James Hayter

Born: 1907-04-23

James Hayter (23 April 1907 – 27 March 1983) was a British actor. He was born in Lonavala, India, brought up in Scotland and died in Spain. His best remembered film roles include Friar Tuck in the 1952 film The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men and Samuel Pickwick in The Pickwick Papers of the same year. His rotund appearance and fruity voice made him a natural choice for such roles. A pupil of Dollar Academy, he became a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, his film career began in 1936 in Sensation, but was interrupted by World War II during which he served in the Royal Armoured Corps. His later career included roles in TV series such as The Forsyte Saga (1967), The Onedin Line and Are You Being Served?. His 1946 television series Pinwright's Progress, shown on the BBC, is recognised as the first real example of the half-hour situation comedy format in the history of British television. He was also the original narrator of the UK television advertisements for Mr. Kipling cakes. In fact, these ads led to his departure from Are You Being Served?; the cake company paid him a significant bonus to withdraw from the series, as they felt his reputation lent an air of dignity to their snack advertisements. In the film Oliver!, he played Mr Jessop the book shop owner. He appeared in scenes when Dodger steals a gentleman's wallet outside the book shop and also when Oliver is in court charged with the robbery. Hayter used to have a tree house in his back garden where he would retire of an evening to learn and practise his lines from his current script. Description above from the Wikipedia article James Hayter, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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as Sheik in Arab Council (uncredited)
Released: 1962-12-11

The story of British officer T.E. Lawrence's mission to aid the Arab tribes in their revolt...

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See!

Night and the City

as Figler (uncredited)
Released: 1950-06-15

Londoner Harry Fabian is a second-rate con man looking for an angle. After years of putting up...

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Oliver!

as Mr. Jessop
Released: 1968-09-26

Musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, a classic tale of an orphan who runs away...

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The Crimson Pirate

as Prof. Prudence
Released: 1952-09-27

Burt Lancaster plays a pirate with a taste for intrigue and acrobatics who involves himself in...

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Land of the Pharaohs

as Mikka
Released: 1955-07-24

A captured architect designs an ingenious plan to ensure the impregnability of the tomb of a...

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The Fallen Idol

as Perry
Released: 1948-09-30

Phillipe, the son of an ambassador in London, idolizes Baines, his father's butler, a kind of...

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The Blood on Satan's Claw

as Squire Middleton
Released: 1971-01-28

The accidental unearthing of Satan’s earthly remains causes the children of a 17th-century...

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Vice Versa

as Bandmaster
Released: 1948-01-28

Businessman Paul Bultitude is sending his son Dick to a boarding school. While holding a magic...

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Passport to Pimlico

as Commissionaire
Released: 1949-10-26

When an unexploded WWII bomb is accidentally detonated in Pimlico, it reveals a treasure trove...

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The Horror of Frankenstein

as Bailiff
Released: 1970-11-08

Young Victor Frankenstein returns from medical school with a depraved taste for beautiful women...

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Helter Skelter

as Inn Landlord
Released: 1949-01-07

A detective gets involved with a wealthy socialite who can't seem to stop hiccuping.

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Abandon Ship

as 'Cookie' Morrow
Released: 1957-03-12

After a massive luxury liner sinks into the ocean, the ship's officer must command a rickety...

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The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men

as Friar Tuck
Released: 1952-05-26

Young Robin Hood, in love with Maid Marian, enters an archery contest with his father at the...

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David Copperfield

as Porter
Released: 1969-12-01

A made for TV movie of the Charles Dickens' classic novel, turns Dickens' picaresque tale into...

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Band Waggon

as (uncredited)
Released: 1940-03-23

A gang of spies held up in a haunted castle gives this team of celebrated British wireless...

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Beau Brummell

as Mortimer
Released: 1954-11-16

Lavishly told story of George Bryan Brummel, a commoner born in the era of Napoleon who uses...

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Silent Dust

as Pringle
Released: 1949-02-01

A wealthy blind man is determined to build a cricket pavilion as a memorial to his dead son, who...

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Burke & Hare

as Dr. Selby
Released: 1972-02-03

Two men go into business supplying medical colleges with cadavers by robbing graves.

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Sailors Three

as Hans
Released: 1940-12-14

Three sailors get drunk while on shore leave and end up on the wrong ship. When they realise...

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The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

as Ned and Charles Cheeryble
Released: 1947-03-12

A fatherless boy tries to make his fortune despite interference from his rich uncle.

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The 39 Steps

as Mr Memory
Released: 1959-03-13

In London, a diplomat accidentally becomes involved in the death of a British agent who's after...

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A Challenge for Robin Hood

as Friar Tuck
Released: 1967-07-01

After being falsely accused of murder, Sir Robin of Loxley takes refuge in the untamed...

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Bonnie Prince Charlie

as Kingsburgh
Released: 1948-10-26

Scotland, 1745. After decades of exile, Prince Charles Edward Stuart secretly lands with the...

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I Was Monty's Double

as Sgt. Adams
Released: 1958-10-21

The incredible but true story of how an impersonator was recruited to impersonate General...

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For Better, for Worse

as The Plumber
Released: 1954-06-20

In postwar London a young graduate and his girlfriend decide to marry. Her well-to-do parents...

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The Firechasers

as Inspector Herman
Released: 1971-01-01

Insurance investigator must find out who is setting fires. Along the way he meets and works with...

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Gideon's Day

as Robert Mason
Released: 1958-03-25

Scotland Yard Inspector George Gideon starts his day off on the wrong foot when he gets a...

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Gideon's Day

as Mason
Released: 1958-03-25

Scotland Yard Inspector George Gideon starts his day off on the wrong foot when he gets a...

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Quartet

as Foreman of the Jury
Released: 1948-10-26

Somerset Maugham introduces four of his tales in this anthology film: "The Facts of Life," "The...

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Trio

as Albert Foreman (segment "The Verger")
Released: 1950-10-10

W. Somerset Maugham introduces three more of his stories about human foibles.

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My Brother Jonathan

as Tom Morse
Released: 1948-02-05

Jonathan Dakers' early ambition was to become a great surgeon and to marry Edie Martyn. But, on...

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The Pickwick Papers

as Samuel Pickwick
Released: 1952-11-14

The Pickwick Club sends Mr. Pickwick and a group of friends to travel across England and to...

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Captain Boycott

as Music Hall Comic (uncredited)
Released: 1947-08-26

Based on real events, this historical drama is set in 19th-century Ireland, when...

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It's a Wonderful World

as Bert Fielding
Released: 1956-08-28

Two aspiring songwriters finally manage to sell a tune by claiming that it was composed by a...

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Marigold

as Peter Gloag
Released: 1938-11-03

Marigold is a 1938 British drama film set in Scotland in the Victorian era. It was filmed in...

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Will Any Gentleman...?

as Dr. Smith
Released: 1953-08-25

A trip to the theatre changes a meek bank clerk's life, as he undergoes hypnosis and leaves...

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Morning Departure

as uncredited
Released: 1950-02-21

The crew of a submarine is trapped on the sea floor when it sinks. How can they be rescued...

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Sensation

as Jock
Released: 1936-12-16

Pat Heaton may be the best crime reporter in town but his fiancée Claire, despairing of the more...

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Waterfront

as Ship's Captain
Released: 1950-07-26

When ship's fireman Peter McCabe walks out on his long-suffering wife, he leaves her...

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Go to Blazes

as Pipe Smoker
Released: 1962-04-18

A gang of aspiring bank robbers involve themselves with arsonists and purchase their very own...

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Your Witness

as Prouty
Released: 1950-03-06

Adam Hayward is a successful New York City defense lawyer. One day he receives a cable that the...

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The Awakening

as The Chief
Released: 1954-07-14

"The Awakening" is a 1954 short drama film of Douglas Fairbanks Presents anthology series based...

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The Blue Lagoon

as Dr Murdock
Released: 1949-03-01

In the Victorian period, two British children survive a shipwreck in the South Pacific. After...

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Tom Brown's Schooldays

as Old Thomas
Released: 1951-04-17

When Tom Brown arrives at Rugby boarding school, he’s mercilessly tormented by the school’s evil...

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The Spider and the Fly

as Mayor
Released: 1949-12-01

"The Spider and the Fly is set in Paris during the cloud-cuckoo days before WW I. The storyline...

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A Day to Remember

as Fred Collins
Released: 1953-11-10

Based on The Hand and the Flower, a novel by Jerrard Tickell, A Day to Remember stars Stanley...

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The Mark of Cain

as Dr. White
Released: 1947-03-14

An attractive young French girl instigates rivalry between two brothers when she becomes the...

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Song of Norway

as Butler to Berg
Released: 1970-11-04

Like the play from which it derived, the film tells of the early struggles of composer Edvard...

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The Big Money

as Mr Frith
Released: 1958-06-09

Petty thief Willie Frith steals a suitcase full of bank notes, only to find out that they have...

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Flesh and Blood

as Sir Douglas Manley
Released: 1951-03-06

Based upon the play A Sleeping Clergyman by James Bridie, it tells the story of three...

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Touch and Go

as Kimball
Released: 1955-10-02

When Jim Fletcher is told by his firm that his new furniture designs are not in keeping with the...

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Cop-Out

as Harry Hawkins
Released: 1967-05-23

John Sawyer, once an eminent barrister, has slid into a life of cynicism and drunkenness since...

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The October Man

as Garage Man
Released: 1947-08-28

Jim Ackland, who suffers from a head injury sustained in a bus crash, is the chief suspect in a...

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The Great Game

as Joe Lawson
Released: 1953-01-01

The wealthy chairman of First Division Football Club, Burnville United, makes an unethical...

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Four Sided Triangle

as Dr. Harvey
Released: 1953-06-15

A young man, in love with a woman who can never be his, discovers a way to fulfil his dreams. In...

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Port Afrique

as Nino
Released: 1956-06-18

An army veteran with a shattered leg returns to his home in Port Afrique after war only to find...

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Once a Jolly Swagman

as Pa Fox
Released: 1949-02-02

A factory worke quits his job to become a motorcycle racer.

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Always a Bride

as Dutton
Released: 1953-08-12

Set against the glitz and glamour of the French Riviera, this comedy follows the misadventures...

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Out of the Fog

as Daniels
Released: 1962-09-01

Scotland Yard is thrown into an uproar when a mad killer begins knocking off beautiful young...

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The Light Princess

as Owl (voice)
Released: 1978-12-24

Based on a short story by George MacDonald, a princess experiences constant weightlessness.

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Dear Mr. Prohack

as Carrell Quire
Released: 1949-09-07

A modern-day retelling of Arnold Bennett's novel, in which a Treasury official with a reputation...

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I'm A Stranger

as Horatio Flowerdew
Released: 1952-07-01

When his grandfather dies, George Westcott (Patrick Doonan) returns home from India to collect...

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No Room at the Inn

as Councilor Trouncer
Released: 1948-11-22

A group of children are evacuated during world war two into the care of an alcoholic woman.

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Big Fella

as Chuck
Released: 1938-01-03

Singing Marseilles docker Joe is hired by wealthy English couple, the Oliphants, to find their...

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Don't Ever Leave Me

as Man with Summons
Released: 1949-07-19

Elderly crook Harry Denton, when challenged to prove he is "not past it," decides to kidnap...

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For Them That Trespass

as John Craigie 'Jocko' Glenn
Released: 1949-04-21

In this drama, a frustrated upper-class writer decides that he will find real inspiration by...

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The End of the River

as Chico
Released: 1947-12-01

A South American Indian is taken from his jungle home into the world of the White Man where he...

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Calling Bulldog Drummond

as Bill
Released: 1951-07-02

Bulldog Drummond leaves retirement to help a Scotland Yard Sergeant catch thieves armed with radar.

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Mañana...

as Silvestre
Released: 1957-03-15

"Tomorrow ..." (mañana...) is the easy exit to deceive themselves of those who feel the...

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School for Secrets

as Warrant Officer
Released: 1946-12-23

Wartime tale of a group of British scientists efforts to develop the first radar system. They...

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Woman Hater

as Mr. Burrell
Released: 1948-10-13

A confirmed bachelor and a woman who claims to hate men get together and find romance.

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Murder in Soho

as Nick Green
Released: 1939-02-01

A London nightclub hostess pretends to fall for the mobster who killed her husband.

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Sail Into Danger

as Monty
Released: 1957-11-01

In this adventure, an American is forced by smugglers to sail his boat from Barcelona to...

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All Over the Town

as Councillor Baines
Released: 1949-04-25

Newspaper reporter Nat Hearn returns home after serving in the Royal Air Force during World War...

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The Heart Within

as Grandfather Willard
Released: 1957-07-01

This is one of David Hemming's earliest performances in the cinema: the star actor was just 15...

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A Song for Tomorrow

as Nicholas Klausmann
Released: 1948-06-08

Derek Wardwell (Shaun Noble) is struck with amnesia, and the last thing he remembers is the...

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The Captain's Table

as Earnshaw
Released: 1959-01-06

A captain is promoted by his company from tramp steamers to their flagship passenger liner....

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Not Tonight, Darling

as Mr. Finlay / grocer owner
Released: 1971-09-23

A lonely 'Stay-at-Home' Housewife is being watched every night through the bathroom window by a...

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Aren't Men Beasts!

as Minor Role
Released: 1937-01-19

Two businessmen have the shock of their lives when a woman appears out of their past bearing a...

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Come on George!

as Barker
Released: 1939-12-01

George Formby, who plays George, a stable boy. He also has the unique ability to soothe an...

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The Avengers

as Ticket Collector
First aired: 1961-01-07

The Avengers is a British television series created in the 1960s. It initially focused on Dr....

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The Onedin Line

as Captain Webster
First aired: 1971-10-15

The Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series which ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was...

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Are You Being Served?

as Mr. Tebbs
First aired: 1972-09-08

This comedy series, which follows the exploits of employees at London's fictional "Grace...

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Father Brown

as uncredited
First aired: 1974-09-26

Father Brown was a Catholic priest who doubled as an amateur detective in order to solve mysteries.

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The Flaxton Boys

as Nathan
First aired: 1969-09-21

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