Anthony Rodgers[2] (10 January 1933 – 1 December 2007) was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film, in television dramas andsitcoms.[3][4] He starred in several sitcoms, includingFresh Fields (ITV, 1984–86), its sequelFrench Fields (ITV, 1989–91), andMay to December (BBC, 1989–94). He also appeared in films, includingScrooge (1970)The Day of the Jackal (1973), andDirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988).
Rodgers was born on 10 January 1933 in London,[5] the son of William Robert Rodgers and Leonore Victoria (née Wood).[6] His early education was atWestminster City School.[6][7] The family were evacuated toWisbech, Isle of Ely during the war, where his father worked for Balding and Mansell, printers of ration books, permits and passes; Rodgers is sometimes erroneously reported as having been born in Wisbech.[5] Later he was educated at theItalia Conti Academy andLAMDA.
He appeared on stage from the age of 14. He was known for his television performances, specifically his long-running roles in the television sitcomsFresh Fields in the 1980s andMay to December from 1989 to 1994.
Rodgers married Morna Watson, a ballet dancer, inKensington in 1959,[9] having a son and a daughter and later divorcing.[7] Rodgers's second wife was the actressElizabeth Garvie; they frequently appeared on stage together and toured giving readings from the works ofJane Austen[10] andRobert Browning, among others.
Rodgers made his first West End appearance in 1947, aged 14, inCarmen at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He followed this in same year with a tour of an adaptation of Charles Dickens'Great Expectations playing Pip, and the title role in a revival ofTerence Rattigan'sThe Winslow Boy which toured the UK in 1948. After repertory experience at Birmingham, Northampton and Hornchurch, he trained atLAMDA.
Returning to London in November 1957 he joined the cast ofThe Boy Friend atWyndham's Theatre. Thereafter his credits include:
He was a member of the original cast of the musicalPickwick, in which he played Mr Jingle,Saville Theatre July 1963; making his New York debut in the same role at the46th Street Theatre, October 1965
DirectedA Piece of Cake andGrass Roots atLeatherhead, 1968
Devised and co-directedWe Who Are About To... withGeorge Melly atHampstead Theatre, February 1969; eight one-act plays presented in a modified form asMixed Doubles at theComedy Theatre, April 1969
.jpg)
