Michael Goodliffe
Born
October 1, 1914
Died
March 20, 1976 (61 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Bebington, Cheshire, England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (1 October 1914 – 20 March 1976) was an English actor best known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working class parts.
Goodliffe was born in Bebington, Cheshire (now Merseyside), the son of a vicar, and educated at St Edmund's School, Canterbury, and Keble College, Oxford. He started his career in repertory theatre in Liverpool before moving on to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon. He joined the British Army at the beginning of World War II, and received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in February 1940. He was wounded in the leg and captured at the Battle of Dunkirk. Goodliffe was incorrectly listed as killed in action, and even had his obituary published in a newspaper. He was to spend the rest of the war a prisoner in Germany.
Whilst in captivity he produced and acted in (and in some cases wrote) many plays and sketches to entertain fellow prisoners. These included two productions of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, one in Tittmoning and the other in Eichstätt, in which he played the title role. He also produced the first staging of Noel Coward's Post Mortem at Eichstätt. A full photographic record of these productions exists.
After the war he resumed his professional acting career. As well as appearing in the theatre he worked in film and television. He appeared in The Wooden Horse in 1950 and in other POW films. His best known film was A Night to Remember (1958) in which he played Thomas Andrews, builder of the RMS Titanic. His best known television series was Sam (1973–75) in which he played an unemployed Yorkshire miner. He also appeared with John Thaw and James Bolam in the 1967 television series Inheritance.
Suffering from depression, Goodliffe had a breakdown in 1976 during the period that he was rehearsing for a revival of Equus. He committed suicide a few days later by leaping from a hospital fire escape, whilst a patient at the Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon, London.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Goodliffe, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
The Making of 'A Night to Remember'
Self (archive footage)
1993
To the Devil a Daughter
George de Grass
1976
In Sickness and in Health
Dr David Muray
1975
Sam
Jack Barraclough · (39 episodes)
1973
Don't Be Like Brenda
Narrator (uncredited)
1973
Hitler: The Last Ten Days
General Weidling
1973
The Protectors
De Santos · (1 episode)
1972
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
Thomas More
1972
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Mr. Teevee (uncredited)
1971
Hine
(13 episodes)
1971
Still Life
David
1970
The Company Man
Mr. Lansing
1970
Macbeth
Duncan
1970
Cromwell
Solicitor General
1970
The 5th Day of Peace
Snow
1970
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Arthur de Crecy · (1 episode)
1969
The Fixer
Ostrovsky
1968
Cities At War
Self - Narrator · (4 episodes)
1968
Inheritance
Mr. Oldroyd · (10 episodes)
1967
Man in a Suitcase
(1 episode)
1967
Callan
(5 episodes)
1967
The Jokers
Lt. Col. Paling
1967
The Night of the Generals
Hauser
1967
The Connoisseur
Rev. Adrian Tenterden
1966
Thirty-Minute Theatre
The Minister · (1 episode)
1965
Von Ryan's Express
Captain Stein
1965
The Man with Two Faces
Jeff Driscoll
1964
The Gorgon
Professor Jules Heitz
1964
The 7th Dawn
Trumphey
1964
Woman of Straw
Solicitor
1964
633 Squadron
Squadron Leader Frank Adams
1964
Man in the Middle
Colonel Shaw
1964
80,000 Suspects
Clifford Preston
1963
The £20,000 Kiss
Sir Harold Trevitt
1962
The Saint
Dr. Quintus · (1 episode)
1962
Zero One
(1 episode)
1962
Jigsaw
Clyde Burchard
1962
Number Six
1962
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
Jacko Jackson the Night Editor
1961
No Love for Johnnie
Dr. West
1961
The Avengers
(1 episode)
1961
Maigret
(1 episode)
1960
The Trials of Oscar Wilde
Charles Gill
1960
Peeping Tom
Don Jarvis
1960
Conspiracy of Hearts
Father Desmaines
1960
The Battle of the Sexes
Detective
1960
Testament of Orpheus
English Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
1960
Sink the Bismarck!
Captain Banister
1960
Interpol Calling
Wolf Barstrom · (1 episode)
1959
The White Trap
Inspector Walters
1959
The 39 Steps
Brown
1959
Further Up the Creek
Lt. Commander Blakeney
1958
Three Crooked Men
Shop Customer
1958
A Night to Remember
Thomas Andrews
1958
Up the Creek
Nelson
1958
The Camp on Blood Island
Father Paul Anjou
1958
Carve Her Name with Pride
Coding Expert
1958
Chaucer's England
The Theif
1958
The One That Got Away
R.A.F. Interrogator
1957
Fortune Is a Woman
Detective Insp. Barnes
1957
The Battle of the River Plate
Captain McCall, R.N., British Naval Attache, Buenos Aires
1956
Wicked as They Come
Larry Buckham
1956
Link Span
Narrator (voice)
1956
Dial 999
John Moffat
1955
Quentin Durward
Count De Dunois
1955
Dixon of Dock Green
Garfield Fenton · (1 episode)
1955
The End of the Affair
Smythe
1955
Front Page Story
Kennedy
1954
Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue
Robert Walpole
1953
Sea Devils
Ragan
1953
The Hour of 13
Anderson
1952
Plan for Coal
1952
Ocean Terminal
Narrator (voice)
1952
Cry, the Beloved Country
Martens
1951
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.
Col. Caillard - POW Escort
1951
Family Portrait
Narrator (voice)
1950
The Wooden Horse
Robbie
1950
Stop Press Girl
McPherson
1949
The Small Back Room
Till
1949