Not Him Again! - actors we're sick of

[ayrshireman]

Has Stephen Fry ever promoted himself as that? Or are you following someone else's incorrect description of him?

He's not on TV anywhere near as often as many of the bland "presenters" that seem to fill our screens and I would rather have someone with a bit of intelligence presenting a programme like "Planet Word" or his superb documentary on Bipolar Disorder

Steve

No, as I dont think any British actor/entertainer is that arrogant or stupid. If you have any more straw left btw, I could do with some for my back garden.

Sorry, as regarding his intellect, there has been a notion for a while in the press and even I think amongst viewers that he is a towering intellect, and is 'our' equivalent of the definitive great TV minds like Bronowski or Clark. Hence his elevation of status of national treasure. IMO, and I think I am certainly not alone, I know from other TV forums that many people are beginning to think the same way, that there is far too much of an intellectualism surrounding the man. He is after all not a Bronowski or a Clark, he is not a philosopher, historian or social critic, he is a clever and witty comedian/novelist. And perhaps we should enjoy him simply as that, and that he should not start to believe that he is anything more than that.

I think that his well known obsession with twitter and in recent years his willingness to remark on seemingly everything that happens is symptomatic of someone who frankly believes far too much that the British public take very seriously what he says, and that would in itself argue that he has begun to believe this idea that he is some sort of national treasure and intellect to be listened to. I may be wrong, but I think more and more people now find him a bit of a pompous twit, where they didnt a few years ago.

[Richard_in_wales]

I see the Fry series "In America" is on again...and again this coming week I suppose he'll get a knighthood within a decade. He lost all credibility when he smugly announced there was no Welsh word for 'Blue'. I'm sure the research team got an hours flagellation each for that one.

[ShirlGirl]

The ones who irritate me the most are the ones who spend their entire career playing one character in a soap opera and think that that makes them a great actor. William Roach being but one example. He has been in that foul 'Coronation St' thing since it's inception and, in interviews, is never any different from his character.

The word 'actor' to me means one who can play many different roles and look, sound, and move differently in all of them. Someone who, when they appear on your screen, makes you think 'Who is that ?'

A different slant on the topic, but yes, you get sick of seeing them only as one character over the years, and it's not as if they're chalking up 20 years of acting experience - more like one year's experience 20 times!

[Steve Crook]

Sorry, as regarding his intellect, there has been a notion for a while in the press and even I think amongst viewers that he is a towering intellect, and is 'our' equivalent of the definitive great TV minds like Bronowski or Clark. Hence his elevation of status of national treasure. IMO, and I think I am certainly not alone, I know from other TV forums that many people are beginning to think the same way, that there is far too much of an intellectualism surrounding the man. He is after all not a Bronowski or a Clark, he is not a philosopher, historian or social critic, he is a clever and witty comedian/novelist. And perhaps we should enjoy him simply as that, and that he should not start to believe that he is anything more than that.

I think that his well known obsession with twitter and in recent years his willingness to remark on seemingly everything that happens is symptomatic of someone who frankly believes far too much that the British public take very seriously what he says, and that would in itself argue that he has begun to believe this idea that he is some sort of national treasure and intellect to be listened to. I may be wrong, but I think more and more people now find him a bit of a pompous twit, where they didnt a few years ago.

Well here's one viewer who would never think of him as a towering intellect, just a very good comedian/actor/presenter/novelist/playwright.

If people (and that generously includes the press) ask him his opinion on anything and everything is that his fault? If people then believe the nonsense that is written about him rather than by judging him on what he actually does, is that his fault?

As for his being a national treasure, I think that may stem from the time he appeared on "Never Mind the Buzzcocks" where he was hailed as such - but everyone there took it to be a joke

Steve

[Steve Crook]

I see the Fry series "In America" is on again...and again this coming week

Anyone can make a mistake

Actually, that might have been an interesting series if he didn't have to squeeze it into so few episodes so that he could only spend 5 minutes in each state

Steve

[m35541]

I think as someone pointed out this was afr worse in the 1940s to early 1960s when actors could appear in about 10-15 films a year all playing the same type of role. How may times was Denis Shaw propping up a bar or Victor Brooks the investigating police inspector?

[kelp]

Don't sit on the fence matey, say what you really mean!

[alan french]

Hi,
One actor who did have a problem with his finances due to accepting the role of The Master, was sadly, the excellent Roger Delgado.

Many people thought he was a regular member of the then 'permenent' cast of Doctor Who. They did not know that The Master was an occasional character. And did not send in offers of work.

I do not think that it helped that when The Master made his debut, every single story in that season's Doctor Who, featured this character. I must admit, I thought that season over did the introduction of the character. With less offers coming in, Roger and the BBC were going to let The Master die a hero, a reformed character, and let it be known that he was the Doctor's brother. But of course, as we all know, tragic events in real life took over, and Roger Delgado was killed, with a taxi driver, in a road accident.

Alan French.

[Gerald Lovell]

Roger Delgado did get some other work during his time as the Master, such as in THE PERSUADERS! and THE ZOO GANG, but I think gigs were hard to come by for the very reason alan says.
The affection with which Roger is still held nearly 40 years after his death was shown on a recent DOCTOR WHO DVD documentary about him, with his widow Kismet (who got remarried to another actor, William Marlowe) still loving him deeply and Barry Letts who broke down when describing Roger's funeral.
I remember also Nicholas Courtney mentioning he was late for the funeral having got stuck in traffic and sat near the back of the church, but poor Katy Manning's sobs were still audible to him.

[CaptainWaggett]

But surely nobody could have got sick of Roger?