met actress Sheila Hancock in 1969 on the set of a London comedy So What About Love? She was married to fellow actor Alexander "Alec" Ross, and after Thaw professed his love to Hancock, she told him that she would not have an affair. After the death of her husband in 1971, Thaw and Hancock married on 24 December 1973 in Cirencester, and he remained with her until his death in 2002.He had three daughters : Abigail from his first marriage to Sally Alexander, Joanna from his second marriage to Sheila Hancock, and he also adopted Sheila Hancock's daughter Melanie Jane, from Hancock's first marriage to Alec Ross. Melanie Jane legally changed her surname from Ross to Thaw.
Thaw was a committed socialist and lifelong supporter of the Labour Party. He was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in March 1993 by Queen Elizabeth II. In September 2006, Thaw was voted by the general public as number 3, after David Jason and Morecambe and Wise, in a poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars for the past 50 years.
Illness and death
A heavy drinker until going teetotal in 1995, and a heavy smoker from the age of 12, Thaw was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus in June 2001. He underwent chemotherapy in hope of overcoming the illness, at first had appeared to respond well to the treatment but just before Christmas 2001 he was told that the cancer had spread.He died on 21 February 2002, seven weeks after his 60th birthday, the day after he signed a new contract with ITV, and the day before his wife's birthday. At the time of his death he was living at his country home, near the villages of Luckington and Sherston in Wiltshire, and was cremated in Westerleigh, near Yate in South Gloucestershire, in a private service. A memorial service was held on 4 September 2002 at St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square, attended by 800 people including the Prince of Wales, Richard Attenborough, Tom Courtenay and Cherie Blair.
Television, film and stage performances
Television series
- 1961: The Younger Generation – Customer / Max / Edward / Charlie / Peter / Denny / Martin
- 1964 to 1966: Redcap – Sergeant John Mann
- 1963 Z Cars: Detective Constable Elliot
- 1966: Bat Out of Hell – Mark Paxton
- 1974: Thick As Thieves – Stan
- 1974: The Capone Investment – Tom
- 1975 to 1978: The Sweeney – Det. Insp. Jack Regan
- 1984: Mitch – Mitch
- 1985 to 1990: Home to Roost – Henry Willows
- 1987 to 2000: Inspector Morse – Detective Chief Inspector Morse
- 1991: Stanley and the Women – Stanley Duke
- 1992: A Year in Provence – Peter Mayle
- 1995 to 2001: Kavanagh QC – James Kavanagh QC
- 1999: Plastic Man – Joe McConnell
- 2000: Monsignor Renard – Monsignor Augustine Renard
- 2001: The Glass – Jim Proctor
Television films
- 1961: Serjeant Musgrave's Dance
- 1963: The Lads
- 1964: I Can Walk Where I Like, Can't I?
- 1964: The Other Man
- 1966: The Making of Jericho
- 1974: Regan
- 1978: Dinner at the Sporting Club
- 1980: Drake's Venture – Francis Drake
- 1984: Killer Waiting – Major Peter Hastings
- 1984: The Life and Death of King John – Hubert de Burgh
- 1985: We'll Support You Ever More – Geoff Hollins
- 1986: Stainheads
- 1987: "The Sign of Four" – Jonathan Small
- 1989: Bomber Harris – Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris
- 1993: The Mystery of Morse
- 1994: The Absence of War
- 1996: Into the Blue – Harry Barnett
- 1998: Goodnight Mister Tom – Tom Oakley
- 1999: The Waiting Time – Joshua Mantle
- 2000: The Last Morse
- 2000: Inspector Morse: Rest in Peace – Inspector Morse
- 2001: Hidden Treasure / Buried Treasure – Harry
Guest appearances
- 1962 Probation Officer: Episode No. 4.4
- 1963 ITV Television Playhouse: The Lads
- 1963 Z-Cars: A La Carte
- 1963 Z-Cars: Light the Blue Paper
- 1963 Z-Cars: A Quiet Night
- 1963 Z-Cars: Hide – And Go Seek
- 1964 The Avengers: Esprit De Corps
- 1965 A Poor Gentleman: Episode No. 1.1
- 1965 A Poor Gentleman: Episode No. 1.2
- 1965 The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre: Dead Man's Chest
- 1967 Inheritance: Murder
- 1967 Inheritance: A Man of His Time
- 1969 The Borderers: Dispossessed
- 1969 ITV Saturday Night Theatre: The Haunting
- 1969 ITV Saturday Night Theatre: The Talking Head
- 1969 ITV Saturday Night Theatre: In Another Country
- 1969 Strange Report: Report 2475: Revenge – When a Man Hates
- 1970 Play of the Month: Macbeth
- 1970 Happy Ever After: Don't Walk Away
- 1971 Budgie: Sunset Mansions or Whatever Happened to Janey Baib?
- 1971 Armchair Theatre: Competition
- 1971 Suspicion: I'll Go Along with That
- 1971 The Onedin Line: Mutiny
- 1972 Pretenders: The Paymaster
- 1972 The Frighteners: Old Comrades
- 1972 Armchair Theatre: What Became of Me?
- 1972 ITV Playhouse: Refuge for a Hero
- 1972 The Adventures of Black Beauty: The Hostage
- 1973 The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: The Sensible Action of Lieutenant Horst
- 1973 Menace: Tom
- 1973 BBC Play of the Month: Caucasian Chalk Circle
- 1973 ITV Saturday Night Theatre: Passengers
- 1973 The Protectors: Lena
- 1976 The Morecambe & Wise Show: 1976 Christmas Show
- 1977 This Is Your Life: Sheila Hancock
- 1978 The South Bank Show
- 1981 This Is Your Life: John Thaw
- 1982 Saturday Night Thriller: Where is Betty Buchus?
- 1987 Sherlock Holmes episode: The Sign of Four
Theatrical films
- 1962: Smashing Day – Stan
- 1962: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner – Bosworth
- 1962: Nil Carborundum – ACI Neville Harrison
- 1963: Five To One – Alan Roper
- 1965: Dead Man's Chest
- 1968: The Bofors Gun – Featherstone
- 1970: Praise Marx and Pass the Ammunition – Dom
- 1970: The Last Grenade – Terry Mitchell
- 1972: Dr. Phibes Rises Again – Shavers
- 1977: Sweeney! – Det. Insp. Jack Regan
- 1978: Sweeney 2 – Det. Insp. Jack Regan
- 1981: Killing Heat – Dick Turner
- 1987: Cry Freedom – Jimmy Kruger
- 1988: Business As Usual – Kieran Flynn
- 1992: Chaplin – Fred Karno
- 1996: Masculine Mescaline – The Man
- 1998: Goodnight Mister Tom - Tom
Stage
- 1958 Cymbeline
- 1958 As You Like It
- 1958 The Cherry Orchard
- 1958 Pillars of Society
- 1958 The Taming of the Shrew
- 1958 A Winter's Tale
- 1958 The Lady's Not For Burning
- 1958 Twelfth Night
- 1958 MacBeth
- 1959 Hobson's Choice
- 1959 Paradise Lost
- 1959 Antigone
- 1959 Alcestis
- 1959 Faust
- 1959 The Knight of the Burning Pestle
- 1960 A Shred of Evidence
- 1960 The Wind and the Rain
- 1960 Staircase
- 1961 The Fire Raisers
- 1961 Chips With Everything
- 1961 Two into One
- 1962 Women Beware Women
- 1962 Semi-Detached
- 1964 The Father
- 1967 Around The World in 80 Days
- 1967 Little Malcom And His Struggle Against The Eunuchs
- 1969 So What About Love?
- 1970 Random Happenings in the Hebrides by John McGrath
- 1971 The Lady from the Sea
- 1972 Chinamen
- 1972 The New Quixote
- 1972 Black And Silver
- 1972 The Two of Us
- 1973 Collaborators
- 1976 Absurd Person Singular
- 1977 The Two of Us
- 1978 Night and Day
- 1982 Serjeant Musgrave's Dance
- 1983 Twelfth Night
- 1983 The Time of Your Life
- 1983 Henry VIII
- 1984 Pygmalion
- 1986 Two into One
- 1988 All My Sons
- 1993 The Absence of War by David Hare
- 2001 Peter Pan as Captain Hook
Honours and awards
- 1977 Evening Standard British Film Award – Best Actor for: Sweeney!
- 1990 British Academy Award – Best Actor for: "Inspector Morse"
- 1993 British Academy Award – Best Actor for: "Inspector Morse"
- 1994 CBE
- 1995 Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden – Best Foreign TV Personality – Male
- 1998 National Television Award – Most Popular Actor for: "Inspector Morse"
- 1998 Special Recognition Award – Most Popular Actor for: "Inspector Morse"
- 1999 National Television Award – Most Popular Actor for: "Goodnight, Mister Tom"
- 2001 National Television Award – Most Popular Actor for: "Inspector Morse" and Academy Fellowship
- 1988 British Academy Award – Best Actor in a Supporting Role for: "Cry Freedom"
- 1991 British Academy Award – Best Actor for: "Inspector Morse"
- 1992 British Academy Award – Best Actor for: "Inspector Morse"
- 2000 National Television Award – Most Popular Actor for: "Monsignor Renard"
- 2002 National Television Award – Most Popular Actor for: "Buried Treasure"