John Nettleton (actor)
{{Short description|British actor (1929–2023)}}
{{distinguish|John Nettles}}
{{self-published|date=July 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = John Nettleton
| image =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1929|02|05|df=y}}
| birth_place = Sydenham, London, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|07|12|1929|02|05|df=y}}
| death_place =
| occupation = Actor
| yearsactive = 1956–2010
| spouse = {{marriage|Deirdre Doone|1954}}
| children = 3
}}
John Slade Nettleton (5 February 1929 – 12 July 2023) was an English actor. He played Sir Arnold Robinson, Cabinet Secretary in Yes Minister (1980–1984) and President of the Campaign for Freedom of Information in the follow-up Yes, Prime Minister (1985–1988).{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/509969/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Yes Minister (1980-84)|website=screenonline.org.uk}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074rw6|title=BBC Two – Yes, Prime Minister, Series 1, One of Us|publisher=BBC}} Another political role for Nettleton was as Conservative Party MP Sir Stephen Baxter in the sitcom The New Statesman.{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/547733/credits.html|title=BFI Screenonline: New Statesman, The (1987-92) Credits|website=screenonline.org.uk}}
Early life
Career
Nettleton played Sir Arnold Robinson, Cabinet Secretary in Yes Minister (1980–1984) and President of the Campaign for Freedom of Information in the follow-up Yes, Prime Minister (1985–1988). He also played a Conservative Party Member of Parliament (Sir Stephen Baxter) in the sitcom The New Statesman.
Nettleton's other television roles included a Ministry of Defence department chief in The Avengers (episode "The See-Through Man", 1967), a police sergeant in Please Sir! (1969), Alfred Booker in The Champions (episode "Full Circle", 1969), Froggett in the office comedy series If It Moves File It (1970), Francis Bacon in Elizabeth R (1971), a Detective Superintendent in Doctor at Large in 1971, George Pattinson in a now lost episode ("The Uninvited") of Out of the Unknown (also in 1971), as Arthur Bellamy, brother to Viscount Bellamy, in Upstairs, Downstairs (1972), The Country Wife (1977), Brideshead Revisited (1981), The Flame Trees of Thika (1981), The Citadel (1983), Martin Luther, Heretic (1983), Brass (1983), East of Ipswich (1987), Major Membury in A Perfect Spy (1987), Reverend Ernest Matthews in the Doctor Who serial Ghost Light (1989), Longitude (2000), Midsomer Murders (2005) and Kingdom (2008).{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f55d0ed|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321075749/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f55d0ed|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 March 2017|title=John Nettleton|publisher=British Film Institute}}{{cite web|url=http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=19963|title=John Nettleton|website=aveleyman.com|access-date=12 February 2019|archive-date=14 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230714152721/https://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=19963|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/john-nettleton-p52299|title=John Nettleton – Movies and Filmography|publisher=AllMovie}} In the 1960s and 1970s, Nettleton was the reader of various illustrated stories on children's television programme Blue Peter. Often these were about historical figures, such as Florence Nightingale.{{cite web|url=https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/2169324.john-was-the-god-of-childrens-tv/|title=John was the god of children's TV|website=Swindon Advertiser|date=3 April 2008 }}
On stage, Nettleton appeared in the Lyttelton Theatre at the Royal National Theatre in the 2006 productions of Harley Granville-Barker's The Voysey Inheritance, directed by Peter Gill. He also appeared at the Olivier Theatre in the 1990 production of Alan Bennett's Wind in the Willows, directed by Nicholas Hytner.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/apr/26/theatre1|title=The Voysey Inheritance, National, London|first=Michael|last=Billington|date=26 April 2006|work=The Guardian}} He also voiced Grandpa in the PC video game The Scruffs.
Personal life and death
Nettleton married actress Deirdre Doone in 1954.{{cite web|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2005/the-importance-of-being-earnest-review-at-greenwich-theatre/|title=The Importance of Being Earnest review at Greenwich Theatre – Review – Theatre|first=John|last=Morrison}} They had three daughters. Nettleton and Doone were members of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jul/16/john-nettleton-obituary|title=John Nettleton obituary|publisher= The Guardian|date=16 July 2023|accessdate=16 July 2023}} He died on 12 July 2023, at the age of 94.{{cite news |last1=Clarke |first1=Naomi |title=Former Yes Minister star John Nettleton dies aged 94 |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/former-yes-minister-star-john-nettleton-dies-aged-94-4218978 |access-date=14 July 2023 |publisher=The Scotsman |date=14 July 2023}}{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=2023-07-14 |title=John Nettleton, RSC stalwart and character actor who played Sir Arnold in Yes Minister – obituary |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2023/07/14/john-nettleton-rsc-actor-yes-minister-sir-arnold-blue-peter/ |access-date=2023-07-14 |issn=0307-1235}}
Filmography
| class = "wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class = "unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1966
| Jailer | |
| 1969
| Det. Inspector Nash | |
| rowspan=2|1970
| Wagstaff | |
| And Soon the Darkness
| Gendarme | |
| 1971
| Sir William | |
| 1975
| All Creatures Great and Small | Head Waiter | |
| 1982
| Jenkins | TV version |
| 1983
| TV movie |
| 1988
| Doctor Weiss | |
| 1991
| Rev. Groves | |
| 1998
| Jinnah | General Gracie | |
| 2005
| 1st Magistrate | |
| 2007
| Professor Coulter | |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0626726|name=John Nettleton}}
- {{IBDB name|109523}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20230714152714/https://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=19963 John Nettleton](Aveleyman)(Wayback Machine)
- {{discogs artist|John Nettleton}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nettleton, John}}
Category:20th-century English male actors
Category:21st-century English male actors
Category:Actors from the London Borough of Lewisham
Category:English male film actors
Category:English male stage actors
Category:English male television actors