John Moffatt | |
|---|---|
 Moffatt in the 1977 production ofThe Play's the Thing, byP. G. Wodehouse | |
| Born | Albert John Moffatt (1922-09-24)24 September 1922 Badby, Daventry, Northamptonshire, England |
| Died | 10 September 2012(2012-09-10) (aged 89) London, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1944–2009 |
Albert John Moffatt (24 September 1922 – 10 September 2012) was an English character actor and playwright, known for his portrayal ofHercule Poirot onBBC Radio in twenty-five productions and for a wide range of stage roles in theWest End from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Moffatt's parents wished him to follow a career in a bank, but Moffatt secretly studied acting and made his stage debut in 1944. After five years in provincialrepertory theatre he made his first London appearance in 1959. In the early 1950s he was cast in small parts in productions headed byJohn Gielgud andNoël Coward, and achieved increasingly prominent roles over the next decade. He was a member of theEnglish Stage Company, theOld Vic, and theNational Theatre companies. His range was considerable, embracing the classics, new plays,revue andpantomime.
Moffatt began broadcasting on radio in 1950 and on television in 1953. His most enduring role was that ofAgatha Christie's Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, in along sequence of radio adaptations of her novels, beginning in 1987 and continuing at intervals until 2007. In 1992/3, Moffat played M. Comeliau, the Examining Magistrate, in ITV'sMaigret starringMichael Gambon. He was, perhaps, less well known as a film actor but took parts in twelve films between 1956 and 1987.
Moffatt was born inBadby,Daventry,Northamptonshire, the son of Ernest Moffatt and his wife Letitia,née Hickman, servants toQueen Alexandra atMarlborough House andSandringham.[1][2] He was educated atEast Sheen County School in west London, after which he spent three years as a bank clerk in theCity of London. In the evenings he attended drama classes given byJohn Burrell atToynbee Hall. Moffatt kept the lessons secret from his parents, who considered the theatre too insecure a career.[3]
He made his first stage appearance in 1944 at theLiverpool Playhouse, playing the Raven, in a touring production for children ofThe Snow Queen.[2] He made his debut in regular theatre at thePerth Repertory in 1945, where his colleagues includedAlec McCowen, with whom he established a lifelong friendship.[4] Over the next five years he learnt his craft playing more than 200 parts in repertory companies atOxford andWindsor, and theBristol Old Vic. At Oxford he and the youngTony Hancock playedUgly Sisters together. Moffatt retained a fondness forpantomime; he became a celebratedDame, and was the author of five pantomimes.[5]
Moffatt made his first London appearance in 1950, as Loyale inTartuffe at the Lyric, Hammersmith.[1] At the same theatre played the sinister waiter inAnouilh'sPoint of Departure, withDirk Bogarde,[6] making hisWest End debut when the production transferred to theDuke of York's.[3] In 1951 he made his first appearance inrevue, inLate Night Extra.[1]
He was spotted byBinkie Beaumont, head of the theatrical production companyH M Tennent, who cast him in prestigious West End productions. Moffatt was able to play alongside two of his idolsJohn Gielgud andNoël Coward:[4] with the former inThe Winter's Tale in 1951 and inMuch Ado About Nothing in 1952, and with the latter inThe Apple Cart in 1953.[1]
With theEnglish Stage Company at theRoyal Court he appeared inNigel Dennis'sCards of Identity andBrecht'sThe Good Woman of Szechuan and attracted considerable attention as Mr Sparkish inWycherley'sThe Country Wife. The production transferred to the West End andBroadway.[2] In September 1959 Moffatt joined the Old Vic company, playing inAs You Like It,Richard II,Saint Joan,The Merry Wives of Windsor,Henry V andBarrie'sWhat Every Woman Knows. He played Algy inThe Importance of Being Earnest on a tour of Britain, Poland and Russia.[1] In 1962 he won theClarence Derwent award as best supporting actor of the past season for his portrayal of Cardinal Cajetan inJohn Osborne'sPlay at the Royal Court, transferring to the West End and Broadway.[1]
In 1963 Moffatt got his first starring role, as Lord Foppington inVirtue in Danger, a musical adaptation ofVanburgh'sThe Relapse.The Times said of this, "It established Moffatt as our leading exponent of foppery and it remained one of his favourite parts."[2] In 1969 he joinedLaurence Olivier'sNational Theatre company at the Old Vic. His roles included Fainall inThe Way of the World, Judge Brack inHedda Gabler withMaggie Smith andRobert Stephens, directed by Ingmar Bergman, Menenius inCoriolanus, Cardinal Arragon inThe White Devil, a range of parts inThe Captain of Köpenick and Sir Joshua Rat inAdrian Mitchell'sTyger.[2][3]
In 1972 Moffatt was narrator and one of the main performers in the revueCowardy Custard at the Mermaid, a compilation of the words and music of Noël Coward, who was present at the premiere. Moffatt later played the playwright Garry Essendine in Coward'sPresent Laughter, another of his favourite roles.[2]
InThe Bed Before Yesterday byBen Travers (1975), Moffatt gave whatThe Times considered one of his subtlest performances as the hen-pecked husband opposite the sexually rampagingJoan Plowright.The Daily Telegraph commented that he made a touching theatrical virtue of both ruefulness and inadequacy.[3] InThe Play's The Thing (1979) an adaptation byP. G. Wodehouse of a play byFerenc Molnar, (Greenwich, 1979) he played a monocled, acid-tongued theatre director. InThe Observer, Robert Cushman wrote, "John Moffatt, a master of the languishing comic art of flicking off a line without ever losing it, may be giving the performance of his life."[7]
William Gaskill's production ofThe Way of the World (Chichester and the Haymarket, 1983–84), was overwhelmingly a triumph forMaggie Smith as Millamant (described byThe Guardian as "one of the great high comedy achievements of the past three decades"),[8] but according toThe Times, "the other great collector's performance is John Moffatt's Witwoud, a harmless old bitch got up like a coffee meringue, whose lines have never enjoyed more flawless touch and timing".[9]
InRonald Harwood'sInterpreters (1985) Moffatt played a Foreign Office official striving to keep the peace between Maggie Smith's Nadia andEdward Fox's Viktor.[10] His last West End play wasMarried Love (1988),Peter Luke's play aboutMarie Stopes; Moffatt received good notices for his performance asBernard Shaw, but the play, and Joan Plowright's direction received harsh criticism, and the piece ran for less than a month.[11]
Moffatt first broadcast onBBC radio in 1950 inMrs Dale's Diary. His later radio roles included Oswald to Gielgud'sKing Lear, Lord Chief Justice toTimothy West's Falstaff and Quilp inThe Old Curiosity Shop. He played bothSherlock Holmes andDr. John Watson in BBC radio adaptations.
In 1980 he appeared inLove in a Cold Climate and for much of the 1980s was a member of the BBC'sRadio Drama Company.[2] His most conspicuous radio role wasHercule Poirot in25 adaptations ofAgatha Christie's detective stories, beginning withThe Murder of Roger Ackroyd on 24 December 1987.[12][3] and ending withDead Man's Folly on 27 August 2007.
Moffatt made his television debut in 1953, as Grebeauval inThe Public Prosecutor,[13] and appeared many times on BBC and commercial television over the decades. He played Joseph Surface inThe School For Scandal, Brush inThe Clandestine Marriage, the Prince of Aragon inThe Merchant of Venice, Casca inJulius Caesar, Malvolio and Sir Andrew in two different productions ofTwelfth Night, and Ben inR.F. Delderfield'sThe Adventures of Ben Gunn. Other television appearances during the 1970s saw Moffat appear inGranada Television's daytime legal drama seriesCrown Court, in which he playedbarrister Adam HoneycombeQC.
In 1982 Moffat appeared asWest Londongangster Freddie Baker, in theMinder episode"Looking for Micky."[14][15]
He appeared in one episode of the televised adaptations of Agatha Christie's other celebrated detective series,Miss Marple as Edwards inThe Body in the Library. In Thames Television's adaptation ofNancy Mitford'sLove in a Cold Climate he played the eccentric Lord Merlin.[13]
Moffatt's film debut was inLoser Takes All (1956), in the small role of a hotel barman.[1] His only other film in the 1950s wasThe Silent Enemy (1958). In 1963 he appeared inTom Jones (1963). The 1970s were his most fruitful years as a film performer. He appeared inJulius Caesar (1970),Lady Caroline Lamb (1972),Romance with a Double Bass (1974),Galileo (1974),Murder on the Orient Express (1974), andS.O.S. Titanic (1979). In the 1980s he played inMinder (1982), andBritannia Hospital (1982).[13]
After retiring from stage acting in 1988, Moffatt regularly appeared withJudi Dench and her husband,Michael Williams in a verse compilationFond and Familiar. After Williams died in 2001, Dench and Moffatt performed the show withGeoffrey Palmer.[4] The critic ofThe Independent wrote, "Limericks, epitaphs and autograph-book exhortations jostled with old war-horse recitations and some inspired lunacy. I especially liked … the solemn singing, in canon form, of the rule 'If you haven't been the lover of the landlady's daughter, then you cannot have another piece of pie'."[16]
After a long illness, Moffatt died at his home two weeks short of his 90th birthday. He was unmarried, and was survived by a sister, Marjorie.[4][5][17] Radio Four Extra planned to mark Moffatt's 90th birthday with a series of radio plays he had recorded throughout his career, upon his death the plays were broadcast earlier than scheduled beginning withElephants Can Remember byAgatha Christie in which Moffatt played Hercule Poirot andJulia McKenzie played Ariadne Oliver.[citation needed]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Loser Takes All | Barman | Uncredited |
| 1958 | The Silent Enemy | Diving Volunteer | |
| 1963 | Tom Jones | Square | |
| 1970 | Julius Caesar | Popilius Lena | |
| 1972 | Lady Caroline Lamb | Murray | |
| 1974 | Murder on the Orient Express | Chief Attendant | |
| 1974 | Galileo | Philosopher | |
| 1975 | Romance with a Double Bass | Majordomo | Short |
| 1979 | S.O.S. Titanic | Benjamin Guggenheim | TV film |
| 1982 | Britannia Hospital | Greville Figg: Administration | |
| 1985 | Honour, Profit and Pleasure | Steele | TV film |
| 1987 | Prick Up Your Ears | Wigmaker |
