John Stride

[FilmBuffFred]

Hello,



Does anyone know what happened to the excellent actor John Stride?



Perhaps his best known film role was as the psychiatrist in "The Omen" (1976), but he turned out many memorable performances on TV before disappearing from our screens in the early 90s.



Your help would be appreciated.



Thanks!

[Russ]

If memory serves didn't he marry one of the daughters of the Pilkington glass empire, this might have dulled his ambition somewhat

[Ian K McLachla]

I thought John Stride was very good in Wilde Alliance. I am now watching The Main Chance and he is good in that too. Does anyone know if he is still acting? Thanks.

[EllyMack]

I saw John as Falstaff in a 1986/87 production of Henry IV at Nottingham. Sheer brilliance and I wouldn't have believed it was him if I hadn't read it in the programme notes.

[wellendcanons]

John Stride is a very fine actor. He was superb in the film "Bitter Harvest" with Janet Munro and Anne Cunningham. Francis Matthews also starred in it. It was a kind of triangular love affair about a girl, (Munro),who winds up in London after a wild night out. She meets Stride accidentally when she arrives at the pub where he is working to meet another guy and when he doesn't turn up Stride starts to take a bit of an interest. Munro has big ideas about her career so she doesn't take too well to Stride's hopeless dream about moving to Australia on the pittance he is earning, which mainly goes on the rent. Thora Hird is typically brilliant as his landlady. Then there's Cunningham who works behind the bar with Stride and it's obvious to the viewer that she fancies him. Only he's too much in love with Munro to see it and Munro is too much in love with herself to care.



This is one of my all-time favourite films. I wanted to include it in my album but I couldn't find a poster. The film "Bitter Harvest" was made from the book "Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky" by Patrick Hamilton. There was also a TV series made a few years ago under the title of the book.



wellendcanons.

[Joe Fraguela]

John Stride is a very fine actor. He was superb in the film "Bitter Harvest" with Janet Munro and Anne Cunningham. Francis Matthews also starred in it. It was a kind of triangular love affair about a girl, (Munro),who winds up in London after a wild night out. She meets Stride accidentally when she arrives at the pub where he is working to meet another guy and when he doesn't turn up Stride starts to take a bit of an interest. Munro has big ideas about her career so she doesn't take too well to Stride's hopeless dream about moving to Australia on the pittance he is earning, which mainly goes on the rent. Thora Hird is typically brilliant as his landlady. Then there's Cunningham who works behind the bar with Stride and it's obvious to the viewer that she fancies him. Only he's too much in love with Munro to see it and Munro is too much in love with herself to care.



This is one of my all-time favourite films. I wanted to include it in my album but I couldn't find a poster. The film "Bitter Harvest" was made from the book "Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky" by Patrick Hamilton. There was also a TV series made a few years ago under the title of the book.



wellendcanons.

The above is the film poster for Bitter Harvest which I have found on Amazon and the seller is selling it for £95.00

[Ray]

I loved Bitter Harvest, and was very impressed with John Stride and Janet Munro.

From what I can remember of the film, the above poster seems to be rather misleading.

[Tigon Man]

Has anyone have an update on what became of John Stride? Someone on the Imdb forum thought he might have passed away in 1997, this seems unlikely though and there is nothing on the net to substantiate this claim.

Even if he had married into the Pilkington glass empire I wouldn't have thought that he would have vanished completely, it's a bit of a mystery that such a prolific actor has not set foot on screen or theatre? since c1993.

Perhaps it was appearing nude opposite the lovely Rosalind Bennett in the atrocious telly Growing Rich in 1992, that sent him into early retirement...

[glyn horton]

Just watched an episode of The Main Chance and had a look on imdb to find out more about John Stride's credits. There's a post on the message board there about Martin Shaw appearing on the One Show in July where he mentioned Stride had passed away (Shaw was appearing in a play Stride had previously appeared in). Stride seemed to be everywhere on British telly in the 70s - is there any confirmation of this? Does seem strange as he was quite a prolific actor

[wellendcanons]

I've just read the message board. Apparantly there is mention of his death on the DVD commentary of The Omen as well. It isn't mentioned anywhere else though. Frankly, I would be very surprised if his death has completely escaped the attention of the media. He was too well known. It is possible that he may suffered ill health and possibly died some time later. I am still surprised we haven't heard about it though. Surely we would have heard something!

wec

[wellendcanons]

Having given this a lot more thought it seems to me that as odd as it might seem that we've heard nothing about the death of such a high profiled British actor, it's perhaps even more odd that we've heard nothing at all about him if he is still alive! If he has died it's incredible that there is no information about it, especially with sources of information like the internet. However, two reliable sources have reported him dead and at the time he might likely have died information wasn't as easy to obtain as it is today.

My gut feeling is that he has died and it's somehow miraculously gone unnoticed. We could do with Euryale's excellent sleuthing skills on this one.

wec

[wellendcanons]

This is the clip from The One Show on You Tube that Martin Shaw refers to John Stride's death. Martin mentions doing the play The Country Girl in 1983 with Hannah Gordon and John Stride, bless him, God rest him. It's five and a half mins into the video. There's also a clip from the original play with Martin and Hannah.



I'm feeling fairly sure now that John Stride has passed on.

wec

[Tigon Man]

I've been intrigued by this as well. A check on the register of deaths online from 1993 until the latest details in 2006 reveals no one named Stride with the DOB 11/07/1936. Although I did note someone with a similar date of birth and the right sort of area (Richmond Surrey, I believe JS lived or lives in nearby Barnes. But if it's him who knows?) As you say WEC it seems inconceivable that an actor of his stature could pass away without it being recorded anywhere. If it were in the years post 2006, I'm sure someone would be able to shed some light on the matter, being fairly recent.

You would have to assume that Martin Shaw and to a lesser extent the guy on the Omen DVD would have more knowledge than most, so I'll go with them in this matter but it's very puzzling.

[didi-5]

If he had died then it is very sad that no major newspaper or The Stage has carried an obituary. It would be good to get a confirmation if anyone knows for sure.

[wellendcanons]

I've been intrigued by this as well. A check on the register of deaths online from 1993 until the latest details in 2006 reveals no one named Stride with the DOB 11/07/1936. Although I did note someone with a similar date of birth and the right sort of area (Richmond Surrey, I believe JS lived or lives in nearby Barnes. But if it's him who knows?) As you say WEC it seems inconceivable that an actor of his stature could pass away without it being recorded anywhere. If it were in the years post 2006, I'm sure someone would be able to shed some light on the matter, being fairly recent.

You would have to assume that Martin Shaw and to a lesser extent the guy on the Omen DVD would have more knowledge than most, so I'll go with them in this matter but it's very puzzling.

Hi Tigon.

I've got The Omen on DVD and I've just played both audio commentaries of John Stride's introductory scene. In the first, editor Stuart Baird tells director Richard Donner that he thinks John Stride has just died recently. I've no idea when this audio commentary was made but I'll try to play it through sometime in the near future. This is a real mystery. Thanks for checking on the register of deaths. I really want to get to the bottom of this.

wec

[susanduic]

I saw him in a pub in Battersea around 1994 and he looked and sounded very well, that of course is a long time ago now!

[glyn horton]

Very sad if his death has gone unrecorded. But it seems really strange if this is the case as he was a leading man in his day. I hope someone will be able to shed some light on this soon.

[wellendcanons]

Very sad if his death has gone unrecorded. But it seems really strange if this is the case as he was a leading man in his day. I hope someone will be able to shed some light on this soon.

Same here Glyn. I won't rest until I find out what's happened to John.

wec

[wellendcanons]

John Stride in The Main Chance first season opening credits.

wec

[wellendcanons]

Just to confuse everyone even more. This page from the UK TV Guide would certainly give the impression John is still with us.
John Stride : Actor - Films, episodes and roles. - UK TV Guide
wec