Roy Dotrice (26 May 1923 – 16 October 2017) was a British stage and screen actor. He played the antiquarian John Aubrey in the solo play Brief Lives. He won a Tony Award for his performance in the 2000 Broadway revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten, also appearing as Leopold Mozart in the film version of Amadeus (1984), Charles Dickens in Dickens of London (1976), and Jacob Wells/Father in the TV series Beauty and the Beast.
Late in life, he narrated a series of audiobooks for George R. R. Martin's epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, for which he holds the Guinness World Record for the most character voices by an individual for an audiobook.
Early life Dotrice was born in Guernsey, Bailiwick of Guernsey on 26 May 1923 to Neva (née Wilton; 1897–1984) and Louis Dotrice (1896–1991). He served as a wireless operator/air gunner with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, and was imprisoned in a German prisoner of war camp from 1942 to 1945, after being shot down in an Avro Manchester R5840 of No.106 Squadron based at Coningsby, all seven airmen of the crew being taken Prisoner of War.
Career Radio Dotrice was the voice of "Permanent Under-Secretary Sir Gregory Pitkin" in the early episodes of BBC Radio's long-running comedy The Men from the Ministry. He was succeeded by Ronald Baddiley in the role. He also played the caretaker Ramsay alongside Patricia Hayes in the Radio 2 sitcom Know Your Place.
Theatre Dotrice was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and in the early 1960s played a variety of roles, including Caliban in The Tempest, opposite Tom Fleming's Prospero (dir: Peter Brook), John of Gaunt and Hotspur opposite David Warner's Richard II, and Justice Shallow, opposite Hugh Griffith as Falstaff in Henry IV, and then Edward IV in the Hall/Barton-adapted Shakespeare cycle The Wars of the Roses, later broadcast by the BBC.
Dotrice played the part of John Aubrey in Brief Lives, a one-man play devised and directed by Patrick Garland in which he held the stage for almost three hours (including the interval, during which he would feign sleep). Premiering in 1967 at the Hampstead Theatre in London, the play later toured England, before two productions on Broadway. In 1968 it moved to the Criterion Theatre in the West End, where it ran for 400 performances before transferring to the Mayfair Theatre. He revived the role in 2008, again under Patrick Garland's direction.Brief Lives revival
These runs, combined with extensive international touring, earned Dotrice a place in the Guinness World Records for the greatest number of solo performances (1,782).
His other one-man productions included Mister Lincoln in 1979, and Churchill in 1982, both premiering in Washington, D.C. at Ford's Theatre.
In 1984 he starred opposite Rosemary Harris in a production of Noël Coward's Hay Fever. He appeared in the stage production of Irving Berlin's White Christmas at The Lowry theatre in Salford from November 2009 to January 2010.
Television In the 1970s Dotrice played Charles Dickens in the television mini-series Dickens of London. He also appeared as Albert Haddock in the BBC television adaptation of A. P. Herbert's Misleading Cases in 1971. In 1972 he played the Curé Ponosse in the BBC2 TV adaptation of Clochemerle (1972).
Dotrice played "Father" in the 1980s TV series Beauty and the Beast and Father Gary Barrett, a Catholic priest, in the 1990s series Picket Fences. His acting career dates from 1945 in a revue called Back Home, performed by former prisoners-of-war in aid of the Red Cross. In an episode of Angel, part of the Buffyverse, he played the role of Roger Wyndam-Pryce, the overbearing father of the character Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. An earlier science-fiction role was Commissioner Simmonds in two episodes of the 1970s series Space: 1999. In 1998 Dotrice appeared in three episodes of the series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys as Zeus.
In June 2010 it was announced that Dotrice would be playing the role of Grand Maester Pycelle in the HBO television series Game of Thrones, an adaptation of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books. He later withdrew from the part for medical reasons and Julian Glover was cast in his place.
Shortly after filming for the second season commenced it was confirmed that Dotrice would be returning to play "Wisdom Hallyne the Pyromancer", who is featured in the episodes "The Ghost of Harrenhal" and "Blackwater".
Radio and audiobooks In 1982 BBC Radio 4 broadcast Dotrice's reading of G.B. Edwards' novel The Book of Ebenezer Le Page in twenty-eight 15-minute parts on its Woman's Hour segment. The producer subsequently wrote that the serialisation was "without question the most popular serial I have ever done in the 500 or so I have produced in the last 21 years ...".Edward Chaney, Genius Friend: G.B. Edwards and The Book of Ebenezer Le Page (Blue Ormer Publishing, 2015)
He subsequently performed "The Islander", a stage version of The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, to critical success at the Theatre Royal Lincoln. In 2012 AudioGO produced a complete and unabridged recording of Ebenezer Le Page, which is available on Audible.
Dotrice recorded audiobooks for each book in George R. R. Martin's series A Song of Ice and Fire. In 2005, when he was replaced by John Lee for the fourth installment, A Feast for Crows, due to his health, fans petitioned and argued for a re-release with Dotrice once he was able to perform again. Random House, the publisher, relented and Dotrice's version was released in 2011. That same year, he was awarded the world record for most character voices in an audiobook for his recording of A Game of Thrones, which contained 224.
Dotrice also narrated many storybook adaptations for Disney Records, including The Little Mermaid and Pooh's Heffalump Movie, for which he was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Personal life and death Dotrice was married to Kay Newman (1929–2007), a television and stage actress, from 1947 until her death in 2007.Passings, The Los Angeles Times, 2007-08-09. Retrieved 2014-01-07. They had three daughters—Michele, Yvette and Karen—all of whom have acted at various times in their lives. He was the father-in-law of actors Edward Woodward (Michele) and Alex Hyde-White (Karen).
For more than twenty five years, Dotrice was a resident of the Highland Garden Hotel in Los Angeles where he lived with his wife in room 222, a suite once occupied by L Ron Hubbard.
Dotrice was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours. He died on 16 October 2017 in London, aged 94.
Filmography
Film
Roy Dotrice's theatrical film credits include:*Sources:
The Heroes of Telemark (1965) – Jensen A Twist of Sand (1968) – David Garland Lock Up Your Daughters (1969) – Gossip The Buttercup Chain (1970) – Martin Carr-Gibbons Toomorrow (1970) – John Williams Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) – General Alexeiev Hændeligt uheld [One of those Things] (1971 Danish film) - Henrik Vinther Tales From The Crypt (1972) – Charles Gregory (segment 4 "Wish You Were Here") Hide and Seek (1972) – Mr Grimes Saturn 3 (1980, voice overdub of Harvey Keitel) – Benson (voice, uncredited) Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers (1984) – The Evil Fuckaire/Ye Old Jailer Amadeus (1984) – Leopold Mozart Eliminators (1986) – Abbott Reeves Suburban Commando (1991) – Zanuck The Cutting Edge (1992) – Anton Pamchenko Swimming with Sharks (1994) – Cyrus Miles The Scarlet Letter (1995) – Rev Thomas Cheever Alien Hunter (2003) – Dr John Bachman These Foolish Things (2006) – Lord Carter Played (2006) – Jack Rawlings Go Go Tales (2007) – Jay Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) – King Balor
Television + Roy Dotrice television credits Year Title Role Notes 1957 The Adventure Sailor TV movie Treasure Island Abe Gray TV miniseries 1959 A Midsummer Night's Dream Egeus TV movie1962The Cherry OrchardFirsTV movie1963Boyd Q.C.Mr. JacobsEpisode: "What the Eye Doesn't See"1965Armchair TheatreDonald TimwoodStory: "A Cold Peace"1965- 1966The Wars of the RosesKing Edward IV/ Jack Cade6 episodes1966The LiarsFogarty1 episodePublic EyeDonald ScottEpisode: "Don't Forget You're Mine"Theatre 625RobinsonStory: "Amerika"1967Armchair TheatreAaron ToftStory: "I'am Osango"The Wednesday PlayDadStory: "Dial Rudolph Valentino One One" 1967- 1971 A.P. Herbert's Misleading Cases Albert Haddock 19 episodes (3 series)1968Late Night HorrorDouglas StoneStory: "The Kiss of Blood"1969The Gold RobbersFreddy LambEpisode: "Crack Shot"Imperial PalaceEvelyn Orchram4 episodes1970Tales of UneaseKayo HathawayStory: "Bad Bad Jo Jo"1971The Rivals of Sherlock HolmesSimon CraneStory: "The Duchess of Wiltshire's Diamonds" 1972 Clochemerle Curé Ponosse 8 episodes 1975 Space: 1999 Commissioner Gerald Simmonds 2 episodes 1976 Dickens of London Charles Dickens / Mr. John Dickens 13 episodesLaurence Olivier PresentsSir Timothy FarrarStory: "Hindle Wakes" 1976- 1979 Sykes The Tramp 2 episodes 1981 Family Reunion Lester Frye TV movie Magnum, P.I. Harcourt Episode: "Tropical Madness"1983Tales of the Gold MonkeyLord HedriksEpisode: "God Save the Queen"1984Remington SteeleVictor JanoffEpisode: "Steele Eligible"Hart to HartCourtney PetersonEpisode: "Max's Waltz"1986The A-TeamCharles JourdanEpisode: "The Spy Who Mugged Me" Shaka Zulu George IV TV miniseries The Wizard Troyan 3 episodes 1987 Faerie Tale Theatre The King / Peter Vanderdonk Tales from the DarksideVampire Count Jeffrey DracoStory: "My Ghostwriter - The Vampire" 1987- 1990 Beauty and the Beast Jacob "Father" Wells 55 episodes 1989 The Equalizer Charlie McGuinness Episode: "Trial by Ordeal"Nighmare ClassicsLeoStory: "Carmilla"1990HunterBishop PineEpisode: "Final Confession"1990Murder, She WroteProfessor Chandler FitzpatrickEpisode: "The Great Twain Robbery"1991For the Greater GoodCharles Truman MP3 episodes 1992- 1993 Going to Extremes Doctor Croft 17 episodes1993Murder, She WroteDr Howard SorensonEpisode: "The Legacy of Borbey House" 1993- 1996 Picket Fences Father Gary Barrett 15 episodes 1994 Children of the Dark Dr Burnham TV movieWingsPeteEpisode: "The Faygitive"L.A. LawAlex VedderEpisode: "McKenzie, Brackman, Barnum and Bailey" 1995 Babylon 5 Frederick Lantz Episode: "The Fall of Night" Batman: The Animated Series Frederick Episode: "The Lion and the Unicorn"Murder, She WroteDr Myles PurcellEpisode: "School for Murder" 1996 Mr. & Mrs. Smith Mr Big 12 episodesTales from the CryptMajor NicholsonStory: "Escape" 1997 Spider-Man: The Animated Series Keene Marlow / The Destroyer 4 episodes 1998 Like Father, Like Santa Ambrose Booth TV movieHercules: The Legendary JourneysZeus3 episodes 1999 Sliders Archibald Chandler Episode: "Data World"2000Madigan MenSeamus Madigan12 episodes Sliders Marc LeBeau Episode: "The Seer" 2001 Touched by an Angel Micah Episode: "Holy of Holies" 2003 Angel Roger Wyndam-Pryce 1 episodeJust Shoot Me!Jarvis LeedsEpisode: "Just Shoot Me"DoctorsTomasz ZelinksyEpisode: "Roots" 2004 Life Begins Frank Buchanan 8 episodes 2006 La Femme Musketeer Commander Finot (uncredited) TV miniseriesHeartbeatMr CarterEpisode: "Give Peace a Chance" 2012 Game of Thrones Hallyne 2 episodes
Audiobooks Roy Dotrice's audiobook voice acting credits include:
Watership Down The Prince and the Pauper The Book of Ebenezer Le Page The Death Gate Cycle Vol. 4: Serpent Mage A Song of Ice and Fire
References
External links
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Roy Dotrice