Tony Beckley

[Cuffy]

I think it was a combination of recently reading the Sheila Hancock biography of John Thaw, and recently watching The Italian Job, that got me thinking about flicks that Tony Beckley had appeared in.



Any favourite films or thoughts? Anybody out there who worked with Tony Beckley?

[smudge]

I think it was a combination of recently reading the Sheila Hancock biography of John Thaw, and recently watching The Italian Job, that got me thinking about flicks that Tony Beckley had appeared in.



Any favourite films or thoughts? Anybody out there who worked with Tony Beckley?

My wife's quite a fan of Tony Beckley and has trawled the internet for further details. The sad truth is that there's not a lot out there on him. She even found a bulletin board post from his nieces who were trying to find information about him and his work.



I have (where possible) spoken briefly to some people who worked with him - one just last week, in fact - and everybody speaks well of him.



Fave roles ? Of course, Camp Freddie ; Harrison Chase in Doctor Who's 'Seeds of Doom' ; the drunken pianist in Hammer's dreadful 'The Lost Continent' and the frustrated hubby in 'Assault'. Not forgetting, of course, his marvellous drag act in an episode of Special Branch...



SMUDGE

[harryfielder]

I worked with Tony on Seeds Of Doom and he was a really nice funny guy.

(Died too young)





Aitch,

[smudge]

I worked with Tony on Seeds Of Doom and he was a really nice funny guy.

(Died too young)





Aitch,

Mrs. Smudge's favourite Aitch, with you stomping all round Athelhampton !



SMUDGE

[harryfielder]

Not to sure about people stomping around my Hampton,



Aitch,

[Cuffy]

Thanks for your responses. It's a shame that there isn't much info on Tony Beckley out there, I've always been impressed (and intrigued) by his performance on screen.



Other appearances of his that strike me, whilst mentally browsing through my own film collection, are Gold and Get Carter.



Good to see some of the others mentioned though - it's not all that long ago since I last watched Seeds of Doom, but I'm hankering for another viewing of that one in particular.

[jacobean]

He will always be remembered as Camp Freddie in the IJ, but was good at playing popping up as seedy characters like the snappily dressed Peter in Get Carter and the baddie (cant remember the character's name) in Gold - trying to run over Bradford Dillman (sp?) in that Rolls Royce. There isnt much on him. Get the impression he was quite private albeit a very nice person to work with.

He also appeared briefly in Sitting Target - a pretty nasty thriller with Oliver Reed as a nutcase

[Jeremy Hawthorn]

I grew up in Bromley, south London, in the 1950s. Tony Beckley was a regular repertory actor at the New Theatre - now I think the Churchill Theatre. It was quite a surprise for me to see him in high visibility films some years later. I wonder if anyone has ever written a study of the all the actors and actresses at that theatre who went on to make names for themselves in later years. I remember at that time TB had very distinctive curls above the ears that the girls of my age started to refer to as "beckleys" when anyone else affected them.

[wearysloth]

I wonder if he went Stateside seeking some specialist medical treatment at the end.

And along the way contributed one of the cinema's scariest moments in When a Stranger Calls...

Terrific undervalued actor.

[Billytimes3]

I also remember seeing Tony B in the 1978 movie 'Revenge of the Pink Panther' and what is particularly funny is the bloopers, posted on Youtube, of the 'fart in the elevator' gag, with Peter Sellers corpsing and making Tony and others including Robert Loggia crack up as well !

[vincenzo]

He also delivered the memorably bizarre alligator speech in The Penthouse (so bizarre it even appeared on the Ember soundtrack).

[cornershop15]

I also liked Tony's performances in The Italian Job and Get Carter, both starring Michael Caine, and have seen his guest roles in The Saint (two episodes), Callan and Special Branch on DVD. Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight, Sitting Target, and The Revenge of the Pink Panther are the only other performances I've watched, all long ago, but I intend to buy the boxset of Manhunt in the near future.

TVTimes listing, 7th November 1965

One of Tony's forgotten credits is an episode of ITV series Knock on Any Door:


Harry Benson, a First Offender, is sent to jail for six months for armed robbery.

Curious nicknames for some of the other characters: 'The Boot' (Peter Vaughan), 'Thumper' (George Innes) and 'Maggot' (George Tovey). Knock on Any Door was one of five collaborations with director Peter Collinson but the latter's contribution to it hasn't been acknowledged at the IMDb - yet. I'll do that later.

The other Joint Ventures were the Sergeant Cork episode The Case of the Wounded Warder (1964), which I'm sad to learn is lost, and the films The Penthouse (1967), The Long Day's Dying (1968) and The Italian Job (1969). Still no sign of The Penthouse being released but fans will be delighted that The Fiend (1972) is due to appear this very day:

The Fiend [Uncut] DVD: Amazon.co.uk: Tony Beckley, Ann Todd, Patrick Magee, Robert Hartford-Davis

[cornershop15]

I discovered yesterday that new thread subject Ann Bell was in an Episode of the Same Title, the less fortunate Blackmail: First Offender.

TVTimes coverage for ITV Playhouse - Murder: The Dancing Man, 27th April 1968

A fascinating photograph of three rarely-seen, dare I say forgotten stars:


From the 'Playbill' feature, written on this occasion by Innes Gray. With an Armchair Theatre preview:

The Good News is both plays still exist in the archives. The Bad News - very little chance of seeing them.

Again, great pictures of Tony and Frances:


The ITC Connection

So far, I've only seen Terence Edmond in The Persuaders! and Louise Pajo in Strange Report and two episodes of UFO. Frances Cuka was a guest in The Champions but I also know her from Adam Adamant Lives!, the musical Scrooge (as Mrs. Cratchit) and the Hammer House of Horror story Charlie Boy, where she strongly resembled Lynda La Plante. Tony Beckley was in The Saint twice and, years later, Jason King.

[Blackhall Rocks....]

The episode of Jason King was 'Toki', co-starring Felicity Kendall and Kieron Moore. It was one of the later screen appearances of Kieron Moore.