View for person of id: 14755
Jack May
Born: 23rd Apr 1922 Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England, UK - Died 19th Sep 1997
Dept: Acting
Jack May was a mellifluous-voiced actor best known for playing butlers and establishment figures, often representing Britain's interests in far-flung corners of the empire. With regards the former, he memorably played William E. Simms, former music hall artise turned manservant to Gerald Harper's titular swashbuckling adventurer in '60s TV cult classic Adam Adamant Lives! as well as providing the voice of Igor, the long-suffering valet in Cosgrove Hall's 1980s animation Count Duckula. His film credits included the district commissioner in 1975's The Man Who Would Be King and the prosecuting naval attorney in the remake of The Bounty (1984). For many, May was Nelson Gabriel 'the most disreputable character in Ambridge' in BBC Radio 4's long-running soap The Archers. May took the role of the shady rogue, later antique dealer and wine bar owner, in 1952 and continued to play him right up until the year of his death, 1997. This 45 year stint made May, at the time, the fourth-longest serving soap opera star in the world. He died at the age of 75, on 19 September 1997, survived by his wife, the actress Petra Davies, his daughter Henrietta, and son David.
[ToDo] Show list of extra photos here.
Film and Tv Credits
Total number of credits listed: 102
Film: 57 (56%)
Television: 45 (44%)
Remaining genres not in graph: TV Movie, Science Fiction, Family, Mystery, Animation, War & Politics, Music, Kids
Filmography
1997
This independent American feature tells the story of Shay and her boyfriend Radio. While he puts his unexpressed pain into heartrending Hendrix-like g ... view
Character:
1994
When 10-year-old Willie is evacuated from the East End of London, he is chosen by Zander, 13-year-old son of an army captain, to be his companion in a ... view
Character:
Grandfather
1990
A compilation of episodes from Count Duckula, Dangermouse and The Wind in the Willows. ... view
Character:
Igor (voice)
Apr 1990 (first aired)
Jeeves and Wooster is a British comedy-drama series adapted by Clive Exton from P.G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories.
It aired on the ITV network from 1 ... view
Character:
Vicar (1 ep.)
1989
A compilation of episodes from Count Duckula, Dangermouse and The Wind in the Willows. ... view
Character:
Igor (voice)
1989
A compilation of episodes from Count Duckula, Dangermouse and Wind in the Willows. ... view
Character:
Igor (voice)
1989
A compilation of episodes from Count Duckula, Dangermouse and Wind in the Willows. ... view
Character:
Igor/Giant (voice)
Sep 1988 (first aired)
Count Duckula is a vegetarian vampire duck, coming into the world as an accident. Unlike his family and ancestors, he has no bloodlust, as when he was ... view
Character:
Igor (voice) (65 ep.)
1988
A compilation of episodes from The Wind in the Willows, Danger Mouse and Alias the Jester. ... view
Character:
Sea Rat (voice)
1988
When Kelly and Max, two 13-year olds from widely different social backgrounds, form an unlikely alliance and take off in Max's father's Ferrari for an ... view
Character:
Psychiatrist
Sep 1986 (first aired)
Muzzy in Gondoland is an animated children's learning language course created originally as a way to teach English as a second language. After later b ... view
Character:
Muzzy (voice) (6 ep.)
1985
In Victorian England, graverobbers supply a wealthy doctor with bodies to research anatomy on, but greed causes them to seek an easier means of gettin ... view
Character:
Dr Stevens
Jun 1985 (first aired)
Bulman is a 1985–87 police procedural created and principally written by Murray Smith. Produced by Granada Television for ITV, it is the second and ... view
Character:
Sir Thomas Boycott (1 ep.)
1985
1913, shortly before the outbreak of WWI. A group of aristocrats gathers at the estate of Sir Randolph Nettleby for a weekend shoot. As the terminal d ... view
Character:
Sir Harry Stamp
1984
An idyllic voyage to Tahiti in 1789 turns a crew aboard the H.M.S. Bounty against its captain when they find a tropical paradise. ... view
Character:
Prosecuting Captain
1984
Four animals named Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad try to navigate the Riverbank as well as the Wild Wood. ... view
Character:
Sea Rat (voice)
1983
John Owen returns to the Choir School at the start of term to find that he is the youngest Singing Boy in the school. This means he must also be Beeke ... view
Character:
Mr. Ardent - the Headmaster
Oct 1983 (first aired)
Scarecrow and Mrs. King is an American television series that aired from October 3, 1983, to May 28, 1987 on CBS. The show stars Kate Jackson and Bruc ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
1983
The horrors of World War I have robbed returning veteran Chris Baldry of his memory. The traumatized soldier doesn't even recognize his own wife, Kitt ... view
Character:
Brigadier General
Sep 1982 (first aired)
This ten episode program was based on ten short stories written by Agatha Christie but with wide-ranging themes. Some were romances, some had supernat ... view
Character:
Colonel Jaggers (1 ep.)
1981
Traces the history of Anna who leaves school and becomes a prostitute. Three years later she becomes involved with a lecturer at college in Oxford. ... view
Character:
Mr. Franklyn
1981
The Life and Times of David Lloyd George charts the life of the controversial Liberal politician with Philip Madoc in the titular role. The title them ... view
Character:
Lord Runciman
1981
An Earth Man and his alien friend escape an exploding Earth, and set forth on an odd adventure across the universe with a known fugitive. ... view
Character:
Garkbit (Head Waiter)
Jan 1981 (first aired)
Don't Panic! The story of Arthur Dent, an average Englishman whose life was spared by his friend, who turned out to be an alien, while the planet Eart ... view
Character:
Garkbit (Head Waiter) (1 ep.)
Sep 1980 (first aired)
Escape is an American anthology series that aired on the NBC network from February 11 to April 1, 1973. The show was a production of Jack Webb's Mark ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
1979
In 1913 the British government, hearing that the Germans are planning World War I, ask top agent Whinfrey to intervene, but instead he decides to go o ... view
Character:
General Chapman
Sep 1979 (first aired)
Shoestring is a BBC detective drana set in Bristol and starring Trevor Eve as private detective Eddie Shoestring, who operatee his own show on Radio W ... view
Character:
Judge (1 ep.)
1979
Henry is a proud monarch who flies in the face of the church in seeking to divorce Queen Katherine and marry Anne Bullen. As cardinal Wolsey, the powe ... view
Character:
Lord Chancellor
Sep 1978 (first aired)
A Horseman Riding By is a 13-part BBC television serial produced by Ken Riddington, and adapted by Arden Winch, Alexander Baron, and John Wiles from R ... view
Character:
Lord Gilroy (3 ep.)
Jan 1978 (first aired)
The trials and misadventures of the staff at a country veterinary office in Yorkshire. James Herriot, a young animal surgeon, moves to a small Yorkshi ... view
Character:
Reverend Henty (1 ep.)
Nov 1977 (first aired)
During the English Civil War, four orphans are hidden in the New Forest, eventually becoming involved in a conspiracy to help King Charles, who has es ... view
Character:
Justice Booth (1 ep.)
Sep 1977 (first aired)
A crime drama set in Southampton following a team of detectives and the cases they solve. ... view
Character:
Chief Officer (1 ep.)
1976
Concerned about his friend's cocaine use, Dr. Watson tricks Sherlock Holmes into travelling to Vienna, where Holmes enters the care of Sigmund Freud. ... view
Character:
Dr. Schultz
1975
Tired of life as soldiers, Peachy Carnehan and Danny Dravot travel to the isolated land of Kafiristan, where they are ultimately embraced by the peopl ... view
Character:
District Commissioner
Oct 1975 (first aired)
Poldark is a television drama based on Winston Graham's novels of the same title. It was first transmitted on BBC Two across two seasons between 1975 ... view
Character:
Ralph Allen Daniell (2 ep.)
Jun 1975 (first aired)
Les Dawson puts his innate comic ability to excellent use as the hapless protagonist in this series of comedy plays made by ITV company Yorkshire Tele ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
1973
A baby is snatched from outside a launderette. The manageress and customers try to work out who was responsible. Part of the Black and Blue series of ... view
Character:
Detective
Aug 1973 (first aired)
Black and Blue was a BBC TV comedy-drama series, first broadcast in 1973. The show consisted of six 50–60 minutes episodes, each a separate self-con ... view
Character:
Detective (1 ep.)
1973
A female private detective, Harriet Zapper, is hired by a rich old man to find his missing children, and becomes involved in counterfeiting and murder ... view
Character:
Jeremiah Horn
1972
Battalion Commander of the Third Wiltshire Light Infantry is Colonel Keyser. On recent evidence, he is either a psychopathic personality or something ... view
Character:
Watts
Sep 1972 (first aired)
Van der Valk is a British television series that was produced by Thames Television for the ITV network. It starred Barry Foster in the title role as D ... view
Character:
Minister (1 ep.)
Sep 1971 (first aired)
An anthology series produced by Thames Television, comprised of short mystery, suspense or crime adaptations featuring, as the title suggests, detecti ... view
Character:
James Ladbroke, Q.C. (1 ep.)
Apr 1971 (first aired)
Brett, a journalist with a taste for the high life and a penchant for trouble. a powerful and ambitious man who would become a tycoon, but with his sh ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
Mason (1 ep.)
Apr 1971 (first aired)
Budgie is a popular British television series starring former popstar Adam Faith which was produced by ITV company London Weekend Television and broad ... view
Character:
Mr. Pratt (1 ep.)
Mar 1971 (first aired)
An anthology series wherein the ten commandments are interpreted in contemporary scenarios by different writers. It was transmissioned from 30 March t ... view
Character:
Herbert Ward (1 ep.)
1971
Maria, a juvenile delinquent is stuck in a boring girls school for young offenders in Sunderland. A suggestive wink and a flash of her knickers at an ... view
Character:
King Reiter
1970
Anthropologist Dr Brockton unearths a primitive troglodyte — an Ice Age 'missing link': half-caveman, half-ape — in a local cave. Through experime ... view
Character:
Dr. Selbourne
Sep 1970 (first aired)
A secret, high-technology international agency called SHADO defends Earth from alien invaders. ... view
Character:
English Delegate (1 ep.)
1970
After the death of novelist Robert Kelvin, his mistress Emma tries to adjust and reflects upon their relationship. ... view
Character:
Emma's father
1969
Academy Award-honoree Peter O'Toole stars in this musical classic about a prim English schoolmaster who learns to show his compassion through the help ... view
Character:
Price (uncredited)
Jun 1969 (first aired)
The Main Chance was a British television series which first aired on ITV between 1969,1970,1972 and 1975. A drama, it depicts the sudden transformatio ... view
Character:
Derrick Asher (1 ep.)
Harry Turner (1 ep.)
1969
The TARDIS materialises in Earth's future on a space beacon just before it is attacked by pirates. The travellers find themselves trapped in a sealed ... view
Character:
General Hermack
1969
There's a killer on the loose in London, and whilst our typically craggy copper DI Rowan investigates, Judge Lomax is busy in court, dishing out harsh ... view
Character:
Judge Lomax
1968
A former British Naval Officer now makes his living by smuggling goods around the Mediterranean. After being forced to dump his cargo after nearly bei ... view
Character:
Inspector Seekert
1967
An inept British WWII commander leads his troops to a series of misadventures in North Africa and Europe. ... view
Character:
Toby
1966
A wily slave must unite a virgin courtesan and his young smitten master to earn his freedom. ... view
Character:
Shopkeeper
Character:
Jul 1966 (first aired)
You Can't Win was a 1966 British television series made by ITV as an adaptation of the novels Scenes from Provincial Life and Scenes from Married Life ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
Jun 1966 (first aired)
Adam Adamant Lives! is a British television series which ran from 1966 to 1967 on the BBC, starring Gerald Harper in the title role. Proposing that an ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (29 ep.)
1965
A boy is skilled at telepathy and in mind control. He attracts the attention of the government. ... view
Character:
Evans
Oct 1965 (first aired)
Out of the Unknown is a British television science fiction anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 19 ... view
Character:
Evans (1 ep.)
Sep 1964 (first aired)
An anthology series of television plays which aired on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although ada ... view
Character:
Lt. Krov (1 ep.)
Mar 1964 (first aired)
A BBC anthology series featuring adaptations of detective stories over 45 episodes in three seasons that ran from 1964 to 1969. As with many BBC progr ... view
Character:
Inspector Dubois (1 ep.)
Nov 1963 (first aired)
The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling ... view
Character:
General Nicolai Hermack (1 ep.)
Oct 1963 (first aired)
An anthology of single plays offering up adaptations of either of prominent stage plays or novels. ... view
Character:
Voice of God (voice) (1 ep.)
May 1963 (first aired)
A nine-part serial adaptation featuring dramatisations of three of William Shakespeare's iconic plays: Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, and Antony & Cleopat ... view
Character:
Casca (2 ep.)
1962
A criminal gang sets out to pull off the heist of a large army payroll. ... view
Character:
MO
1962
A group of crooks accidentally kill an elderly shop assistant while stealing the keys to the jewellery shop where she works. When his superiors think ... view
Character:
Inspector Hudson
Aug 1962 (first aired)
Dr Finlay's Casebook is a BBC television series that was broadcast from 1962 until 1971. Based on A. J. Cronin's novella Country Doctor, the storyline ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
Jun 1962 (first aired)
A kid-friendly take on the exploits of King Richard the Lion Heart, from his participation in the Crusades, to his capture in Austria, to his final re ... view
Character:
Knight (1 ep.)
1962
The cat and mouse game between government agents and a spy ring that has taken secret documents from a plane crash in Germany, not far from an US mili ... view
Character:
Burton
Oct 1961 (first aired)
In the not-too-distant future of 1970, a mysterious signal from space arrives with instructions to build a powerful super-computer. Once completed, th ... view
Character:
Major Quadring (2 ep.)
Jan 1961 (first aired)
A quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
1960
Three criminals plan to break out of prison the day before their release in order to carry out a daring jewel robbery, intending to establish the perf ... view
Character:
Prison Visitor (uncredited)
Sep 1960 (first aired)
Danger Man is a British television series which was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGo ... view
Character:
Third Secretary (1 ep.)
1960
When a law-abiding demolition expert is duped by a gang of criminals into helping them he is caught and jailed. When he is released he goes straight a ... view
Character:
Police Sergeant
Apr 1960 (first aired)
A linking together of Shakespeare's history plays — Richard II, 1 Henry IV, 2 Henry IV, Henry V, 1 Henry VI, 2 Henry VI, 3 Henry VI, and Richard III ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (4 ep.)
Duke of York (2 ep.)
1960
A renowned safecracker and his crew try to rob a bank by entering the vault through the sewer system. ... view
Character:
Edwards
Sep 1959 (first aired)
No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (5 ep.)
Major Westbrook (1 ep.)
1958
The sinking of the Titanic is presented in a highly realistic fashion in this tense British drama. The disaster is portrayed largely from the perspect ... view
Character:
Steerage Passenger (uncredited)
1958
The Mediterranean, 1941/42 - Axis forces are using frogmen and manned torpedoes to attack previously impregnable harbours. The Allied forces need to c ... view
Character:
Navy Doctor
Jan 1958 (first aired)
In early 19th century England, Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters vie for the affections of rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-cons ... view
Character:
Mr Collins (2 ep.)
1957
A psychiatrist treats a woman who is convinced that she turns into a killer leopard because of a family curse. ... view
Character:
Richard Johnson
Sep 1956 (first aired)
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot is a British television series first broadcast in 1956, produced by Sapphire Films for ITC Entertainment and screened o ... view
Character:
Caradoc (1 ep.)
Sep 1955 (first aired)
The second collection of short stories written by Baroness Orczy about the gallant English hero, the Scarlet Pimpernel and his League. ... view
Character:
Citizen (uncredited) (1 ep.)
1954
Robin Hood is persuaded by two nobles whom he believes to be loyal to King Richard to recover secret plans attaining to the rescue of the king from ca ... view
Character:
Oct 1954 (first aired)
A half-hour 1950s detective television series that took different forms and titles during its run. From October 1951 to June 1954, ABC Mystery Theater ... view
Character:
Newsvendor (1 ep.)
1954
Jim Gay loves his racing greyhound but, out of town, he finds a dog with a better chance to win. His friends bet on his dog while he bets against. ... view
Character:
Pub Customer
1953
Norman is working in the stock room of a large London department store, but he has ambition (doesn't he always !!), he wants to be a window dresser ma ... view
Character:
Bus Passenger (uncredited)
1953
Crime reporter Gilbert Harding recites the story of a crime to a newspaper editor ... view
Character:
1951
Jewel thieves, murder, and a manhunt swirl around a sailor off a cargo ship in post-war London. ... view
Character:
Sailor on the Dunbar (uncredited)
1950
P.C. George Dixon is a long-serving traditional copper who is due to retire shortly. He takes a new recruit under his aegis and introduces him to the ... view
Character:
Old Man in Crowd (Uncredited)
Jan 1950 (first aired)
Sunday Night Theatre was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959.
The producti ... view
Character:
David Gottlieb (1 ep.)
1948
Sophie Dorothea is a young woman forced into a loveless marriage with Prince George Louis of Hanover. George Louis is later crowned King George I of E ... view
Character:
Reveller
1945
Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuo ... view
Character:
Boat Rental Man (uncredited)
1945
The fisherman from a Cornish village have a friendly rivalry with the fishermen (and one formidable woman) from a French port. Then war comes and they ... view
Character:
Choir Member (uncredited)
1944
A chronicle of the lives of the Gibbons family, from shortly after the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second. ... view
Character:
Mourner
1943
When Celia Crowson is called up for war service, she hopes for a glamorous job in one of the services, but as a single girl, she is directed into a fa ... view
Character:
Old Man
1943
During the War seven women from very different backgrounds find themselves together in the Auxiliary Territorial Services. They are soon drilling, dri ... view
Character:
Postman (uncredited)