Michael Williams (actor)

For other people named Michael Williams, see Michael Williams (disambiguation).

Michael Leonard Williams KSG (9 July 1935 – 11 January 2001) was a British actor who played both classical and comedy roles. He was best known for co-starring in the sitcom A Fine Romance with his wife Dame Judi Dench, and for voicing Dr. Watson in the long-running Sherlock Holmes adaptations for BBC Radio.

Michael Williams KSG
Born	Michael Leonard Williams 9 July 1935 (1935-07-09) Salford, Lancashire, England
Died	11 January 2001(2001-01-11) (aged 65) Hampstead, London, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1961–1999
Spouse	Judi Dench ​ (m. 1971)​
Children	Finty Williams

Biography

Williams was born in Salford, Lancashire, England.

Williams married Judi Dench on 5 February 1971, the same year in which they co-starred in a stage production of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi. They had one daughter, Finty Williams, who is also an actress.^[1] Williams was also godfather to the actor Rory Kinnear.^[2]

Williams was the President of the Roman Catholic Actors' Guild.^[3]

Williams' grave

Shortly before his death from lung cancer aged 65, Williams was appointed a Knight of St Gregory (KSG) by Pope John Paul II for his contribution to Catholic life in Britain. The honour was officially bestowed upon him at home on 10 January 2001. He died the next day,^[4] and was buried in the churchyard of St Leonard's, the Anglican parish church of Charlecote, Warwickshire. Williams was a fan of Everton FC.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962	The Trial of Joan of Arc	Englishman	Uncredited
1967	Marat/Sade	Herald
1968	Tell Me Lies	Guest	Documentary
1972	Eagle in a Cage	Barry O'Meara
1974	Dead Cert	Sandy Mason
1982	Enigma	Hirsch, Limmer's Assistant
1983	Educating Rita	Brian
1989	Henry V	Michael Williams
1999	Tea with Mussolini	British Consul

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962	Z-Cars	Norbert Nuttall	1 episode
1970	A Family at War	Eddie Chappell	1 episode
1971	Elizabeth R	François, Duke of Anjou and Alençon	1 episode
1975	The Hanged Man	Alan Crowe	8 episodes
1979	My Son, My Son	William Essex	8 episodes
1980	Love in a Cold Climate	Davey Warbeck	8 episodes
1981–1984	A Fine Romance	Mike Selway	26 episodes
1987	Blunt: The Fourth Man [5]	Goronwy Rees
1988	Double First	Norman 'N.V.' Standish	7 episodes
1988-1989	Charlie Chalk	Charlie Chalk, Lewis T. Duck, Trader Jones and Litterbug (voice)	13 episodes
1989	Screen Two	Michael Darlow	1 episode
1993–1994	Conjugal Rites	Barry Masefield	13 episodes
1993–1995	September Song	Billy Balsam	20 episodes
1996	Kavanagh QC	DCI Knowland	1 episode
1996-2000	Brambly Hedge	Mr. Apple	8 episodes
1997	A Dance to the Music of Time	Ted Jeavons	2 episodes
1999	The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns	Father Daley	2 episodes, (final appearance)

Select radio roles

Year	Title	Role
1973	The War Between Men and Women	reader
1989–1998	Sherlock Holmes	Dr. Watson
1990	The Forsyte Chronicles	Young Jolyon Forsyte
1995–1996	Change at Oglethorpe	Rocket
1995–1999	The George Cragge series	George Cragge
1997	Mansfield Park	Sir Thomas Bertram
1998–1999	Old Dog and Partridge	Jack
1999–2000	Bristow	Bristow

Stage roles

Principal stage appearances; mostly with the Royal Shakespeare Company:^[6]

• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1963)
• The Beggar's Opera (1963)
• The Representative (1963)
• King Lear (1964)
• The Comedy of Errors (1964)
• Marat/Sade (1964)
• The Jew of Malta (1964)
• Don't Make Me Laugh (1965)
• Timon of Athens (1965)
• Hamlet (1965)
• Tango (1966)
• The Taming of the Shrew (1967)
• As You Like It (1967)
• Troilus and Cressida (1968)
• London Assurance (1970)
• The Merchant of Venice (1971)
• The Duchess of Malfi (1971)
• Henry V (1971)
• Toad of Toad Hall (1972)
• Content to Whisper (1973)
• Jingo (1975)
• Too True to Be Good (1975)
• The Comedy of Errors (1976)
• The Winter's Tale (1976)
• Schweik in the Second World War (1977)
• The Montrous Regiment (1978)
• A Village Wooing (1981)
• Quartermaine's Terms (1982)
• Pack of Lies (1983/4)
• Two into One (1984)
• Mr and Mrs Nobody (1986/7)
• Out of Order (1990)
• The Tempest (1995)
• The Round Dozen (1996)
• Brief Lives (1997/8)
• The Forest (1999)

Also appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company's Theatre-Go-Round Festival, Round House Theatre, London, 1970.^[7]

References

1. "My grandson was a big surprise". 22 August 1997. Archived from the original on 26 January 2015 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
2. "Rory Kinnear: Good show, sweet prince". standard.co.uk. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
3. "Michael Williams: End of the fine romance". BBC. 16 January 2001. Retrieved 13 September 2010. A devout Catholic, Michael Williams was a former President of the Roman Catholic Actors' Guild.
4. "Actor Michael Williams dies". BBC News. 15 January 2001. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
5. Blunt: the fourth man, DVD video listing at WorldCat. OCLC 54436975
6. "The Stage in British Newspaper Archive" – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Michael Williams Biography (1935-)". www.filmreference.com.

External links

• Michael Williams at IMDb
• Performances listed in Theatre Archive, University of Bristol