John Ringham RIP

[Stephen Morgan]

This has shocked and saddened me this morning.

"The Telegraph reports :

John Ringham , who has died aged 80, was a character actor and a fixture on stage and television for more than half a century.

Though never a star, Ringham was a dependable and familar face in numerous popular programmes, with appearances on Terry and June, Casualty, Taggart, All Creatures Great and Small, The Onedin Line, Barchester Chronicles, Bergerac, Minder and many others.

He reckoned that he had made perhaps 300 film and television appearances, and performed in more than 250 stage productions. His best-known roles were probably those of Norman Warrender, Penny?s father in the 1980s sitcom Just Good Friends, and as the headmaster Mr Blocker in the children?s programme Woof!

He also played Captain Bailey in several episodes of Dad?s Army and appeared as three separate characters in consecutive series of Doctor Who, notably as the villain Tlotoxl in the The Aztecs, broadcast in 1964.

John Henry Ringham was born on February 10 1928 in Cheltenham, the son of a travelling book salesman. His first experience of the stage came when, as a teenager, he joined a local drama group run by a former actress. He was called up for National Service shortly after the end of the war, and served in Palestine.

He was commissioned, but conceded that he had been a poor soldier: he once contrived to lose 200 men in the desert in Egypt.

On demob, Ringham joined a touring company called The Compass Players, with whom he performed for four years, playing one-night engagements.

He had hoped that it was the excellence of his audition which had secured him the job, but later discovered that it was the fact that he was qualified to drive the company?s two-ton truck. It was a hand-to-mouth existence, and he was left with a lifelong hatred of peanut butter after a two-week period when the actors survived on peanut butter and turnips.

In the course of several years in repertory theatre, Ringham had spells at the Library Theatre in Manchester, the Bristol Old Vic, Northampton Rep and the Coventry Civic amongst others.

Throughout the 1960s he appeared in such popular series as Z-Cars, Dixon of Dock Green and The Avengers, and was among the original line-up in the first season of Dad?s Army.

In the 1970s and 1980s he appeared regularly in sitcoms such as Terry and June, Birds Of A Feather and Minder, as well as appearing in dramas such as The Barchester Chronicles and Flambards.

He never stopped working and had recently completed filming an episode of Doctors shortly before falling ill.

John Ringham, who died on October 20, is survived by his wife of 46 years, Fee, and four children."


A great character actor and always a joy to see him in anything, especially his roles in Dr. Who, Tlotoxl in The Aztecs and Ashe in Colony In Space.

RIP John Ringham.
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[SiHart]

That's really sad.

I've always known him as "character actor John Ringham" since the BSB Doctor Who weekend, when JNT referred to him and it always made me smile when I spotted him (especially in the Radiohead video for "Just"). He always seemed really enthusiastic about his Who appearances too, which was lovely.

RIP

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

I've spotted him in lots of shows, but for me he'll always be Tlotoxl, a superb performance that is remembered nearly 45 years later.

RIP John.

[Rob McCow]

Very sad. He was one of those actors who was in everything. He even had a star turn on the Aztecs DVD.

RIP.

[Antony Cox]

Actor John Ringham, who played Tlotoxl in The Aztecs, Josiah Blake in The Smugglers and Robert Ashe in Colony in Space, has died aged 80.

Obituary here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obit...n-Ringham.html

RIP John.

[Dirk Gently]

That's a shame.

R.I.P John.

[Antony Cox]

Sorry - I didn't realise Steve had already posted a thread on this...

[Captain Tancredi]

It's also a shame that the Telegraph's obituary writer appears not to know the meaning of the word "consecutive".

But yes, I think (and I've said as much in a review) that one of the things which lifts the Aztecs DVD is the presence of a number of the supporting actors, so it's a particular treat that we still have his recollections of a month's work which was nearly forty years behind him at the time the DVD was put together.

[Stuart Wallis]

A great character actor and always a joy to see him in anything, especially his roles in Dr. Who, Tlotoxl in The Aztecs and Ashe in Colony In Space.

RIP John Ringham.

My thoughts exactly. It doesn't surprise me about his being VFM on The Aztecs; I always got the impression that he was the sort of person who would be enthusiastic about most things.

[Dave Tudor]

Very sad - a good actor, whose various Who apperances showed off his versatility. As others have said, he seemed very enthusiastic, especially on The Aztecs DVD.

I always used to like him in Woof!

Rest in peace, John.