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Michael Culver
Culver in 2011
Born	Michael John Edward Culver (1938-06-16)16 June 1938 Hampstead,London, England
Died	27 February 2024(2024-02-27) (aged 85)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1956–2024
Spouses	Lucinda Curtis ​ ​ (m. 1962; div. 1986)​ Amanda Ward ​ (m. 2004)​

Michael John Edward Culver (16 June 1938 – 27 February 2024) was a British actor.^[1][2] He playedCaptain Needa inThe Empire Strikes Back.^[3][4]

Michael John Edward Culver was born on 16 June 1938 inHampstead, London, England, UK. He was the son of actorRoland Culver and casting directorDaphne Rye.^[5] He was educated atGresham's School and trained at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.^[6] His birth name was Michael John Edward Culver.

Culver was twice married. In 1962, he married actress Lucinda Curtis and divorced in 1986. He married sculptor Amanda Ward in 2004.^[6] With Lucinda Curtis he had 3 children.

Culver died on 27 February 2024, at the age of 85.^[6][3]

Culver's aunt, father, mother and brother all had theatrical careers. Culver gained experience at theOld Vic,Dundee Rep (performing in 35 plays in 2 years) andLondon Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.^[6]

Culver appeared in several television series in recurring roles, as Squire Armstrong inThe Adventures of Black Beauty (1972–74), Major Erwin Brandt in theBBC dramaSecret Army (1977–78), crooked banker Ralph Saroyan in the second series ofThe House of Eliott (1992) and the strict Prior Robert ('Brother Prior') inCadfael (1994–98).^[6]

His guest roles included an episode ofThe Sweeney as Dave Leeford (episodeMoney, Money, Money; 1978),The Professionals (1982) as Lawson,Minder as DS Chisholm's temporary replacement DS Soames (episodePoetic Justice, Innit?; 1982),Miss Marple "The Moving Finger" (1985) as Edward Symmington and as SirReginald Musgrave, in the episode "The Musgrave Ritual" (1986) in theGranada Television seriesThe Return of Sherlock Holmes.

Culver appeared in two uncredited roles inJames Bond films. InFrom Russia With Love (1963), he played a man in apunt^[7] which was followed as theco-pilot ofAvro Vulcan, (Callsign Ramjet MBX-79), inThunderball (1965).^[4] Other film roles areCaptain Needa inThe Empire Strikes Back (1980)^[6][4] and also a major part inA Passage to India (1984)^[4] as a bigoted police inspector. In 2008, he appeared in a guest role inSidetracked, the first episode ofWallander. Culver was in the first ever episode ofNew Tricks in 2003 as a corrupt dinosaur detective.^[8]

Culver performed in three ofTricycle Theatre’s Tribunal Plays:Nuremberg (A distillation of the 1945–46Nuremberg trials – of leadingNazi war criminals);Half the Picture (From transcripts from the Scott Inquiry intoArms-to-Iraq – the first play to be performed in the Palace of Westminster.) andThe Colour of Justice (The dramatisation of the evidence given during Sir William Macpherson’s inquiry into themurder of Stephen Lawrence, his family's search for justice and endemic racism in the police force). They were directed by Nicolas Kent.The Colour of Justice andHalf the Picture and were broadcast by the BBC Television.^[6]

• The Curious Savage byJohn Patrick Directed by Anthony Page.
• In Search of Happiness byVictor Rozov Translated by Nina Froud. Directed by Anthony Page.
• Fools Rush In byKenneth Horne, Directed by Anthony Page.
• A Streetcar Named Desire byTennessee Williams. Directed by Anthony Page.
• Tomorrow's Child by John Coates.
• Great Expectations byCharles Dickens.
• The Cat and the Canary byJohn Willard, Directed by Anthony Page Designer: Chris J. Arthur.
• The Critic and the Heart byRobert Bolt. Directed by Anthony Page.
• See How They Run byPhilip King. Directed by Anthony Page Designer: Philip King.
• Born Yesterday byGarson Kanin. Directed byAnthony Page Designer: Peter Gray.
• Death of a Salesman byArthur Miller. Directed by Anthony Page Edward Furby.
• Five Finger Exercise byPeter Shaffer. Directed by Anthony Page.
• Roar Like a Dove byLesley Storm. Directed by Lesley Storm.
• The Blind Madonna by Neil Curnow Directed by Raymond Westwell.
• Eighty in the shade byClemence Dane. Directed by Raymond Westwell
• Dear Brutus bySir James Matthew Barrie. Performance marking the centenary year of playwright J.M. Barrie's birth. Directed by Raymond Westwell.
• Any Other Business byCampbell Singer Directed by Anthony Page.
• Lucky Strike byMichael Brett.
• Caught Napping byGeoffrey Lumsden. Directedy Raymond Westwell.
• Summer of the Seventeenth Doll byRay Lawler. Directed by Raymond Westwell.
• Gilt and Gingerbread by Lionel Hale. Directed by Raymond Westwell.
• I Have Been Here Before byJ. B. Priestley. Directed by Raymond Westwell.
• Murder on Arrival by George Batson. Directed by Raymond Westwell.
• Sinbad the Sailor byJames Grout and Ken Wynne, Directed by Raymond Westwell.
• The Importance of Being Earnest byOscar Wilde. Directed by Raymond Westwell.
• Brothers in Law byTed Willis andHenry Cecil. Directed by Raymond Westwell
• Present Laughter by Sir Noël Coward Directed by Raymond Westwell.
• The Long and the Short and the Tall byWillis Hall. Directed by Raymond Westwell.
• The Manor of Northstead by William Douglas-Home. Directed by Raymond Westwell.
• Love in a Mist byKenneth Horne Directed by Mary Evans and James Ward.
• Not in the Book byArthur Watkyn. Directed by Raymond Westwell.
• The Vanity Case byJack Popplewell. Directed by Raymond Westwell.
• Charley's Aunt byBrandon Thomas. Directed by Raymond Westwell.
• Love from a Stranger byAgatha Christie adapted byFrank Vosper. Directed byAnthony Page.
• The Durable Element byCliff Hanley. Directed byJohn Crockett.

Directed by Michael Benthall

• The Famous History of the Life ofKing Henry VIII
• The Tragedy of King Lear
• Midsummer Night’s Dream
• The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (fights arranged byBernard Hepton).
• King Henry VI
• Twelfth Night
• The Sleeping Prince byTerence Rattigan The Stratham Hill Theatre, 1956. Directed by Anthony Knowles.

• Judith byJean Giraudoux, adapted byChristopher Fry, Her Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket andTheatre Royal, Brighton, 1962. Directed by Harold Clurman.
• The Master Builder byHenrik Ibsen, Translated by Michael Meyer, The New Arts Theatre Club, 1962. Directed by Terence Kilburn. Michael Culver played Ragnar Brovik. The cast included:Keith Pyott,Andrew Cruickshank,Viola Keats andMary Miller.
• Alexander inA Severed Head,Criterion Theatre, 1963, byIris Murdoch andJ. B. Priestley, Directed byVal May.

• Gore-Booth and SirNicholas Lyell inHalf the Picture, adapted byRichard Norton-Taylor With additional material byJohn McGrath; Tricycle Theatre, 1994. Directed byNicolas Kent. This was the first play to be performed in the Palace of Westminster.
• Ragnar Brovik inThe Master Builder byHenrik Ibsen, Translated by Michael Meyer, The New Arts Theatre Club, 1962. Directed by Terence Kilburn.
• Albert Speer inNuremberg Transcripts edited by:Richard Norton-Taylor; Tricycle Theatre, 1996. Directed by Nicolas Kent.
• Sir William Macpherson inThe Colour of Justice, edited byRichard Norton-Taylor, transferred to theLyttelton Theatre and toured the UK, 1999. Directed by Nicolas Kent, assisted by Surian Fletcher-Jones, it won Best Touring Production in Theatrical Management Association Awards.
• Fashion by Doug Lucie;Haymarket Theatre, Leicester, transferred from to the Tricycle Theatre 1989–1990.

• Mr Wickham inPride and Prejudice from the novel byJane Austen; toured 1966. Produced/Directed bySheila Hancock.^[6]
• Rosmersholm byHenrik Ibsen (Hong Kong)
• Blithe Spirit byNoël Coward. (1988 – toured Norway and Sweden)

• Ellis Petersen inA Share in the Sun by Terence Kelly andCampbell Singer,New Theatre, Oxford andCambridge Theatre, 1966. Directed byHarold French.
• Peter Quilpe inThe Cocktail Party byT. S. Eliot,Theatre Royal, Windsor, 1966. Directed by Neville Jason.
• Charles inHowards End adapted byLance Sieveking in collaboration withRichard Cottrell from the novel byE. M. Forster; toured 1967. Directed by Dacre Punt.
• Mike Danbury inAnything For Baby byTalbot Rothwell and William Meyer;Wimbledon Theatre, 1969. Directed byPatrick Cargill
• The Earl of Harpenden inWhile the Sun Shines byTerence Rattigan; Hampstead Theatre Club, 1972. Directed byAlec McCowen
• Young Macduff inMacbeth by William ShakespeareHaymarket Theatre,Leicester, 1978. Directed byJohn Tydeman.
• Lord Goring inAn Ideal Husband byOscar Wilde, at theTheatre Royal,Windsor, Berkshire, 1979 (the 1295th Production). Directed by Joan Riley
• Roald Amundsen inTerra Nova byTed Tally;Watford Palace Theatre, 1982. Directed byMichael Attenborough
• Hugo inThe Little Heroine byNell Dunn; Nuffield Theatre,University of Southampton, 1988. Directed by Ian Watt-Smith.
• Time and the Conways byJ. B. Priestley,Royal Exchange, Manchester
• Two Plays for Gaza, 2009 (Seven Jewish Children byCaryl Churchill andThe Trainer by David Wilson & Anne Aylor at the Hackney Empire

• The Burning Glass by Jo Anderson and Directed Andy Jordan.

"Breizh has a problem. The World Cup looms and all eyes are on FRANCE. Down on the estate, something stirs."Others in the cast:Philip Madoc and Frances Jeater.BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play 30 May 1998 repeated 20 March 1990

• Rachmaninoff Presented byMelvyn Bragg

Michael Culver voicedRachmaninoff. Other contributions fromVladimir Ashkenazy (speaker and piano),Jonathan Kydd (Yermakov voice over), Boris Berezovskii (piano),Shura Cherkassky (piano), Mikhail Falkov (tenor), Alexander Fedin (tenor), Joan Rodgers (soprano). WithRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra andPhilharmonia Chorus.

• Fatherland byRobert Harris. Adapted and Directed by John Dryden

Cast includedAnton Lesser (Xavier March), Graham Padden (Krause), Robert Portal (Jost), Peter Ellis (Max Jarger), Thomas Copeland (Pili),Andrew Sachs, Amanda Walker, Patrick Godfrey,Michael Byrne, Ian Gelder, Angeline Ball, William Scott Masson,Stratford Johns,Eleanor Bron, Dan Fineman, Alice Arnold and Trevor Nichols, withNed Sherrin, Jonathan Coleman and Alan Dedicoat. Goldhawk Radio production. Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9 June 1997

• Flight of the Swan by Jean MacVean. BBC Radio 4, 7 August 1982

Cast included:Rosalind Shanks andDavid Neal.The play deals with human love and how it is so often impossible for one person to really know another.

• Wilderness of Mirrors Unabridged 1989 reading of the novel byTed Allbeury
• The Shadow of Mir byNick Fisher and directed by John Dryden. First broadcast BBC Radio 4 on 8 May 1998 as the Friday Play^[9]

In 2018, Michael was the primary contributor to an audio monument to the peace campaignerBrian Haw. Still sited inParliament Square in London, the monument -'And There Was Brian' - gives Michael's account of how he supported Haw throughout his ten-year campaign against the Iraq War and other military conflicts. The work was created by Michael, alongside Guy Atkins, Nina Garthwaite, James Bulley, and Amanda Ward. The monument can be accessed via the project's website,www.andtherewasbrian.uk.

• Michael Culver atIMDb
• Michael Culver at theInternet Broadway Database
• Michael CulverBFI
• Freedomlite, his own site: "genocidal jottings, mainly in the form of poems, are dedicated to the children of Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan"

• 1938 births
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• Actors from the London Borough of Camden
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• People educated at Gresham's School
• People from Hampstead
• Male actors from London
• Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art

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