Denis Quilley OBE
Quilley c. 1960
Born	Denis Clifford Quilley (1927-12-26)26 December 1927 Islington,London, England
Died	5 October 2003(2003-10-05) (aged 75) London, England
Years active	Actor
Spouse	Stella Chapman ​ (m. 1949)​
Children	3

Denis Clifford Quilley (26 December 1927 – 5 October 2003) was an English actor and singer.From a family with no theatrical connections, Quilley was determined from an early age to become an actor. He was taken on by theBirmingham Repertory Theatre in his teens, and after a break for compulsory military service he began aWest End career in 1950, succeedingRichard Burton inThe Lady's Not For Burning. In the 1950s he appeared inrevue,musicals,operetta and on television as well as in classic and modern drama in the theatre.

During the 1960s Quilley established himself as a leading actor, making his first films and starring on Australian television. In the early 1970s he was a member ofLaurence Olivier'sNational Theatre company. He joined theRoyal Shakespeare Company in 1977 in the central role inPrivates on Parade, which was later made into a feature film. His later parts in musicals included the title role inSweeney Todd (1980) and Georges inLa Cage aux Folles (1986).

In the 1990s Quilley returned to the National Theatre company, playing a wide range of parts, from Shakespearean comedy to Jacobean revenge tragedy, Victorian classics and his final role, a bibulous millionaire in the musicalAnything Goes.

Quilley was born inIslington,North London, the son of Clifford Charles Quilley, a Post Office telegraphist, and his wife Ada Winifred,née Stanley.^[1][2] He won a scholarship toBancroft's School inWoodford Green, London, and was expected to go from there to a university, but he was determined to become an actor as soon as possible.^[2] He made his stage debut with theBirmingham Repertory Theatre Company, during the 1945 season, in a company that, he recalled, includedPaul Scofield,Stanley Baker,Paul Eddington,Alun Owen and "a 20-year-oldwunderkind director calledPeter Brook, of whom everybody was already in some awe."^[3][4]

Quilley's early career was interrupted when he was conscripted fornational service in the army, based inKhartoum.^[2] His first London appearance after his release from the forces was at theGlobe in 1950, when he took over the part of Richard inJohn Gielgud's production ofThe Lady's Not For Burning fromRichard Burton, whom he had understudied in the early months of the run.^[1] The understudy toClaire Bloom in the play was Stella Chapman, whom Quilley married in 1949. They had a son and two daughters.^[2]

Later in 1950 Quilley joined theOld Vic Company for aBritish Council tour of Italy, playing Fabian inTwelfth Night and Gratiano inThe Merchant of Venice.^[5] He took part in a revival of the 17th century gigueMichael and Francis atHampton Court as part of theFestival of Britain in 1951,^[6] and sang in other performances by the London Opera Club alongside established opera singers, including their fifth anniversary concert at the Arts Council in 1953.^[7] In 1953 he appeared inrevue, withMax Adrian,Betty Marsden andMoyra Fraser inAirs on a Shoestring, which ran for more than 700 performances.^[1] In 1955 he had his first leading role in a West End production, playing Geoffrey Morris in the musicalWild Thyme, byPhilip Guard andDonald Swann. InThe Manchester Guardian,Philip Hope-Wallace wrote, "Denis Quilley turns out a comparatively rare figure nowadays: a presentable singing English hero, a most likeable performance."^[8] In 1956 Quilley opened in another long-running show,Grab Me a Gondola which played for more than 600 performances.^[1]

One of Quilley's other singing roles of the 1950s was the title character inLeonard Bernstein'soperettaCandide. It ran for only sixty performances in this first London production in 1959; Quilley returned to the piece later in his career, playing the bombastic Baron and the misanthropic Martin in aNational Theatre production in 1999.^[9] Quilley made no cinema films in the 1950s, but appeared in several television productions, ranging from Shakespeare (Bassanio inThe Merchant of Venice, 1955)^[10] to detective fiction (Jimmy Sutane inDancers in Mourning (1959).^[11]

After playing in short runs of non-musical productions Quilley returned to a singing role in 1960, when he took over fromKeith Michell as Nestor-le-Fripe inIrma la Douce. He made his firstBroadway appearance the following year, again taking over the part of Nestor and subsequently touring the US with the production.^[1] After returning to England, he appeared at theOpen Air Theatre, Regent's Park in June, 1963, as Benedick inMuch Ado About Nothing. In November of that year he played Antipholus of Ephesus inThe Boys From Syracuse, withBob Monkhouse as his twin brother,^[1] also recorded.^[12] At theSavoy in 1964 he played Charles Condomine in the musicalHigh Spirits, an adaptation ofCoward'sBlithe Spirit which had a run of three months.^[13] Quilley sang in two complete BBC Gilbert and Sullivan radio broadcasts in 1966; Strephon inIolanthe, and Florian inPrincess Ida.^[14]

In 1965, Quilley appeared in the science-fiction TV seriesUndermind playing Professor Val Randolph - a scientist who after four episodes is revealed to be an alien traitor. The same year he made his first cinema film, playing Ben inLife at the Top. His only other film of the 1960s wasAnne of the Thousand Days (1969), in which he appeared as Weston.^[10] In the later 1960s he worked extensively in Australia; he toured withJune Bronhill in the musicalRobert and Elizabeth,^[15] and became known for his role as Customs Inspector Ted Hallam inABC Television's drama series,Contrabandits.^[2]

Returning to Britain in 1969 Quilley joined the company of theNottingham Playhouse, which was among the leading repertory theatres of the time.^[2] Among his roles there was Archie Rice inJohn Osborne'sThe Entertainer, a part created in the original London production byLaurence Olivier. By this time Olivier was in charge of the National Theatre; the directorMichael Blakemore, one of his team, saw the new production and recommended Quilley to Olivier.^[3]

In the 1970s and again towards the end of his career Quilley was a member of the National company, first at the Old Vic and then at the new building on theSouth Bank. Under Olivier's directorship he played Tullus Aufidius inCoriolanus, withAnthony Hopkins in the title role (1971); Jamie inLong Day's Journey Into Night with Olivier (1971, filmed for television in 1973); Banquo inMacbeth (with Hopkins); Bolingbroke inRichard II; Crabtree inThe School for Scandal; Hildy Johnson inThe Front Page (all 1972) and Lopakhin inThe Cherry Orchard (1973). InThe Times, the criticBarry Norman said that Quilley was "the only Banquo I have ever seen act Macbeth off the stage".^[3] WhenPeter Hall succeeded Olivier in 1975, Quilley was the only member of the old company to be invited to appear in the opening production of the new regime, playing Caliban to Gielgud's Prospero inThe Tempest.^[5] When the National moved to the new building in 1976, Quilley disliked acting there; he found it "like going to work in a factory", and he declined to return during the next 14 seasons.^[5]

Quilley made two cinema films in the 1970s, playing Antonio Foscarelli inMurder on the Orient Express and Bateson inThe Black Windmill (both 1974). He appeared on television in a wide range of roles, from Commander Traynor in a children's science fiction series,Timeslip (1970), toCharles II inA Bill of Mortality (1975), George Cannon in a serialisation of theClayhanger novels (1975), andthe title role inFrederic Raphael's version ofAeschylus'sAgamemnon (1979).^[10]

In 1977, theRoyal Shakespeare Company offered Quilley the role of Captain Terri Dennis inPeter Nichols'sPrivates On Parade. It was a singing role, but far removed from the romantic leads he had sung before. The character is a camp performer and director in a 1940s army song-and-dance troupe in Malaya. At first he declined the role, but reconsidered, reckoning the captain to be the most human character in the piece; he played him, asThe Guardian reported, "as a vulnerable human being rather than a buffoon".^[2] For his performance Quilley won theLaurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.^[16] He reprised the role in afilm version made in 1982. Also in 1977, on the West End, Quilley played James oppositeDeborah Kerr inGeorge Bernard Shaw'sCandida. His last stage part of the decade was Sidney inIra Levin's thriller,Deathtrap, which had a short run at theGarrick Theatre.^[5]

Quilley returned to musicals in 1980, playingthe title role in the first London production ofHugh Wheeler andStephen Sondheim'sSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He won his second SWET award for the performance.^[5] He continued to divide his time between the musical and non-musical theatre. In 1983 he played Jupiter/Napoleon III in the BBC television production ofOrpheus in the Underworld.^[17] In 1984 Quilley appeared on the original concept album for the musicalChess as Molokov. In 1985 at theChichester Festival he co-starred withDiana Rigg inAntony and Cleopatra.^[18] Later that year he was in a BBC Mini-seriesMurder of a Moderate Man^[19] and a West End thriller,Fatal Attraction, before returning to musical theatre, inLa Cage aux Folles in 1986. He played Georges, the partner of the flamboyant Albin (George Hearn). InThe GuardianMichael Billington wrote that Quilley made his character "dapper, ebullient and tender: he persuades you he might have both sired a son and loved a man."^[20] In 1989 he playedFrancisco Pizarro in a national tour ofThe Royal Hunt of the Sun. Billington commented that Quilley "conveys Pizzaro's journey from tough, hard brutal commander to enraptured idolater and, finally, grieving lover: he is at once indisputably masculine and a figure skittishly enlivened by his rival's physical presence."^[21]

During the 1980s Quilley continued to appear in numerous television broadcasts, playing parts like Parris inThe Crucible,W. E. Gladstone inNumber 10, Captain Waterhouse inTales Of The Unexpected,Peter in a biblical mini-seriesA.D. (1985) and Dr. Leon Sterndale in the 1988 Sherlock Holmes adaptation ofThe Devil's Foot.^[10] His cinema roles in the 1980s were Kenneth Marshall inEvil under the Sun (1982), Captain Dennis in the film ofPrivates on Parade (1982), Rejeb inMemed My Hawk (1984), the prophetSamuel inKing David (1985), and the Prime Minister inForeign Body (1986).^[10] He took the role of God in Britten'sNoye's Fludde in London in 1995.^[22]

In 1993 Quilley played Bob Carruthers in the Sherlock Holmes storyThe Solitary Cyclist for the BBC Radio 4Sherlock Holmes drama series. As part of the character, he demonstrated his fine singing voice. Quilley playedJudge Turpin in the 1993 revival ofSweeney Todd at the National Theatre, resuming his original role as the demon barber later in the run.^[5] His other roles at the National included Sir Oliver Surface inThe School for Scandal (1990), Brachiano inThe White Devil (1991), Falstaff inThe Merry Wives of Windsor, Nestor inTroilus and Cressida (1999), Sir John Vesey inMoney, (1999), Polonius inHamlet (2000) and George Pye inHumble Boy (2001).^[23] In his spells at the National from the 1970s onwards he played a total of 28 roles. His last stage performance was as the bibulous tycoon Elisha Whitney inCole Porter'sAnything Goes at theOlivier Theatre in 2002. The production was a success, but during the run his health gave way.

The show transferred to the Theatre Royal,Drury Lane shortly after his death, and the first night was dedicated to his memory.^[24]

In the 1980s he was a supporter of theSocial Democratic Party.^[25] Quilley was appointed an Officer of theOrder of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2002 New Year Honours.^[26]

Quilley was working on his autobiography in the months before he died in 2003 at his home in London, aged 75, fromliver cancer.^[27]

• Gaye, Freda, ed. (1967).Who's Who in the Theatre (14th ed.). London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons.OCLC 5997224.

• Denis Quilley atIMDb 
• Denis Quilley at theTCM Movie Database
• Denis Quilley at theInternet Broadway Database
• Denis Quilley discography atDiscogs

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