Philip Latham

British actor (1929–2020)

Philip Latham

Born	Charles Philip Latham (1929-01-17)17 January 1929 Essex, England^[1]^[2]
Died	20 June 2020(2020-06-20) (aged 91)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1955–1990

Charles Philip Latham (17 January 1929 – 20 June 2020)^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] was a British actor. He was best known for playing Willy Izard in The Troubleshooters (1965-1972) and Plantagenet Palliser in The Pallisers (1974).

Early life

Latham was born 17 January 1929 in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.^[7] He had an identical twin, William, and older brother, Arthur.^[7]

He was educated at Felsted School^[8] After graduated from Felsted, he completed hi National Service in the Royal Artillery^[7] and then graduated from Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1951.^[9]

Career

In the late 1960s/early 1970s he was well known to British TV viewers for his portrayal of chief accountant Willy Izard, the "conscience" to hard-nosed oil company industrialist Brian Stead (played by Geoffrey Keen) in the BBC series The Troubleshooters (1965–72).^[10] Other credits Jesus of Nazareth (1956), Paul of Tarsus, Danger Man (1960–1962), Maigret, The Treasure Seekers, The Avengers, Love Story, Undermind, UFO, The Saint, Sergeant Cork, Justice, The Cedar Tree, Killers, Hammer House of Horror, The Professionals, No. 10, and Nanny.^[2]

One of his horror film roles was as Dracula's sinister servant Klove in Hammer's 1966 film Dracula, Prince of Darkness,^[11] and he had previously worked for Hammer in The Devil-Ship Pirates and The Secret of Blood Island (both 1964).^[12] His other film roles included appearances in Ring of Spies (1964), Spy Story (1976) and Force 10 from Navarone (1978).^[2] On television he played the joint-lead role of Plantagenet Palliser (opposite Susan Hampshire) in the 26-part BBC series The Pallisers.^[13] He also played Lord President Borusa in the 1983 20th anniversary episode of Doctor Who, The Five Doctors.^[14]^[15]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1955	The Dam Busters	Flight Sergeant	Uncredited
1959	Left Right and Centre	Reporter	Uncredited
1959	Emergency Ward 10	RSO Barnett	10 episodes
	The Moonstone	Dr. Ezra Jennings	Episode: Episode 1.6
	The Army Game	Major Price	Episode: The Bisley Court Martial
	The Flying Doctor	Lou Vernon	Episode: Death in the Clouds
	Dial 999	Dave Saunders	Episode: Robbery with Violence
1960	The Adventures of Robin Hood	Father Ignatius	Episode: A Bushel of Apples
	Danger Man	Frank Delroy	Episode: View from the Villa
	Paul of Tarsus	Luke, the story-teller	10 episodes
	The Four Just Men	Valio	Episode: The Man with the Golden Touch
1962	Masters of Venus	Doctor Wilson
	The Andromeda Breakthrough	Osborne's P.A.	2 Episodes
	Locker Sixty-Nine	Dr. Trent	Edgar Wallace Mysteries
	The Wild and the Willing	Don	Uncredited
	Maigret	James	Episode: The Wedding Guest
	Harpers West One	Oliver Backhouse	14 episodes
1963-1966	The Avengers	Professor Cartright/Carter	2 episodes
1963	Suspense	George Boulter	Episode: Deferred Terms
	Richard the Lionheart	Brian McFergus	Episode: The Raiders
	Moonstrike	Major Kurt Koenig	Episode: The Canary
	The Scales of Justice	Official Receiver	Episode: The Invisible Asset
	The Rivals	Lawrence
1963-1964	The Saint	Arthur Ellshaw/Long Harry Garrett	2 episodes
1964	Ring of Spies	Captain Ray
	The Devil-Ship Pirates	Miller
	The Human Jungle	Cooper	Episode: Success Machine
	The Plane Makers	Eric Styles	Episode: A Lesson for Corbett
	Thursday Theatre	Philip Mortimer	Episode: Murder Mistaken
1965	R3	Colonel Gold	Episode: The Critical Moment
	Z Cars	Martin	Episode: Brotherly Love
	Public Eye	Alec Maxwell	Episode: They Go Off in the End, Like Fruit
	Dr. Finlay's Casebook	Robert Lennox	Episode: Soon or Late
	The Secret of Blood Island	Captain Drake
	Story Parade	John Coppard	Episode: The Campaign
	Front Page Story	Gerald McPherson	Episode: Stateless
	Undermind	Edmonds	Episode: Puppets of Evil
	No Hiding Place	Michael Thompson	Episode: Danger: Wrong Turning
1965-72	The Troubleshooters	Willy Izzard	110 episodes
1966	Dracula: Prince of Darkness	Klove
1968	Middlemarch	The Rev. Mr Casaubon	5 episodes
1970	The Last Grenade	Adams	Uncredited
1974	The Pallisers	Plantagenet	26 episodes
1976	Spy Story	Ferdy Foxwell
1976-78	The Cedar Tree	Arthur Bourne	75 episodes
1978	Force 10 from Navarone	Commander Jensen
1981	From a Far Country	Chaplain
1983	Number 10	Charles Arbuthnot	Miniseries
1983	Doctor Who	Borusa	Episode: The Five Doctors
1984	Jackanory Playhouse	King	Episode: Rolf the Stonemason

References

^ Registered in the Rochford District of Essex according to the GRO Index
^ ^a ^b ^c "Philip Latham". Archived from the original on 13 September 2016.
^ "Philip Latham..." Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
^ "Philip Latham (1929- 2020)". 10 July 2020.
^ http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/242684/latham Telegraph Deaths Announcements: LATHAM, Charles Philip
^ Obituaries, Telegraph (9 September 2020). "Philip Latham, actor who played the dry aristocrat Plantagenet in the BBC's the Pallisers – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. London.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Stage, television and film actor dies" (PDF). The Old Felstedian. December 2020. p. 25. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
^ "Theatre/Music/Art/Broadcasting - Felsted School". Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
^ "STUDENT & GRADUATE PROFILES: Philip Latham".rada.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
^ "BFI Screenonline: Mogul/Troubleshooters, The (1965-72)".
^ "Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) - Terence Fisher - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie".
^ "Philip Latham - Movies and Filmography - AllMovie".
^ O'Donovan, Gerard (5 May 2014). "Why can't we make drama like The Pallisers anymore?".
^ "Philip Latham".
^ TV.com. "Philip Latham".