John Woodvine, British Stage Veteran and ‘American Werewolf in London’ Actor, Dies at 96

 John Woodvine, the British actor who had a long career on the stage and played a doctor in *An American Werewolf in London*, died on Monday. His agent, Phil Belfield, shared the news. He was 96 years old.

Woodvine acted as cops on the British crime shows *Z Cars* from 1963 to 1969 and *New Scotland Yard* from 1972 to 1974.

 He was the Marshal of Atrios in the 1979 *Doctor Who* episode *The Armageddon Factor* and appeared as the Archbishop of York on the first season of Netflix's *The Crown* in 2016.

He was in over 70 stage plays at the Old Vic, the National Theatre, and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In 1970, he played Banquo in a famous *Macbeth* production at the RSC, directed by Trevor Nunn, alongside Ian McKellen and Judi Dench.

 This play was also shown on TV. In 1980, he acted as the main bad guy, Ralph Nickleby, in *The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby*.

Woodvine won an Olivier Award in 1987 for his comedy role in *The Henrys* at the Old Vic.

In *An American Werewolf in London* (1981), written and directed by John Landis, he played Dr. Hirsch.

 He went to the Slaughtered Lamb pub in Yorkshire to look into an attack on David Kessler (David Naughton) and his friend Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) on the moors.

Born on July 21, 1929, in South Shields, County Durham, England, Woodvine served in the RAF during his National Service.

 He worked as a clerk for a wool merchant before he started acting. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and graduated in 1953.

He joined the Old Vic in 1954 and performed in plays like *Macbeth*, *The Taming of the Shrew*, *As You Like It*, *Henry IV*, *Julius Caesar*, *Othello*, and *Romeo and Juliet*.

 He took four of these shows to Broadway between 1954 and 1957.

After playing Detective Inspector Witty on *Z Cars*, he appeared in 1965 on *Secret Agent* with Patrick McGoohan and made his first appearance on *Coronation Street*.

 A year later, he was in the pilot for *The Saint*, starring Roger Moore.

In 2005, he played Frank Gallagher’s father on the Channel 4 drama *Shameless*.

His film work included *Darling* (1965) by John Schlesinger, *The Devils* (1971) by Ken Russell, *Young Winston* (1972) by Richard Attenborough, *Wuthering Heights* (1992), *Dragonworld* (1994), *Vanity Fair* (2004), *Miss Potter* (2006), and his last movie role, *Enys Men* (2022).

He also did a lot of radio work for the BBC, including *An Inspector Calls*, *The Cabaret of Dr. Caligari*, and *The Tempest*, among others.

He leaves behind his second wife, actress Lynn Farleigh, whom he married in 1996, and his children, Mary (who is also an actress) and Emma.