Veteran British actor John Woodvine dies aged 96

John Woodvine, the veteran British stage and screen actor, died peacefully at his home aged 96, his agent Phil Belfield announced. Trained at RADA, he joined the Old Vic in 1954 and appeared in more than 70 productions at the Old Vic, National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company, winning the 1987 Olivier Award for Comedy Performance of the Year for The Henrys; he famously played Banquo opposite Ian McKellen and Judi Dench in Trevor Nunn’s 1970 RSC production of Macbeth. On screen his credits included Dr. Hirsch in An American Werewolf in London, Detective Inspector Witty in Z Cars, the Archbishop of York in The Crown and Neville Gallagher in Shameless, along with appearances in Doctor Who, Young Winston, Persuasion, Miss Potter and the recent film Enys Men. He is survived by his wife, actress Lynn Farleigh, and daughters Mary and Emma, and was remembered by his agent as “extraordinary” and “greatly admired.”