John Forgeham

John Henry George Forgeham (14 May 1941 – 10 March 2017) was an English actor known for his television work, notably the role of businessman Frank Laslett in the ITV series Footballers' Wives.^[3]

John Forgeham
Born	John Henry George Forgeham (1941-05-14)14 May 1941 Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
Died	10 March 2017(2017-03-10) (aged 75) Worthing, West Sussex, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1963–2012
Spouse(s)	Georgina Hale (actress/divorced)[1] Fiesta mei Ling (actress/divorced)[1] Arlene Garciano (2004–2006)[2]
Children	2

Early life

Born in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, Forgeham moved to Erdington, Birmingham as a child,^[4] and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) on a two-year scholarship (1962–1964) from where he graduated with a RADA Silver medal for Best Performance student.^[5]

Career

Stage

Forgeham was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) (from 1966 until 1972) and toured with the company both nationally and internationally. Whilst on tour in Australia he decided to stay longer than anticipated and founded the Globe Shakespeare Theatre in Sydney.^[4]

Television

His many television credits include: The Avengers, Z-Cars, The Stone Tape, Crossroads, The Sweeney, Ivanhoe, Beau Geste, Minder, Footballers' Wives, The Professionals, Shoestring, Juliet Bravo, C.A.T.S. Eyes, Give Us a Break, Lovejoy, Bergerac, The Governor, Pulaski, Making Out, Nice Work, Prime Suspect, London's Burning, Casualty, The Bill, Doctors and as Reg Pendleton in the Heartbeat episode, Rumours.^[6]

Film

Film appearances include: The Italian Job (1969), Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1973), Spy Story (1976), Sheena (1984), Pope John Paul II (1984), The Laughter of God (1990), King of the Wind (1990), The Young Americans (1993), Staggered (1994), The Road to Ithaca (1999), Kiss of the Dragon (2001), Mean Machine (2001), Torture Room (2007) and Dead Man Running (2009).^[7]

Later life and death

In 2004 he appeared in the second series of the ITV weight loss show, Celebrity Fit Club. He replaced Freddie Starr as team captain, but was demoted five weeks later, the role being taken by James Whitaker.^[8]

Forgeham died suddenly from internal bleeding after breaking a collarbone when falling out of bed at his care home in Worthing, West Sussex on 10 March 2017, at the age of 75.^[9][10]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1969	The Italian Job	Frank
1973	Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall	Wally
1976	Spy Story	Security Guard
	One Hour to Zero	Sam Rogers
1984	Sheena	Jorgenson
1987	L'inchiesta	Marco
1990	King of the Wind	Blacksmith
1994	Staggered	Inspector Lubbock
1997	Remember Me?	Police Inspector
1999	The Road to Ithaca	Kemal Ahmed
2001	Kiss of the Dragon	Max
	Mean Machine	Charlie Sykes
2007	Pledge of Allegiance	Mr. Green
2009	Dead Man Running	Terry Biggs
2011	The Fencers	Cornel Wilde	Short film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1961	Spy-Catcher	Jeep Driver	Episode: "Doves of War"
1963	No Hiding Place	Joe Dean	Episode: "Pay As You Earn"
	The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre	Adrian Marlowe	Episode: "The Partner"
1963–1974	Z Cars	Ted O'Neill/Drew	2 episodes
1964	ITV Play of the Week	Private Elliot	Episode: "Jacko At War"
1965	The Avengers	Beale	Episode: "The Murder Market"
1966	The Idiot	Keller	3 episodes
	The Wednesday Play	Fisher	Episode: "Why Aren't You Famous?"
	Seven Deadly Sins	Kenny	Episode: "The Erpingham Camp"
	Thirteen Against Fate	Victor	Episode: "The Suspect"
1967	The Fellows	Des	2 episodes
1970	Dynasty	Jason Werner	Episode: "Catwalk"
	Homicide	Ken Thornton	Episode: "Doris and Daphne"
1971–1972	Catwalk	Saxon Wells	14 episodes
1972	The Stone Tape	Maudsley	Television film
1973	Chaser	Unknown	Television film
	The Brothers	Mortimer	Episode: "Errors of Judgement"
1974	Father Brown	Simeon Barnes	Episode: "The Hammer of God"
1975	The Sweeney	Dennis Rawlins	Episode: "The Placer"
	Churchill's People	John Morice	Episode: "Mutiny"
1976	The Expert	Warder	Episode: "Fail Safe"
1976–1978	Crossroads: King's Oak	Jim Baines	41 episodes
1980	Tales of the Unexpected	Police Officer	Episode: "The Hitch-Hiker"
	Minder	George	Episode: "Whose Wife Is It Anyway?"
	The Professionals	D.S. Colin	Episode: "Take Away"
	Play for Today	Gent at Hospital	Episode: "Number on End"
	Shoestring	Terry Bowen	Episode: "Another Man's Castle"
1981	The Incredible Mr Tanner	Mick	Episode: "The Wallet"
	Crown Court	Special Constable Copesley	Episode: "Freedom to Incite: Part 1"
	Strangers	Red Keegan	Episode: "Soldiers of Misfortune"
	Juliet Bravo	Clive Temple	Episode: "Catching Up"
1982	Ivanhoe	Front's Lieutenant	Television film
	L for Lester	Alf Bayley	6 episodes
	Saturday Night Thriller	Inspector Heneker	Episode: "A Gift of Tongues"
	Beau Geste	Sgt. Maj. Lejaune	6 episodes
1983	A Married Man	Detective Inspector Blackett	2 episodes
	Give Us a Break	Brindly	2 episodes
1984	Ever Decreasing Circles	Lorry Driver	Episode: "The New Neighbour"
	Killer Exposed	Det. Insp. George Hawthorne	Television film
	Pope John Paul II	Officer Moljek	Television film
	Sakharov	Unknown	Television film
1985	Ties of Blood	Sergeant	Television film
1985–1987	C.A.T.S. Eyes	Harry Hopkins/Landlord/Alan Dyer	3 episodes
1986	Duty Free	Sheridan	Episode: "Costa Del Crime"
	Lovejoy	Arnold	Episode: "To Sleep No More"
	Boon	Lenny Gates	Episode: "For Whom the Chimes Toll"
	Prospects	Jock	Episode: "Rodent Engineers"
	Big Deal	Manners	Episode: "Following in Father's Footsteps"
1986–1997	Casualty	Steve Meacham/Sgt. Shaw	2 episodes
1987	Y.E.S.	Wensbury	Episode: "Muscle"
	Bulman	Edwin Gilbert	Episode: "Chinese Whispers"
	Pulaski	Georgie Fowler	Episode: "Violence, Love and Ratings"
	Divided We Stand	Taxi Driver	Episode: "Episode #1.1"
	Ernie's Incredible Illucinations	German Officer	Television film
1988	Bergerac	Arnie Spivak	Episode: "Private Fight"
	Final Run	McMorris	4 episodes
	Casting Off	Tim	4 episodes
	Journey's End	Company Sergeant Major	Television film
1988–1997	London's Burning	Elkins/Commander	6 episodes
1989	Storyboard	McPhee	Episode: "Snakes and Ladders"
	Nice Work	Brian Everthorpe	4 episodes
	Precious Bane	Huglet	Television film
1989–1991	Making Out	Frankie	14 episodes
1990	Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less	Ronnie	Television film
	Birds of a Feather	C.I.D. Officer	Episode: "Muesli"
	This Is David Harper	Billy 'Paving Stone' Adams	Episode: "Partners in Crime?"
1991	T. Bag and the Rings of Olympus	Duke of Florence	Episode: "Leonardo"
	Screen Two	Hateley	Episode: "The Laughter of God"
	Prime Suspect	DCI John Shefford	Episode: "Price to Pay: Part 1"
	Chalkface	Gerry Lambert	Episode: "Christmas Cheer"
1991–1998	The Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Pub Landlord/Det. Insp. Baker	5 episodes
1992	Heartbeat	Reg Pendleton	Episode: "Rumours"
1992–1999	The Bill	D.I. Cameron/John Liddle	2 episodes
1993	The Comic Strip Presents...	Sergeant	Episode: "Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown"
	All in the Game	Freddie Matthews	6 episodes
1994	Pie in the Sky	Jack Meynell	Episode: "Endangered Species"
	Blue Heaven	Jim Sandford	6 episodes
	Pleasure	Police Chief	Television film
	Crocodile Shoes	Bernie Marks	Episode: "The Deal"
1996	The Bare Necessities	Big Vinnie	Television film
	The Governor	Governor Wrexham	2 episodes
	Cold Lazarus	Tramp	Episode: "Episode #1.2"
	The Knock	Denny Peters	Episode: "Episode #2.9"
	Seed	Julie's Dad	Television film
	Family Money	BBC Colleague	Television film
1997	The New Adventures of Robin Hood	Lord Garth	Television film
	The Fix	Alan Hardaker	Television film
1998	The Echo	Charlie	2 episodes
2002	NCS Manhunt	DS Gordon Bilboe	2 episodes
2002–2004	Footballers' Wives	Frank Laslett	21 episodes
2003	Born and Bred	Lucio Braithwaite	Episode: "A Very Ormston Christmas"
2004	All About Me	Piggott	Episode: "Where There's Blame"
2005	The Last Detective	Bernie Wilson	Episode: "Three Steps to Hendon"
	Dream Team	Phil the Stadium Manager	Episode: "Marathon Man"
2007	Rhona's Pantry	Roy	Television series
2012	Doctors	Nigel Whitely	Episode: "Tales of the Rather Expected"