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Lionel Jeffries

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Lionel Charles Jeffries (10 June 1926 – 19 February 2010) was an English actor, director, and screenwriter.<ref name="bbc">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="GUA">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Indy2010">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He appeared primarily in films and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role in The Spy with a Cold Nose.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early lifeEdit

Jeffries was born in Forest Hill, south London.<ref name="ODNB">Template:Cite ODNB</ref> Both his parents were social workers with the Salvation Army.<ref name="Telegraph"/> As a boy, he attended the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wimborne Minster in Dorset.<ref name="Telegraph"/>

In 1945, he received a commission in the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry<ref name="Telegraph"/> and served in Burma at the Rangoon radio station during the Second World War,<ref name="BBC 10 Feb"/> being awarded the Burma Star. (He blamed the humidity there for his hair loss<ref name="BBC 10 Feb"/> at the age of 19.<ref name="Telegraph"/>) He also served as a captain in the Royal West African Frontier Force.<ref name="Telegraph"/>

CareerEdit

Template:More citations needed section He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.<ref name="BBC 10 Feb">Template:Cite news</ref> He entered repertory at the David Garrick Theatre, Lichfield, Staffordshire for two years and appeared in early British television plays.Template:CN Jeffries built a successful career in British films mainly in comic character roles and as he was prematurely bald he often played characters older than himself, such as the role of father to Caractacus Potts (played by Dick Van Dyke) in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), although Jeffries was actually six months younger than Van Dyke, who was born on 13 December 1925.

His acting career reached a peak in the 1960s with leading roles in other films like Two-Way Stretch (1960), The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960), Murder Ahoy! (opposite Margaret Rutherford), First Men in the Moon (1964) and Camelot (1967).Template:CN

Jeffries turned to writing and directing children's films, including a well-regarded version of The Railway Children (1970) and The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972). He was a member of the British Catholic Stage Guild.<ref name="GUA"/>

Jeffries had a negative attitude towards television and avoided the medium for many years.<ref name="Indy2010" /> He reluctantly appeared on television in an acting role in the 1980 London Weekend Television Dennis Potter drama Cream in My Coffee and realised that television production values were now little different from those in the film industry; as a result he developed a belated career in television.Template:CN He appeared in an episode of the Thames Television/ITV comedy drama Minder in 1983 as Cecil Caine, an eccentric widower, and in an episode of Inspector Morse in 1990 (Central Television/Zenith/ITV).Template:CN

He starred as Tom (Thomas Maddisson) in the Thames/ITV situation comedy Tom, Dick and Harriet with Ian Ogilvy and Brigit Forsyth.<ref>https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/tom_dick_and_harriet/ British Comedy Guide</ref> During location filming with Ogilvy for a 1983 episode, a stunt involving a car and a lake went very badly wrong, ending up with Jeffries only just managing to get out of the car's front window before the vehicle sank in Template:Convert of water.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Retirement and deathEdit

Template:More citations needed section Jeffries began to suffer from vascular dementia in 1998<ref name=G-obit>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and retired from acting in 2001. His health declined in the following years.<ref name=G-obit/> He died on 19 February 2010, at a nursing home in Poole, Dorset.<ref name="ODNB"/> He was 83.<ref name="bbc" />

The name of Jeffries is mentioned before the ending titles of the film The First Men in the Moon, released in 2010: "For Lionel Jeffries 1926–2010".Template:CN

Personal lifeEdit

Jeffries was married to Eileen Mary Walsh from 1951 until his death. They had a son and two daughters.<ref name="Telegraph">Template:Cite news</ref> Their son Ty Jeffries is a composer, lyricist and cabaret artist.Template:CN Their granddaughter Amy Mason is a novelist and playwright.Template:CN

FilmographyEdit

Template:Unsourced section

Year Title Director Writer
1970 The Railway Children Template:Yes Template:Yes
1972 The Amazing Mr. Blunden Template:Yes Template:Yes
1973 Baxter! Template:Yes Template:No
1977 Wombling Free Template:Yes Template:Yes
1978 The Water Babies Template:Yes Template:Yes
1979 Nelson's Touch (short) Template:No Template:Yes

Acting roles Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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