Nigel Green

Nigel Green
Born	Nigel McGown Green (1924-10-15)15 October 1924 Pretoria, South Africa
Died	15 May 1972(1972-05-15) (aged 47) Brighton, Sussex, England
Years active	1952–1972
Spouse(s)	Patricia Marmont (m. 1952; div.) Pamela Gordon (1956–1972; his death) (1 child)
Children	1

Nigel McGown Green (15 October 1924 – 15 May 1972) was an English character actor. Because of his strapping build, commanding height (6 ft 4 in or 1.93 m) and regimental demeanour he would often be found playing military types and men of action in such classic 1960s films as Jason and the Argonauts, Zulu, Tobruk and The Ipcress File.

Early life and education

Nigel Green was born in Pretoria, South Africa, son of pioneering animal health biochemist Henry Hamilton Green, DSc, and Katherine Laura, née McGown, daughter of printer John McGown. In Pretoria, his father was employed as professor of biochemistry and sub-director of the Veterinary Research Laboratories at Onderstepoort (he was later a researcher at New Haw in Surrey, having been director of the Scottish Dairy Research Institute). Green's elder brother, Kenneth Gillies Green (1918-1990), was a medical doctor, an adviser to companies including Imperial Chemical Industries, and in 1959 a founder of the Association of Medical Advisers in the Pharmaceutical Industry, now the British Association for Pharmaceutical Physicians. Green was subsequently raised in London, attending King's College School, Wimbledon and the University of London, followed by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. During the Second World War he trained as an Observer in the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.

Early stage career

Among early stage appearances, he was at London's New Theatre (now the Noël Coward Theatre) in October 1948, playing multiple roles in John Burrell's Old Vic company revival of The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. At the Stratford Memorial Theatre in 1950, he was cast as Sir Thomas Lovell in Henry VIII (directed by Tyrone Guthrie), Abhorson in Peter Brook's production of Measure for Measure (which also went on tour in Germany), Decius Brutus in Julius Caesar (directed by Anthony Quayle), and — most notably — Edmund in King Lear, starring and co-directed by John Gielgud.

Subsequent West End appearances included Come Live With Me (directed by Roy Rich: Vaudeville Theatre, June 1951), Heloise (directed by Michael Powell: Duke of York's Theatre, November 1951), Vernon Sylvaine's As Long as They're Happy, opposite Jack Buchanan (directed by Roy Rich: Garrick Theatre, July 1953), Félicien Marceau's The Egg (directed by Charles Frank: Saville Theatre, October 1957)) and Agatha Christie's Go Back for Murder (directed by Hubert Gregg: Duchess Theatre, March 1960).

In his second volume of autobiography, Michael Powell pointed out that, though the play they collaborated on was a failure, "Nigel Green, with his great face and towering figure, would soon make a name for himself in movies. Who could ever forget him in Zulu? He was an almost mythical figure, like Harry Andrews and Victor McLaglen, and later John Wayne, all of them genuine and generous artists. Among other men they were like Norse gods, mythical, large and gentle, suddenly exploding into rage and performing fabulous feats of strength."

Screen career

Early film roles included Reach for the Sky (1956), The Criminal (1960), The League of Gentlemen (1960) and Beat Girl (1960). His large physique led to his being cast as Little John in the film Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960).

He had one of his most memorable roles as Hercules in Jason and the Argonauts (1963), followed by his co-starring role as Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne in Zulu (1964). He had a leading role as Inspector Sir Denis Nayland Smith in The Face of Fu Manchu (1965) and the supporting role of Major Dalby in The Ipcress File (also 1965). Other roles include Carl Petersen in the Bulldog Drummond film Deadlier Than the Male (1967), as McCune, a devious Australian in the 1967 comedy-adventure The Pink Jungle, Count Contini in the Matt Helm film The Wrecking Crew (1969), and 'Lord Ashley's Whore' in John Huston's The Kremlin Letter (1969). His many military roles included parts in Khartoum (1966), Tobruk (1967), Fräulein Doktor and Play Dirty (both 1969).

Green also appeared in a number of horror films, including Corridors of Blood (1958), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), The Skull (1965), Let's Kill Uncle (1966) and Countess Dracula (1971). His penultimate role was as McKyle the 'Electric Messiah', a mental patient believing himself to be God, in The Ruling Class (1972).

His television appearances included The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, The Adventures of William Tell, The Other Man, Danger Man, The Power Game, The Avengers, Sherlock Holmes, Jason King, The Protectors and The Persuaders!.

Personal life

Green's first wife was the actress Patricia Marmont. His second wife was the actress Pamela Gordon, with whom he had one daughter.

Death

Green died following an overdose of sleeping pills in 1972, aged 47. It is unknown if his death was intentional. Peter O'Toole said on his commentary on The Ruling Class that he believed Green was very depressed and that his death shortly after filming ended was a suicide, although Green's family believed it to be accidental. He was separated from his wife Pamela Gordon at the time.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1954	Meet Mr. Malcolm
	Stranger from Venus	Second Police Officer
	The Sea Shall Not Have Them	Met Officer Howard
1955	As Long as They're Happy	Peter Pember
1956	Reach for the Sky	Streatfield
	Find the Lady	Photographer	Uncredited
1957	Bitter Victory	Private Wilkins
1958	The Gypsy and the Gentleman	Game Pup
	Corridors of Blood	Inspector Donovan
1959	Witness in the Dark	The Intruder
1960	League of Gentlemen	Kissing man in truck	Uncredited
	Beat Girl	Simon
	Sword of Sherwood Forest	Little John
	The Criminal	Ted
1961	Man at the Carlton Tower	Lew Daney	Edgar Wallace Mysteries
	Gorgo	Bulletin Announcer	Uncredited
	Pit of Darkness	Jonathan
	The Queen's Guards	Abu Sibdar
1962	The Spanish Sword	Baron Breaute
	Playback	Ralph Monk	Edgar Wallace Mysteries
	The Durant Affair	Sir Patrick
1963	Mystery Submarine	Chief ERA Lovejoy
	Jason and the Argonauts	Hercules
	The Man Who Finally Died	Sergeant Hirsch
1964	Zulu	Colour Sergeant Bourne
	Saturday Night Out	Paddy
	The Masque of the Red Death	Ludovico
1965	The Ipcress File	Major Dalby
	The Face of Fu Manchu	Sir Denis Nayland Smith
	The Skull	Inspector Wilson
1966	Khartoum	General Wolseley
	Let's Kill Uncle	The Uncle-Major Kevin Harrison
1967	Tobruk	Lieutenant-Colonel John Harker
	Deadlier Than the Male	Carl Petersen
	The Queen's Traitor	John Hawkins
	Africa Texas Style	Karl Bekker
1968	The Pink Jungle	Crowley
	The Wrecking Crew	Count Massimo Contini
1969	Play Dirty	Colonel Masters
	Fräulein Doktor	Colonel Mathesius
1970	The Kremlin Letter	The Whore
1971	Countess Dracula	Captain Dobi the Castle Steward
1972	The Ruling Class	McKyle
1973	Gawain and the Green Knight	Green Knight	(final film role)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1952	Suspense	Mr Williams
1953	Broadway Television Theatre	Prince Sirki of Vitalba Alexa
1956	The Adventure of Robin Hood	Prival
1956-1957	The Adventures of Sir Launcelot	Jailer / 2nd thief / farmer
1958	Ivanhoe	Timon
1958-1959	William Tell	Fertog (The Bear)
1959	The Flying Doctor	Haggerty
	World Theatre	Recruiting officer	mini series
1967/1969	The Avengers	Sir Lexius Cray/Sir Geoffrey Armstrong	Episode: The Winged Avenger/Fog
1972	Clochemerle
	The Protectors	Krassinkov	Episode: Balance of Terror

See also

• List of unsolved deaths

Sources

• Sheldon Hall (2014). "Green, Nigel McGown (1924–1972)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/94147. ISBN 9780198614111.
• David McGillivray (1988). "Now you know". Films and Filming. 34 (April 1988). London: 47. ISSN 0015-167X.
• Terence Pettigrew (1982). British Character Actors (Rowman & Littlefield).

External links

• Nigel Green at IMDb