Hugh Armstrong obit

Hugh Armstrong Has died 

He was not on the list.

He as a British stage, television and film actor. He is best known for his portrayal of the monster in the 1972 cult British horror movie, Death Line, and as Harry Wax in How to Get Ahead in Advertising, acting alongside Richard E. Grant. His obituary, written in the magazine of his old school by Clive Akass, stated that 'life was Hugh's theatre. He was a travelling entertainment and until the illness that marred his later years, and sometimes even then, he brought laughter wherever he went'

Armstrong was born in 1944 and educated in Bedford at Bedford Modern School. After a brief spell in the army he decided to take up acting, initially training at the Rose Bruford drama school.

Armstrong's first major role was as Ted the chauffeur in the 1968 film Prudence and the Pill, starring David Niven and Deborah Kerr. His next major role was playing the monster in Death Line alongside Donald Pleasence and Christopher Lee; his performance was said to have achieved the impossible by making a 'grotesque violent cannibal seem pitiful and sympathetic'.

Following his role in the 1972 film, Eagle in a Cage, Armstrong spent many years travelling the world, spending several years in India. He formed a theatre company at the Pune ashram of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and under his direction the company toured India, at one point performing before Indira Gandhi. As a member of the Rajneesh movement he left India for the United States, but left before the movement's scandalous collapse in Oregon.

Armstrong returned to the UK to work in film and television productions. He appeared as Jun Priest in the 1982 film, The Beastmaster, and played Harry Wax in How to Get Ahead in Advertising alongside Richard E. Grant. He took part in a number of television series throughout the 1990s and his final role was in the 2007 TV movie, Stuart: A Life Backwards.

In addition to his work in film and television, Armstrong was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and later the National Theatre. In 1975 he played R.P. McMurphy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool alongside Bill Nighy and Julie Walters.

Armstrong died on 26 January 2016. In the magazine of Armstrong's old school, Clive Akass wrote: 'Life was Hugh's theatre. He was a travelling entertainment and until the illness that marred his later years, and sometimes even then, he brought laughter wherever he went'

 

Filmography

Film

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1989    How to Get Ahead in Advertising            Harry Wax    

1982    The Beastmaster            Jun Priest   

1972    Eagle in a Cage English soldier 

1972    Death Line      The Man    

1970    Girly            Friend in No. 5           

1968            Prudence and the Pill            Ted the chauffeur         

1968    Tell Me Lies      Guest  

 

Television

Year     Title            Role            Notes

2007    Stuart: A Life Backwards            Old Drunk  

2002            Barbara Wood: Hounds and Jackals Albert Rossiter           

1999    Kiss Me Kate            Dad     

1989–98            The Bill            Billy Baines (1989), Declan Keely (1998) 

1993            London's Burning            Ken            Episode 6.7

1992–1993            Between the Lines            Det. Supt. Alwyne (1992), Chief Whip (1993)   

1993            Screenplay      Police Inspector         

1992    Tales from the Poop Deck    Amos  

1991    Minder            Station Officer 

1990    The Widowmaker            Michael Finch   

1989    Crime Monthly            Det. Insp. Steve Hobbs 

1971    UFO            SHADO Mobile 3 Officer 

1967    The Wednesday Play            Nightclub guest