Michael Medwin: Shoestring actor dies aged 96
He was not on the list.
Best known for playing radio station boss Don Satchley in TV's Shoestring, he was a prolific supporting player who appeared in films with Michael Caine, Sean Connery and Albert Finney.
Alongside Finney, he also produced such films as Lindsay Anderson's If...., O Lucky Man! and Charlie Bubbles.
Born in London in 1923, he was made an OBE for services to drama in 2005.
Theatre producer David Pugh, with whom Medwin produced plays for three decades, was among the first to mark his passing.
To Michael thank you for everything I’m going to miss you so much x pic.twitter.com/K6u9tQ8HoX
— David Pugh (@davidsoho1) February 26, 2020
Medwin, who trained at the Italia Conti stage school in London, made his film debut as a radio operator in 1946's Piccadilly Incident.
In the six decades that followed, he appeared in such films as A Hill in Korea, Doctor at Large, Carry On Nurse and The Longest Day.
Often cast as cockney spivs at the start of his career, he moved on to authority figures like the doctor who treats Connery's James Bond in 1983's Never Say Never Again.
He also played the nephew of Albert Finney's title character in Scrooge, despite being 12 years Finney's senior.
As Don Satchley, Medwin would occasionally find himself at odds with Trevor Eve's phone-in private investigator Eddie Shoestring.
Based in the West Country, the BBC TV series ran for two series spanning 21 episodes between 1979 and 1980.
"Acting was something I wanted to do, and by good fortune I found I could do it quite well," he told The List in 2009.
The previous year he made one of his final screen appearances as a speechmaker who extols the virtues of Keira Knightley's title character in The Duchess.
Partial filmography
Piccadilly Incident (1946) as Radio operator (uncredited)
The Root of All Evil (1947) as Minor Role (uncredited)
The Courtneys of Curzon Street (1947) – Edward Courtney
Black Memory (1947) as Johnnie Fletcher
An Ideal Husband (1947) as Duke of Nonesuch
Night Beat (1947) as Rocky
Anna Karenina (1948) as Kitty's Doctor
Call of the Blood (1948) as Medical student (uncredited)
Just William's Luck (1948) as Spiv
My Sister and I (1948) as Charlie
Woman Hater (1948) as Harris
Look Before You Love (1948) as Emile Garat
Another Shore (1948) as Yellow
William Comes to Town (1948) as Reporter
Operation Diamond (1948) as Sullivan
Forbidden (1949) as Cabby
The Queen of Spades (1949) as Hovaisky
For Them That Trespass (1949) as Len, Herbie's bar pal
Helter Skelter (1949) as Man Giving BBC Boxing Talk (uncredited)
Trottie True (1949) as Monty. Marquis of Maidenhead
Boys in Brown (1949) as Alf 'Sparrow' Thompson
Children of Chance (1949)
Someone at the Door (1950) as Ronnie Martin
Trio (1950) as Steward (in segment Mr. Know-All)
The Lady Craved Excitement (1950) as Johnny
Shadow of the Past (1950) as Dick Stevens
The Long Dark Hall (1951) as Leslie Scott
Four in a Jeep (1951) as Sergeant Harry Stuart
Curtain Up (1952) as Jerry Winterton
Love's a Luxury (1952) as Dick Pentwick
Miss Robin Hood (1952) as Ernest
Top Secret (1952) as Smedley
Hindle Wakes (1952) as George Ackrody
Street Corner (1953) as Chick Farrar
Genevieve (1953) as Father to be (uncredited)
The Oracle (1953) as Timothy Balke
Malta Story (1953) as Ramsey, CO 'Phantom' Squadron (uncredited)
Spaceways (1953) as Dr. Toby Andrews
The Intruder (1953) as Ginger Edwards
Bang! You're Dead (1954) as Bob Carter
The Green Scarf (1954) as Teral
The Teckman Mystery (1954) as Martin Teckman
The Harassed Hero (1954) (uncredited)
Above Us the Waves (1955) as Smart
Doctor at Sea (1955) as Sub-lieutenant Trail
Charley Moon (1956) as Alf Higgins
A Hill in Korea (1956) as Pvt. Docker
Checkpoint (1956) as Ginger
Doctor at Large (1957) as Dr. Charles Bingham
The Steel Bayonet (1957) as Lt. Vernon
The Duke Wore Jeans (1958) as Copper
The Wind Cannot Read (1958) Officer Lamb
I Only Arsked! (1958) as Cpl. Springer
The Heart of a Man (1959) as Sid
Carry On Nurse (1959) as Ginger
Crooks Anonymous (1962) as Ronnie Bassett
The Longest Day (1962) as Pvt. Watney
It's All Happening (1963) as Max Catlin
Kali Yug: Goddess of Vengeance (1963) as Capt. Walsh
Il mistero del tempio indiano (1964) as Capt. Walsh
Night Must Fall (1964) as Derek
Rattle of a Simple Man (1964) as Ginger
I've Gotta Horse (1965) as Hymie Campbell
24 Hours to Kill (1965) as The Crew: Tommy Gaskell
The Sandwich Man (1966) as Sewer Man
A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) as John Felix
Privilege (1967) as Jackman (uncredited)
Spring and Port Wine (1970) as Driver at Traffic Lights (uncredited)
Scrooge (1970) as Nephew Fred
O Lucky Man! (1973) as Army Captain / Power station Technician / Duke of Belminster
Law and Disorder (1974) as Man in Cab
Pogled in potkrovlija (1976) as Ian Faulkner
The Sea Wolves (1980) as Radcliffe
Britannia Hospital (1982) as Theatre Surgeon
The Jigsaw Man (1983) as Milroy
Never Say Never Again (1983) as Doctor at Shrublands
Sleepwalker (1984) as Waiter
Hôtel du Paradis (1986) as English Productor
Just Ask for Diamond (1988) as The Professor
The Fool (1990) as Mr. Wells
Staggered (1994) as Sarah's Father
Alice Through the Looking Glass (1998) as Red King
Fanny and Elvis (1999) as Registrar
The Duchess (2008) as Speechmaker
Framed (2008) as Dr. Louie Farraday
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