William Mervyn

William Mervyn Pickwoad 3 January 1912 6 August 1976 was an English actor best known for his portrayal of the bishop in the clerical comedy All Gas and Gaiters the old gentleman in The Railway Children and Inspector Charles Rose in The Odd Man and its sequels Mervyn was born in Nairobi British East Africa but educated in Britain at Forest School Snaresbrook before embarking on a stage career spending five years in provincial theatre He made his West End debut in The Guinea Pig at the Criterion Theatre in 1946 before parts in plays such as Lend Me Robin at the Embassy Theatre the comedy Ring Round the Moon The Mortimer Touch A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde at the Savoy Theatre in 1953 and Charleys Aunt Mervyns later stage roles included those of OTrigger in The Rivals Lord Greenham in the comedy Arent We All and Sir Patrick Cullen in The Doctors Dilemma Although he was admired in the theatre it was with television that he became really well known One of his first major small screen roles was Sir Hector in the 1962 series Saki Four years later he played the Bishop of St Oggs in the comedy series All Gas and Gaiters It was at that time breaking with tradition allowing a laugh at the expense of the established church He also played the police chief inspector Charles Rose in the Granada TV series The Odd Man and its spinoffs Its Dark Outside and Mr Rose He played the Hon Mr Justice Campbell in the Granada TV series Crown Court Having taken the part of a Chief Inspector in the 1949 Ealing Studios film The Blue Lamp in which PC George Dixon first appears only to be shot dead by a young Dirk Bogarde he then reappeared in a 1960 Dixon of Dock Green episode The Hot Seat He was in the 1966 Doctor Who story The War Machines and several Carry On films in the late 1960s and also appeared as Mr Whitty in the Randall and Hopkirk Deceased episode A Disturbing Case in 1969 Usually cast as a wealthy upper class gentleman he also appeared in The Railway Children 1970 as the childrens train passenger friend and The Ruling Class 1972 Around the same time he appeared as Sir Hector Drummond Bt in the British TV series The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes in an episode entitled The Superfluous Finger 1973 Mervyn was married to Anne Margaret PayneCook a theatre designer and architect who survived him with their three sons Michael Pickwoad who in 2010 became the production designer on Doctor Who Richard television director and aerial cameraman and Nicholas Pickwoad expert on bookbinding Mervyns granddaughter Amy Pickwoad became an art director and standby art director for Doctor Who Description above from the Wikipedia article  William Mervyn licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia