Patrick Wymark
Biography
Born Patrick Carl Cheeseman in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England. He was brought up in neighbouring Grimsby and frequently re-visited the area during the height of his career. He attended University College, London, before training at the Old Vic Theatre School and making his first stage appearance in a walk-on part in Othello in 1951. He toured South Africa the following year and then directed plays for the drama department at Stanford University, California. Moving to the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, Wymark played a wide range of traditional roles, including Dogberry in Much Ado about Nothing and Stephano in The Tempest. He also played the parts of Marullus in Julius Caesar and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Other stage parts included the title role in Danton's Death and, with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Ephihodov in The Cherry Orchard. His theatre roles also included playing the part of Bosola in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi in 1960. His film roles included: Children of the Damned (1964), Operation Crossbow (1965), Battle of Britain (1969), Where Eagles Dare (1968), Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) and Cromwell (1970). On television, where at one point he was considered as a replacement for William Hartnell on Doctor Who., he was best known for his role as the machiavellian businessman John Wilder in the drama series The Plane Makers/The Power Game, a role which led to offers of company directorships. Wymark, however, was a gentle man in real life, self-confessedly ignorant of business matters, who considered the Wilder character to be a "bastard" and was described by his wife as "the most inefficient, dreamy muddler in the world."
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Full filmography
- ITV Playhouse (1967) as The Captain
- ITV Playhouse (1967) as The Judge
- ITV Playhouse (1967) as Hubert
- ITV Playhouse (1967) as Joe Malkin, M.P.
- The Champions (1968) as Gen. Gomez
- The Wednesday Play (1964) as Sigismonda Pandolfo Malatesta
- Danger Man (1960) as Ortiz
- The Wonderful World of Disney (1954) as Joseph Ransley
- Sir Francis Drake (1961) as Captain Williams
- Sherlock Holmes (1964)
- Battle of Britain (1969) as Air Vice Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory
- Where Eagles Dare (1968) as Col. Wyatt Turner DSO MC
- Man of the World (1962) as Downing
- The Scales of Justice (1962) as Mr. Godfrey
- Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) as Winston Churchill (voice)
- The Power Game (1965) as Sir John Wilder
- Repulsion (1965) as le propriétaire
- Operation Crossbow (1965) as Prime Minister Winston Churchill
- Moonstrike (1963) as Abess
- Doppelgänger (1969) as Jason Webb
- The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) as The Judge
- The Skull (1965) as Anthony Marco
- The Plane Makers (1963) as Sir John Wilder
- The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (1964) as Joseph Ransley