Charles Kay
{{Short description|English actor (1930–2025)}}
{{Sources|date=January 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Charles Kay
| image =
| imagesize =
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| birth_name = Alfred Charles Piff
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|8|31|df=y}}
| birth_place = Coventry, Warwickshire, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|1|8|1930|8|31|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1958–2013
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
| website =
| awards =
}}
Alfred Charles Piff (31 August 1930 – 8 January 2025), better known by his stage name Charles Kay, was an English actor.{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9fc448d0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723041739/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9fc448d0|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-23|title=Charles Kay}}
Early life and education
Kay was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, the son of Frances (née Petty) and Charles Beckingham Piff.{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/86/Charles-Kay.html|title=Charles Kay Biography (1930-)|website=filmreference.com}}
Originally educated at Warwick School, Kay went on to study medicine, then decided to train for the stage. He went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and in 1957, after graduation, joined the Radio Drama Company by winning the Carleton Hobbs Bursary.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/soundstart/roll.shtml Carleton Hobbs Bursary winners] at BBC.co.uk, accessed 23 January 2018 He went on to join the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre. He created the roles of Jimmy in Arnold Wesker's Roots (1959) and Charles V in John Osborne's Luther (1961). He was also in Wesker's The Kitchen, The Changeling (1961), and Twelfth Night (1962).
Theatre
Kay joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963 and appeared in Stratford and at the Aldwych, London. He remained until 1966, during which time he portrayed a wide variety of roles, including Octavius Caesar in Julius Caesar, Clarence in The Wars of The Roses, Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice, Antipholus of Ephesus in The Comedy of Errors, Osric in the David Warner Hamlet, Dobchinsky in The Government Inspector and Moloch in Robert Bolt's The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew. He then joined the National Theatre where he played Celia in the all-male production of As You Like It (1967) and appeared in Peter Nichols's The National Health (1969).
Film and television
In film, his highest profile role was as Count Orsini-Rosenberg in the Academy Award winning Amadeus. He also appeared in Kenneth Branagh's Henry V, and the 2002 version of The Importance of Being Earnest.
His numerous appearances on television include Crown Court, Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill in which he played Montagu Phippen Porch, Fall of Eagles in which he played Tsar Nicholas II, I, Claudius, The Devil's Crown, To Serve Them All My Days, By the Sword Divided, Fortunes of War, Rumpole of the Bailey, The Citadel, Edge of Darkness, The Darling Buds of May, Jonathan Creek, Law and Disorder, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, Holby City, Midsomer Murders and The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes story "The Creeping Man".
In 2002, he guest starred in the Doctor Who audio drama Excelis Rising.
Kay died on 8 January 2025, at the age of 94.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/jan/14/charles-kay-obituary|title=Charles Kay obituary|first=Michael|last=Coveney|date=14 January 2025|accessdate=14 January 2025|newspaper=The Guardian}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Bachelor of Hearts | Tom Clark | |
| 1960 | Piccadilly Third Stop | Toddy | |
| 1962 | The Wild and the Willing | Edgar Tibbs | |
| 1966 | The Deadly Affair | Lightborn | (in "Edward II"), Uncredited |
| 1975 | Hennessy | Westminster Guide | |
| 1980 | Nijinsky | Argentine Ambassador | |
| 1984 | Amadeus | Count Orsini-Rosenberg | |
| 1986 | School for Vandals | Neil | |
| 1989 | Henry V | Archbishop of Canterbury | |
| 1994 | Willie's War | Captain Bassett | |
| 1998 | Goodnight Mister Tom | Mr. Greenway | |
| 1999 | Beautiful People | George Thornton | |
| 2002 | The Importance of Being Earnest | Gribsby |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0443016}}
- {{discogs artist|Charles Kay}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Charles}}
Category:20th-century English male actors
Category:21st-century English male actors
Category:Male actors from Coventry
Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Category:English male film actors
Category:English male stage actors
Category:English male television actors