John Edward Thaw (3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English actor. He became best known for his television roles starring as Detective Inspector Jack Regan in The Sweeney (1975–1978) and as Detective Chief Inspector Morse in Inspector Morse (1987–2000). He also worked on stage and in films.
For four consecutive years, Thaw was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor for playing Morse, winning in 1990 and 1993. In 1988, he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for the film Cry Freedom. In 2001, he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship.
Early life Born in Gorton, Manchester, to John Edward ("Jack") Thaw, a tool-setter at the Fairey Aviation Company aircraft factory, later a long-distance lorry driver, and Dorothy (née Ablott). Dorothy left when he was seven years old. He and his younger brother, Raymond Stuart (Ray), had a difficult childhood due to their father's long absences. Thaw grew up in Gorton and Burnage, attending the Ducie Technical High School for Boys, gaining just one O Level. He entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) at the age of 16 (two years underage), and won the Academy's Vanburgh Award. Ray emigrated to Australia in the mid-1960s.
Career In 1960, Thaw made his stage début in A Shred of Evidence at the Liverpool Playhouse and was awarded a contract with the theatre. His first film role was a bit part in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) starring Tom Courtenay and he also acted on stage opposite Laurence Olivier in Semi-Detached (1962). In 1963/64, he appeared in several episodes of the BBC series Z-Cars as a detective constable. Between 1964 and 1966, he starred in two series of the ABC Weekend Television/ITV production Redcap, playing the hard-nosed military policeman Sergeant John Mann. He was also a guest star in an early episode of The Avengers. In 1967 he appeared in Bat Out of Hell and in the Granada TV/ITV series Inheritance, alongside James Bolam and Michael Goodliffe; TV plays including The Talking Head, and episodes of series such as Budgie, where he played against type as an effeminate failed playwright with a full beard and a Welsh accent.
Thaw was cast in the police drama series The Sweeney (1975–1978) alongside Dennis Waterman and Garfield Morgan, playing the hard-bitten, tough-talking Flying Squad detective Jack Regan. It established him as a major star in the United Kingdom. He followed this with four series of the sitcom Home to Roost (1985–1990), which co-starred Reece Dinsdale, about a divorced father whose teenage son moves back in with him after choosing as a child to live with his mother. He had previously co-starred in another ITV sitcom, Thick as Thieves (1974), with Bob Hoskins.
Thaw's role as Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse in Inspector Morse (1987–93, with later specials until 2000), cemented his fame. Alongside his put-upon Detective Sergeant Robert "Robbie" Lewis (Kevin Whately), Morse became a high-profile character—"a cognitive curmudgeon with his love of classical music, his drinking, his classic Jaguar and spates of melancholy". According to The Guardian, "Thaw was the definitive Morse, grumpy, crossword-fixated, drunk, slightly anti-feminist, and pedantic about grammar." Inspector Morse became one of the UK's most popular TV series; at its peak in the mid-'90s, it was viewed by 18 million people, about one third of the British population. He won "Most Popular Actor" at the 1999 National Television Awards and won two BAFTA awards for his role as Morse. Thaw is mainly known in the United States for Inspector Morse, as well as for the BBC series A Year in Provence (1993) with Lindsay Duncan.
Thaw subsequently played liberal working-class Lancastrian barrister James Kavanagh in Kavanagh QC (1995–99, and a special in 2001).
Thaw appeared in a number of films for director Richard Attenborough, including Cry Freedom, in which he portrayed the conservative South African justice minister Jimmy Kruger (receiving a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor), and Chaplin, playing the English music hall impresario Fred Karno alongside Robert Downey Jr. (Chaplin).
Thaw also appeared in the TV adaptation of the Michelle Magorian book Goodnight Mister Tom (Carlton Television/ITV). It won "Most Popular Drama" at the National Television Awards, 1999.Goodnight Mister Tom synopsis . ITV. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Thaw appeared in productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.
Thaw was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1981 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in the foyer of the National Theatre in London.
Personal life In 1964, Thaw married Sally Alexander,Shut It! a feminist activist and stage manager, later professor of history at Goldsmiths, University of London. They divorced four years later. He met actress Sheila Hancock in 1969 on the set of So What About Love? She was married to fellow actor Alexander "Alec" Ross. They became friends, but she refused to have an affair as she did not want to disrupt her daughter's life. Following the death of her husband (from oesophageal cancer) in 1971, Thaw and Hancock married on 24 December 1973 in Cirencester. They remained together until his death in 2002 (also from oesophageal cancer).
Thaw had three daughters (all actresses): Abigail from his first marriage to Sally Alexander, Joanna from his second marriage to Sheila Hancock, and he also adopted Sheila Hancock's daughter Melanie Jane, from Hancock's first marriage to Alec Ross. His granddaughter Molly Whitmey made a cameo in the Endeavour episode "Oracle" (series 7, episode 1, broadcast 9 February 2020) as the younger version of her grandmother Sally Alexander.
Thaw was a committed socialist and a lifelong supporter of the Labour Party. He was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE), the insignia for which he received in March 1993 from Queen Elizabeth II.
Illness and death A heavy drinker until going teetotal in 1995, and a heavy smoker from the age of 12, Thaw was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in June 2001. He underwent chemotherapy in the hope of overcoming the illness, and at first had appeared to respond well to the treatment, but just before Christmas 2001 he was informed that the cancer had spread and the prognosis was terminal.
Thaw died on 21 February 2002, aged 60, the day after he signed a new contract with ITV. At the time of his death he was living at his country home, near the villages of Luckington and Sherston in Wiltshire, and was cremated in Westerleigh, near Yate in South Gloucestershire, in a private service. A memorial service was held on 4 September 2002 at St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square, attended by 800 people including Charles, Prince of Wales, Richard Attenborough, Tom Courtenay and Cherie Blair.
A memorial bench is dedicated to Thaw within the grounds of St Paul's, Covent Garden.
Television +YearTitleRoleNotes1961The Younger GenerationCustomer / Max / Edward / Charlie / Peter / Denny / Martin1961-1964ITV Play of the WeekVarious3 episodes1962Probation Officer Stan Liddell1 episodeSmashing DayStanTV filmNil CarborundumACI Neville Harrison1963BBC Sunday-Night PlayCharlieEpisode: "So Long Charlie"ITV Television PlayhouseBarrittEpisode: "The Lads"Z CarsDetective Constable Elliot4 episodes1963–1965The Edgar Wallace Mystery TheaterAlan Roper / David Jones"Five to One" / "Dead Man's Chest"1964The AvengersCaptain TrenchEpisode: "Espirit De Corps"1964–1966RedcapSergeant John Mann2 series1966Bat Out of Hell Mark Paxton 5 episodesDrama 61-67Harry FoxEpisode: "The Assassin at the Door"1966- 1973BBC Play of the MonthVarious3 episodes1967InheritanceWill OldroydMiniseries1969The BorderersSir RichardEpisode: "Dispossesed"Strange ReportInspector JennerEpisode: "Revenge - When a Man Hates"1969-1973ITV Saturday Night TheatreVarious4 episodes1971ITV Sunday Night DramaHimEpisode: "Turn of the Year: Parcel"Budgie Denzil DaviesEpisode: "Sunset Mansions, or Whatever Happened to Janey-Baib?"The Onedin LineCarbyEpisode: "Mutiny"1971-1972Armchair TheatreTony/Peter2 episodes1972PretendersFast JackEpisode: "The Paymaster"The FrightenersWoodEpisode: "Old Comrades"ITV PlayhouseWilliamsEpisode: "Refuge for a Hero"The Adventures of Black BeautyJack DesmondEpisode: "The Hostage"1973The Rivals of Sherlock HolmesLt. HolstEpisode: "The Sensible Action of Lieutenant Holst"The ProtectorsMario CarpianoEpisode: "Lena"1974Armchair CinemaDI Jack ReganEpisode: "Regan"Thick As ThievesStanThe Capone InvestmentTom1975–1978The SweeneyDet. Insp. Jack Regan53 episodes1976The Morecambe & Wise Show GuvnorChristmas special1978Play for TodayDinny MatthewsEpisode: Dinner at the Sporting Club1980Drake's VentureFrancis DrakeTV film1984Killer WaitingMajor Peter HastingsMitchTom "Mitch" MitchellMiniseriesBBC Television ShakespeareHubert de BurghEpisode: The Life and Death of King John1985We'll Support You EvermoreGeoff HollinsTV movie1985–1990Home to RoostHenry Willows4 series1987–2000Inspector MorseDetective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse33 television films1987The Return of Sherlock HolmesJonathan SmallEpisode: The Sign of Four1989Bomber HarrisSir Arthur "Bomber" HarrisTV film1991Stanley and the WomenStanley DukeMiniseries1992A Year in ProvencePeter Mayle1995Screen TwoGeorge JonesEpisode: The Absence of War1995–2001Kavanagh QCJames Kavanagh, Q.C.6 series1998Goodnight Mister Tom Tom OakleyTV film1999Plastic ManJoe McConnellMiniseriesThe Second World War in ColourNarratorDocumentary2000Monsignor RenardMonsignor Augustine RenardMiniseries2001The GlassJim Proctor
Film Year Title Roles1962 The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner Bosworth (uncredited) 1963 Five To One Alan Roper 1965 Dead Man's ChestDavid Jones 1968 The Bofors Gun Featherstone 1970 Praise Marx and Pass the Ammunition Dom The Last Grenade Terry Mitchell 1972 Dr. Phibes Rises Again Shavers 1977 Sweeney! Detective Inspector Jack Regan 1978 Sweeney 2 1981 Killing Heat Dick Turner 1987 Cry Freedom Jimmy Kruger 1988 Business As Usual Kieran Flynn 1992 Chaplin Fred Karno 1996 Masculine Mescaline The Man 1998 Goodnight Mister Tom Tom Oakley
Theatre