Editing Jack May

{{Short description|English actor (1922–1997)}}
{{for|the Australian tennis player|Jack May (tennis)}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Jack May
| image         = Jack May 1967.jpg
| caption       = May in ''[[How I Won the War]]'' (1967)
| birth_name    = Jack Wynne May
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1922|4|23|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Henley-on-Thames]], [[Oxfordshire]], England
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1997|9|19|1922|4|23|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Hove]], [[Sussex]], England
| occupation    = Actor
| yearsactive   = 1945–1996
| spouse        = {{marriage|[[Petra Davies]]|1957}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lowfield.co.uk/archers/may-obit-times.html|title=The Times' Obituary for JACK MAY|website=lowfield.co.uk|access-date=9 October 2016|archive-date=13 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213102051/http://www.lowfield.co.uk/archers/may-obit-times.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/obituaries/2016/obituary-petra-davies/|title=Obituary: Petra Davies &#124; Obituaries|first=Michael|last=Quinn|date=25 May 2016}}</ref>
| children      = 2
}}
'''Jack Wynne May''' (23 April 1922 – 19 September 1997)<ref name="TimesObit">{{cite news|title=Jack May|work=The Times|publisher=Times Newspapers Limited|date=20 September 1997}}</ref><ref name="IndyObit">{{cite news|last1=Hayward|first1=Anthony|title=Obituary: Jack May|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-jack-may-1240192.html|access-date=18 March 2016|work=The Independent|date=19 September 1997}}</ref> was an English actor.

==Early life and education==
May was born in 1922 in [[Henley-on-Thames]], and was educated at [[Forest School (Walthamstow)|Forest School]] in [[Walthamstow]]. After war service with the [[Royal Indian Navy]] in [[British India]], he was offered a place at [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art|RADA]], but instead went to [[Merton College, Oxford]].<ref name=TimesObit /><ref name=IndyObit /><ref name="MCregister">{{cite book|editor1-last=Levens|editor1-first=R.G.C.|title=Merton College Register 1900–1964|date=1964|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|page=380}}</ref> Here, with the [[Oxford University Dramatic Society|OUDS]],<ref name=TimesObit /> he played parts that included [[John of Gaunt]] in ''[[Richard II (play)|Richard II]]'' and [[Polonius]] in ''[[Hamlet]]''.

==Career==
May became familiar on television as the [[valet]] William E. Simms in two series of the [[BBC One|BBC 1]] fantasy/adventure television series ''[[Adam Adamant Lives!]]'' from 1966 to 1967.<ref name=IndyObit /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Chapman|first1=James|title=Saints and Avengers: British Adventure Series of the 1960s|url=https://archive.org/details/saintsavengersbr00chap|url-access=limited|date=6 September 2002|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=1860647545|page=[https://archive.org/details/saintsavengersbr00chap/page/n155 142]}}</ref>

He provided the voice for [[Count Duckula#Igor|Igor]], long-suffering butler to [[Count Duckula]] in the cartoon series of the same name.<ref name=IndyObit /><ref>{{cite book|author1=John Edgar Browning |author2=Caroline Joan (Kay) Picart|title=Dracula in Visual Media: Film, Television, Comic Book and Electronic Game Appearances, 1921–2010|url=https://archive.org/details/draculavisualmed00brow |url-access=limited |date=20 October 2010 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0786462018 |page=[https://archive.org/details/draculavisualmed00brow/page/n59 51]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|date=6 November 2008 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0786486410 |page=212|edition=2nd}}</ref> He also appeared as the waiter [[Garkbit]] in the television version of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'',<ref name=IndyObit /><ref>{{cite book|author1=John R. Cook|author2=Peter Wright|title=British Science Fiction Television: A Hitchhiker's Guide|date=6 January 2006|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=1845110471|page=234}}</ref> [[Théoden]] in the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation of ''[[The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)|The Lord of the Rings]]'', as General Hermack in the 1969 ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial ''[[The Space Pirates]]'',<ref name=IndyObit /> and in ''[[Bachelor Father (British TV series)|Bachelor Father]]''. For 45 years the long-running [[BBC Radio 4]] series, ''[[The Archers]]'', featured the voice of May as [[Nelson Gabriel]], son of Walter Gabriel,<ref name=TimesObit /> making him (at the time of his death) the fourth-longest serving [[soap opera]] star in the world.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Henderson|first1=Mark|title=Nelson of The Archers is dead|work=The Times|publisher=Times Newspapers Limited|date=20 September 1997}}</ref> He played the voice of Muzzy in ''[[Muzzy in Gondoland]]'' and ''[[Muzzy Comes Back]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://filmsinboxes.wordpress.com/2011/07/02/muzzy-1986/|title=Muzzy (1986)|date=2 July 2011}}</ref>

His other credits in film and television included Dr. Denny in the 1960 serial ''[[The Citadel (1960 British miniseries)|The Citadel]]'', the sex-crazed Judge in the horror film ''Night After Night After Night'' (1970), the [[District Commissioner (British Colonial)|District Commissioner]] in ''[[The Man Who Would Be King (film)|The Man Who Would Be King]]'' (1975),<ref name=TimesObit /> and the prosecuting naval attorney in ''[[The Bounty (1984 film)|The Bounty]]'' (1984).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba083b534|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719065625/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba083b534|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 July 2018|title=Jack May|website=BFI}}</ref>

On stage he played many leading and supporting roles, spending five years with [[Birmingham Repertory Theatre]]<ref name=IndyObit /> during which time he attracted considerable notice in the title part of Shakespeare's ''[[Henry VI (play)|Henry VI]]''.<ref name=TimesObit /> This trilogy of plays came to the Old Vic in London, and from then on began to be far more regularly revived. For Birmingham Rep, he also played parts as diverse as Richard II, Alec in Coward's ''[[Still Life (play)|Still Life]]'' (the story better known as ''[[Brief Encounter]]'') and the Elephant in Obey's ''Noah''. He returned to the Old Vic for the 1958–59 season, as Shakespeare's [[Julius Caesar]] among other parts. Later stage roles included The Headmaster in ''[[A Voyage Round My Father]]'', and Colonel Pickering in ''[[Pygmalion (play)|Pygmalion]]'' with [[Alec McCowen]] and [[Diana Rigg]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/play/2h2/pygmalion/production/an8|title=Production of Pygmalion &#124; Theatricalia|website=theatricalia.com}}</ref>

==Personal life==
May married actress [[Petra Davies]] in 1957.<ref name=IndyObit /><ref name=MCregister /> He died at 75, on 19 September 1997. He and his wife had two children.

==Partial filmography==
{{Div col}}
* ''[[Gert and Daisy's Weekend]]'' (1942) as Old Man
* ''[[Give Me the Stars]]'' (1945) - Milkman (uncredited){{citation needed|date=September 2017}}
* ''[[The Oracle (1953 film)|The Oracle]]'' (1953) - Old Man
* ''[[Innocents in Paris]]'' (1953) - (uncredited){{citation needed|date=September 2017}}
* ''[[John Wesley (film)|John Wesley]]'' (1954)
* ''[[Child's Play (1954 film)|Child's Play]]'' (1954) - Bob Crouch
* ''[[It's a Great Day]]'' (1955) - Nightwatchman (uncredited){{citation needed|date=September 2017}}
* ''[[Cat Girl]]'' (1957) - Richard Johnson
* ''[[The Silent Enemy (1958 film)|The Silent Enemy]]'' (1958) - (uncredited){{citation needed|date=September 2017}}
* ''[[There Was a Crooked Man (1960 film)|There Was a Crooked Man]]'' (1960) - Police Sergeant
* ''[[Seven Keys (film)|Seven Keys]]'' (1961) - Prison Officer (uncredited){{citation needed|date=September 2017}}
* ''[[Solo for Sparrow]]'' (1962) - Insp. Hudson
* ''[[The Traitors (1962 film)|The Traitors]]'' (1962) - Burton / 'The Traitor'
* ''[[Solo for Sparrow]]'' (1962) - MO
* ''[[A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (film)|A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum]]'' (1966) - Shopkeeper
* ''[[How I Won the War]]'' (1967) - Toby
* ''[[A Twist of Sand]]'' (1968) - Inspector Seekert
* ''[[Night After Night After Night]]'' (1969) - Judge Charles Lomax
* ''[[Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969 film)|Goodbye, Mr. Chips]]'' (1969) - Price (uncredited){{citation needed|date=September 2017}}
* ''[[Trog]]'' (1970) - Dr. Selbourne
* ''[[The Yes Girls]]'' (1971) - King Reiter
* ''[[Big Zapper]]'' (1973) - Jeremiah Horn
* ''[[The Man Who Would Be King (film)|The Man Who Would Be King]]'' (1975) - District Commissioner
* ''[[The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (film)|The Seven-Per-Cent Solution]]'' (1976) - Dr. Schultz
* ''[[Sammy's Super T-Shirt]]'' (1978) - Sportsmaster
* ''[[A Horseman Riding By]]'' (1978) - Lord Gilroy
* ''[[The Return of the Soldier (film)|The Return of the Soldier]]'' (1982) - Brigadier General
* ''[[The Bounty (1984 film)|The Bounty]]'' (1984) - Prosecuting Captain
* ''[[The Shooting Party]]'' (1985) - Sir Harry Stamp
* ''[[The Doctor and the Devils]]'' (1985) - Dr. Stevens
* ''[[Willie's War]]'' (1994) - Grandfather

{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|id=0561975|name=Jack May}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:May, Jack}}
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford]]
[[Category:English male radio actors]]
[[Category:English male television actors]]
[[Category:Male actors from Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:People educated at Forest School, Walthamstow]]
[[Category:Actors from Henley-on-Thames]]
[[Category:Indian military personnel of World War II]]