Henry Woolf (20 January 1930 – 11 November 2021) was a British actor, theatre director, and teacher of acting, drama and theatre, who spent the second half of his life in Canada. He was a longtime friend and collaborator of 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter, having stimulated Pinter to write his first play, The Room (1957), in 1956. Woolf served as a faculty member at the University of Saskatchewan from 1983 to 1997 and as artistic director of Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan from 1991 until 2001.
Early life Henry Woolf was born to Jewish parents in Homerton, London, on 20 January 1930.Henry Woolf obituary, The Times He was educated at Hackney Downs School, where he met Harold Pinter; he and Pinter were friends and collaborators for over 60 years.Woolf, Henry."My 60 Years in Harold's Gang", The Guardian, 12 July 2007, Stage, accessed 21 August 2008. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of London and then pursued a postgraduate course in directing at the University of Bristol, before going to the United States, to earn a postgraduate diploma from the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, Virginia. Whilst undertaking his directing course at Bristol, he asked his former schoolfriend Harold Pinter if he could write a one-act play for him to produce for his graduation. Pinter said that he had never previously written a play, but would give it a try. Within three days he had written The Room (1957), in which Woolf also originated the role of Mr Kidd.
Professional career Woolf's film credits include San Ferry Ann (1965), Marat/Sade (1967), Tell Me Lies, The Lion in Winter, Great Catherine (all 1968), The Bed Sitting Room, Alfred the Great (both 1969), The Ruling Class, The Love Pill (both 1972), Galileo, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (both 1975), Rogue Male (1976), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978), Gorky Park, Superman III (both 1983), and Maid to Order (1987). In All You Need Is Cash (1978), a film by the Rutles (a fictional mock-Beatles band jointly created by Eric Idle and Neil Innes), Woolf played a character named Arthur Sultan, a fictional spoof of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. His later film appearances include in the 2004 short film Of Note and the 2007 short film smallfilm.
On British television, Woolf played the Man in Harold Pinter's one-man play Monologue (1973); parts in Rutland Weekend Television (1975–1976) and The Sweeney (1975); the Collector in the Doctor Who serial The Sun Makers (1977); served as the host of the 1970s pre-school British educational series Words and Pictures; and performed the role of Doctor Cornelius in the BBC adaptation of Prince Caspian (1989). He also played a role in Steptoe and Son (1974) as local gangster Frankie Barrow, a role which had originated in Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973), the second film spin-off of the series.
Woolf joined the faculty of the University of Saskatchewan in 1983, was promoted to professor in 1990, also serving as head of its Drama Department, and received the university's Master Teacher Award in 1994, before retiring in 1997, at the Canadian mandatory retirement age of 67."An Exclusive Neilinnes.org Interview with Henry Woolf (Arthur Sultan)" , neilinnes.org (Official Website of Neil Innes) 26 May 2005, updated 25 July 2005, accessed 23 August 2008. He served as artistic director of the annual summer Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan festival, in Saskatoon, from 1991http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/discover-more/artists/henry-woolf until his retirement from that position in 2001. In 2001 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Saskatchewan.
In March 2003, Woolf directed an all-female production of Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare, at the University of Winnipeg."Media Release: Renowned British Actor Henry Woolf Directs All-Female Twelfth Night at UWinnipeg" , uwinnipeg.ca (University of Winnipeg) 10 March 2003, accessed 23 August 2008.
In April 2007, Woolf reprised his roles as Mr Kidd in a production of Pinter's The Room (1957), marking the 50th anniversary of the original production, and as the Man in Pinter's Monologue (1973), both of which occurred at the University of Leeds conference Artist and Citizen: 50 Years of Performing Pinter."Artist and Citizen: 50 years of Performing Pinter" , Workshop Theatre, School of English, University of Leeds, 12–14 April 2007. (Includes hyperlinked "Conference Schedule".) He was a member of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. He received the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal on 17 February 2006 Saskatchewan Centennial Medal.
Personal life In 1978, with his wife, actress/director Susan Williamson, whom he married in 1968, Woolf moved to Canada where he took a teaching position at the University of Alberta Drama Department. By 1983, they had settled in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where they were resident until his death. They had four children.
Woolf died on 11 November 2021, at the age of 91.RIP Henry Woolf
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1965 A Home of Your Own 1965 San Ferry Ann French Van Driver 1967 Marat/Sade Father 1968 Tell Me Lies Guest #27 Documentary1968 The Lion in Winter Strolling Player 1968 Great Catherine Egrebyomka 1969 The Bed Sitting Room Electricity Man 1969 Alfred the Great Wenda 1970 Figures in a Landscape Helicopter Pilot 1972 The Ruling Class Inmate #1 1972 Savage Messiah Gendarme Uncredited1972 The Love Pill Libido 1972 The Edwardians" Episode 2 Horatio Bottomley Tommy Cox 1973 Steptoe and Son Ride Again Frankie Barrow 1975 Galileo Father Clavius 1975 The Rocky Horror Picture Show The Transylvanian #18 1976 Rogue Male Ticket Seller TV movie1977 Joseph Andrews Mr. Wilson's Companion 1978 The Hound of the Baskervilles Shopkeeper 1983 Superman III Penguin Man 1983 Gorky Park Levin 1987 Maid to Order Jailer 1990 Sylvan Lake Summer Bastini 2018 Dancing Day Mr. Doudie
Notes
References Andrews, Jamie. "Interviews: Harold Pinter's 'The Room' " . Theatre Archive Project (British Library, the University of Sheffield, and AHRC). Accessed 21 August 2008. (Transcripts of interviews with Susan Engel, James Severns, Auriol Smith, and Henry Woolf.) "An Exclusive Neilinnes.org Interview with Henry Woolf (Arthur Sultan)". neilinnes.org (Official Website of Neil Innes). 26 May 2005. Updated 25 July 2005. Accessed 23 August 2008. Eyre, Richard, and Wright, Nicholas. Changing Stages: A View of British Theatre in the Twentieth Century. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2000. New York: Knopf, 2001. (10). (13). Merritt, Susan Hollis. "Talking about Pinter". The Pinter Review: Collected Essays 2001 and 2002. Ed. Francis Gillen and Steven H. Gale (Tampa: University of Tampa Press, 2002). 144–167. (On the Lincoln Center 2001: Harold Pinter Festival Symposia; Woolf participated in "Actors on Pinter", along with Blythe Danner and Liev Schreiber, as quoted.) –––. "Monologue at Lincoln Center". Pinter Review (2002): 171–182. (Extended performance rev. (19 July 2001) incorporating interview with Woolf (the Man) and director Gari Jones, conducted in New York City on 29 July 2001.) Nathan, David. "First Impressions: Room for a Little One". Jewish Chronicle 17 March 2000: 43. (Lead: "Actor Henry Woolf went to school with Harold Pinter and helped him get his [break?] in the theatre with 'The Room'. Now, Henry and Harold are working together again, David Nathan reports.") [Includes interview with Woolf. Viewable and printable version accessible only to paid subscribers.] Woolf, Henry. "My 60 Years in Harold's Gang". The Guardian 12 July 2007, Stage. Accessed 21 August 2008.
External links
Monologue at haroldpinter.org. The Room at haroldpinter.org.