Noel Frank Johnson (28 December 1916 – 1 October 1999) was a British actor. He was the voice of special agent Dick Barton on BBC Radio and Dan Dare on Radio Luxembourg.
Life Johnson was born 28 December 1916 in West Bromwich, England and attended Bromsgrove School, where his fictional character Dick Barton was listed on the honours boards.Daily Mail 17 March 1947 p.3 "Dick Barton wins – at his old school!" He married Leonora Peacock in 1942: they had one son Gareth Johnson. He died 1 October 1999.Daily Mail 5 October 1999 p 18 "Noel Johnson, voice of Dick Barton, dies at 82"
Career After wartime service in the Royal Army Service Corps, including evacuation from Dunkirk, he was invalided out, and joined the BBC Repertory Company in 1945. He was the original voice of Dick Barton from 7 October 1946, performing over 300 episodes before quitting in 1949 to pursue a stage career.Daily Mail 3 January 1949 p. 1 "Dick Barton Quits – but the show goes on" He was paid £18 per week but felt that he deserved much more for such a popular character. He returned to play Dick Barton once more in a special series in 1972.
In 1969 he appeared in a BBC seven-part David Ellis radio thriller called Find The Lady. He later played Dan Dare on the Radio Luxembourg serial, but his name was kept secret. His assured upper class voice cadence made him ideal for certain characters, notably in the BBC Radio 4 dramatic adaptation of A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell. This was broadcast as 26 one-hour episodes between 1978 and 1981; Johnson played the novel sequence's narrator Nicholas Jenkins, while the younger Nicholas was played by Gareth Johnson in the first 18 episodes. In the last quarter of the series – in which Jenkins is in late middle-age – Johnson plays Jenkins alone.
His movie career included roles in Frenzy, The First Great Train Robbery, For Your Eyes Only and his last film Withnail & I in 1987, where he played a militaristic and drunken bar owner. Johnson also appeared in numerous television dramas until the mid-1990s, including A for Andromeda, The Andromeda Breakthrough, Dixon of Dock Green, Coronation Street, Out of the Unknown, Strangers and Brothers, Little Sir Nicholas, Doomwatch, Death of an Expert Witness, Colditz, Rumpole of the Bailey, Doctor Who (in the serials The Underwater Menace and Invasion of the Dinosaurs), Inspector Morse and A Touch of Frost, amongst many others.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1950 Highly Dangerous Frank Conway Uncredited1951 Appointment with Venus Clark, R.N. 1951 The Case of the Missing Scene Crawford 1955 Little Red Monkey Det. Sgt. Hawkins 1963 The Partner Charles Briers 1966 Bat Out of Hell (TV series) George Stewart Five episodes1972 Frenzy Doctor in Pub 1974 Frightmare The Judge 1974 The Swordsman Christian Duval 1975 Royal Flash Lord Chamberlain 1978 The First Great Train Robbery Connaught 1979 Licensed to Love and Kill Lord Dangerfield 1980 Love in a Cold Climate Lord Stromboli TV Mini-Series, 1 episode1981Lady KillersThomas InskipEpisode: "The Darlingest Boy"1981 For Your Eyes Only Jack, Vice Admiral 1986 Defence of the Realm Club Member 1987 Withnail and I General
References
External links
Noel Johnson obituary