Bruce Allpress
{{Short description|New Zealand actor (1930–2020)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Bruce Allpress
|image = Bruce Allpress 2000.jpg
|caption = As Aldor at Helm's Deep, 2000
|birthname = Bruce Robert Allpress
|birth_date = {{birth date|1930|8|25|df=yes}}
|birth_place = Dunedin, New Zealand
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|4|23|1930|8|25|df=y}}
|death_place = Auckland, New Zealand
|occupation = Actor
|yearsactive =
|website =
}}
Bruce Robert Allpress (25 August 1930 – 23 April 2020) was a New Zealand actor.
Biography
Allpress grew up in Dunedin, the second son of William and Gladys Allpress.{{cite news |url=https://notices.nzherald.co.nz/obituaries/nzherald-nz/obituary.aspx?n=bruce-robert-allpress&pid=196079625 |title=Bruce Allpress death notice |date=27 April 2020 |work=New Zealand Herald |accessdate=30 April 2020}} He began performing in the 1960s in a vaudeville minstrel show called the Cheeseman Singer Series.{{cite web |title=Bruce Allpress |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/bruce-allpress/biography |website=NZ On Screen |accessdate=25 April 2020}} He began working in television drama with a role in the series Hunter's Gold, then spent several years as a regular character on the late 1970s soap opera Close to Home.{{cite news |title=Kiwi actor Bruce Allpress who starred in Close to Home dies aged 89 |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12327578 |accessdate=25 April 2020 |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=25 April 2020 |language=en-NZ}}
He appeared in many television dramas and also presented on television and radio productions. In the mid-1980s, he was a regular on The Billy T. James Show, as well as featuring alongside Tommy Lee Jones in the pirate adventure film Nate and Hayes.{{cite web |title=Savage Islands |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/savage-islands-1983/overview |website=NZ On Screen |access-date=2 October 2023 |language=en}} He also played the role of a blind piano tuner in The Piano (1993) directed by Jane Campion.{{cite news |title=Lord of the Rings actor Bruce Allpress, who played a pivotal role in The Two Towers, has died aged 89 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/brue-allpress-death-lord-of-the-rings-the-piano-age-cause-a9484491.html |access-date=3 October 2023 |work=The Independent |date=26 April 2020 |language=en}} His most known role is Aldor, archer of Rohan that accidentally shot the first Uruk-hai from their army in the 2002 film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
Allpress died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at the age of 89 on 23 April 2020.{{cite news |title='Icon' Kiwi actor Bruce Allpress who 'fought to the end' dies aged 89 |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/121275446/kiwi-actor-bruce-allpress-dies-aged-89 |accessdate=25 April 2020 |work=Stuff }}
Awards
In 1981 and 1983, Allpress was awarded the Feltex Television Award for Best Actor in the series Jocko.
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Beyond Reasonable Doubt | Detective Sam Keith | |
| 1981 | Bad Blood | Inspector Calwell | |
| 1982 | The Scarecrow | Uncle Athol | |
| 1983 | Nate and Hayes | Mr. Blake | |
| 1985 | Came a Hot Friday | Don's Dad | |
| 1985 | Should I Be Good? | Neville Oswald | |
| 1987 | Erebus: The Aftermath | Peter Grundy | TV miniseries |
| 1990 | The Shrimp on the Barbie | Mr. Ridley | |
| 1993 | The Piano | Blind Piano Tuner | |
| 2002 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | Aldor | |
| 2006 | Ozzie | Charlie Foster | |
| 2007 | The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep | Jock McGowan | |
| 2008
|Master Phant | | |||
| 2011 | No Rest for the Wicked | Mr. Maxwell |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0021600|name=Bruce Allpress}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allpress, Bruce}}
Category:New Zealand male television actors
Category:Deaths from motor neuron disease in New Zealand
{{NewZealand-tv-actor-stub}}