imported>Bird244: /* Selected filmography */

2025-06-15T06:38:17Z

Selected filmography

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{{short description|Welsh actor}}
{{BLP sources|date=April 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Clive Merrison
| image =
| caption = Merrison (right) as [[Sherlock Holmes]] and [[Michael Williams (actor)|Michael Williams]] as [[Dr. Watson]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1945|09|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Tenby]], [[Pembrokeshire]], [[Wales]]
| nationality = British
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Actor
| alma_mater = [[Rose Bruford College]]
| spouse = Stephanie Tremethick (m. 196?)<br> {{marriage|[[Gillian Barge]]|2003|2003|reason=died}}
}}

'''Clive Merrison''' (born 15 September 1945) is a Welsh actor of film, television, stage and radio. He is best known for his long running BBC Radio portrayal of [[Sherlock Holmes]], having played the part in all 64 episodes of the [[Sherlock Holmes (1989 radio series)|1989–1998 series of Sherlock Holmes dramatisations]], and all 16 episodes of ''[[The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes]]'' (2002–2010). He also appeared in the original West End and Broadway productions of [[Alan Bennett]]'s ''[[The History Boys]]'', as well as [[The History Boys (film)|the 2006 film]].

==Early life==
Merrison trained at [[Rose Bruford College]].{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

== Television ==
Merrison has made numerous television appearances. He appeared as [[Boris Savinkov]] the White Russian commander in the series ''[[Reilly: Ace of Spies]]'' (1983) starring [[Sam Neill]] as Reilly. He has twice appeared in supporting roles in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', in ''[[The Tomb of the Cybermen]]'' (1967) and ''[[Paradise Towers]]'' (1987). He has also appeared in ''[[Yes, Prime Minister]]'', ''[[Kit Curran]]'', ''[[The Labours of Erica]]'', ''[[Bergerac (TV series)|Bergerac]]'', ''[[Mann's Best Friends]]'', ''[[Double First]]'', ''[[Drop the Dead Donkey]]'', ''[[Time Riders]]'', ''[[Pie in the Sky (TV series)|Pie in the Sky]]'', ''[[The Tomorrow People]]'', ''Mortimer's Law'', ''[[The Bill]]'', ''[[Believe Nothing]]'', ''[[Midsomer Murders]]'' (twice), ''[[Foyle's War]]'', ''[[Lewis (TV series)|Lewis]]'' and ''[[The Brief (ITV)|The Brief]]''. He played [[Bob Cratchit]] in a 1977 BBC adaptation of ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'' (opposite [[Michael Hordern]] as [[Ebenezer Scrooge]]), Mark Corrigan's father in the 2010 ''[[Peep Show (British TV series)|Peep Show]]'' Christmas special, and [[Clement Attlee]] in the 2012 TV movie ''[[Bert and Dickie]]''. He has also done voice work as a guest appearance in the children's animated series ''[[Testament: The Bible in Animation]]'' and ''[[Shakespeare: The Animated Tales]]''.

== Stage ==
Merrison was a member of [[Laurence Olivier]]'s [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]] Company in the 1970s and the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]], at the [[Royal Shakespeare Theatre]] in Stratford-on-Avon.

Merrison portrayed [[Antonin Artaud]] in the Rome and London premieres of [[Charles Marowitz]]'s play, ''Artaud at Rodez''.<ref>Playbill for the 9–15 March 1978 performances at the Spingold Theater, Brandeis University, Massachusetts.</ref>
He also portrayed the [[headmaster]] in the original National Theatre and Broadway productions of [[Alan Bennett]]'s hit play, ''[[The History Boys]]'' which went on to win 6 Tony Awards and an Oliver for ''Best New Play''. He reprised the role for [[The History Boys (film)|the film version]].

== Film ==
Merrison played the onscreen father of [[Kate Winslet]] in the 1994 film ''[[Heavenly Creatures]]'', directed by [[Peter Jackson]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/recommendations/9697194/Tim-Robey-recommends...-Heavenly-Creatures-1994.html|title=Tim Robey recommends... Heavenly Creatures (1994)|website=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|date=23 November 2012|access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref> and the traditionalist headmaster in [[Alan Bennett]]'s ''[[The History Boys]]'', filmed in 2006. He was the forger in the 1981 film ''[[Escape to Victory]]'' and also played Bartholomew Sholto in ''[[The Sign of Four (1983 film)|The Sign of Four]]'' (1983), Desmond Fairchild in ''[[An Awfully Big Adventure]]'' (1995) and the lawyer in ''[[Saving Grace (2000 film)|Saving Grace]]'' (2000). His other film credits included roles in ''[[Henry VIII and His Six Wives]]'' (1972), ''[[Riddles of the Sphinx]]'' (1977), ''[[Coming Out of the Ice]]'' (1982), the [[Clint Eastwood]] film ''[[Firefox (film)|Firefox]]'' (1982), ''[[The English Patient (film)|The English Patient]]'' (1996), ''[[True Blue (1996 film)|True Blue]]'' (1996), ''[[Photographing Fairies]]'' (1997), ''[[Janice Beard]]'' (1999) and ''[[Pandaemonium (film)|Pandaemonium]]'' (2000).

== Sherlock Holmes on radio ==
From 5 November 1989 to 5 July 1998, Merrison played the lead role of [[Sherlock Holmes]] on radio in [[Sherlock Holmes (1989 radio series)|a series of BBC Radio 4 dramatisations]], with [[Michael Williams (actor)|Michael Williams]] as [[Dr. Watson]]. Later, with [[Andrew Sachs]] as Watson, Merrison continued to play Holmes in the [[Bert Coules]]-scripted pastiche series ''[[The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes]]'', the first series of which was broadcast in 2002, the second in 2004, the third in 2008-9 and the fourth in 2010. He is the first actor to have played Holmes in adaptations of every short story and novel by [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] about the character.<ref>{{cite book|last=Redmond|first=Christopher|title=Sherlock Holmes Handbook: Second Edition|publisher=Dundurn|year=2009|pages=231–232|ISBN=9781459718982}}</ref>

== Other radio appearances ==
Merrison has also appeared in other BBC radio series and plays, including ''Jim Nicholson - Return to the Islands''<ref name="thriller1971">{{cite web |last1=Barr |first1=Robert |title=Jim Nicholson - Return to the Islands |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002d9td |website=BBC Radio |access-date=14 June 2025}}</ref> by Robert Barr (1971), ''Groosham Grange''; ''Burn the Aeneid!'' by Martyn Wade; ''One Winter's Afternoon''; ''Sunday at Sant' Agata'' (in which he played [[Giuseppe Verdi]]); the 2003 adaptation of John Wyndham's ''[[The Midwich Cuckoos]]'', in which he played Prof. Gordon Zellaby; ''[[Mr. Standfast]]''; the 2011 adaptation of ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'' (in which he played the Marquis St. Evremonde); the 2006 radio adaptation of ''[[The History Boys]]'' (in which he played "The Headmaster",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/dramaon3/pip/hizbo/|title=Drama on 3; The History Boys|website=[[BBC Online]]|date=December 2006|access-date=7 February 2015}}</ref> a role he repeated [[The History Boys (film)|on film]]); and ''[[Strangers and Brothers]]''.

==Personal life==
In 1967 Merrison lived at 45 Arlington Road in West Ealing. Around 1967 he married Stephanie Tremethick.<ref>''Middlesex County Times'' Friday 25 August 1967, page 9</ref>

In the 1990s Merrison lived in Suffolk.<ref>''The Stage'' Thursday 5 February 1998, page 25</ref> He married [[Gillian Barge]] in 2003, who died in the same year.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

==Selected filmography==
* 1972 ''[[Henry VIII and His Six Wives]]'' as Weston
* 1977 ''[[Riddles of the Sphinx]]'' as Chris
* 1981 ''[[Escape to Victory]]'' as The Forger – The English
* 1981 ''Mark Gertler: Fragments of a Biography'' as Futurist
* 1982 ''[[Coming Out of the Ice]]'' as Bikov
* 1982 ''[[Firefox (film)|Firefox]]'' as Major Lanyev
* 1983 ''[[The Sign of Four (1983 film)|The Sign of Four]]'' as Bartholomew Sholto
* 1983 ''[[Reilly, Ace of Spies]]'' as Boris Savinkov
* 1992 ''[[Rebecca's Daughters]]'' as Sir Henry
* 1994 ''[[Heavenly Creatures]]'' as Dr. Henry Hulme
* 1995 ''[[An Awfully Big Adventure]]'' as Desmond Fairchild
* 1996 ''[[The English Patient (film)|The English Patient]]'' as Fenelon-Barnes
* 1996 ''[[True Blue (1996 film)|True Blue]]'' as Jack Garnet
* 1997 ''[[Photographing Fairies]]'' as Gardner
* 1999 ''[[Janice Beard]]'' as Tobo
* 2000 ''[[Saving Grace (2000 film)|Saving Grace]]'' as Quentin
* 2000 ''[[Up at the Villa (film)|Up at the Villa]]'' as Archibald Grey
* 2000 ''[[Pandaemonium (film)|Pandaemonium]]'' as Dr. Gillman
* 2001 ''The Discovery of Heaven'' as Theo Kern
* 2006 ''[[The History Boys (film)|The History Boys]]'' as The Headmaster
* 2012 ''[[Bert and Dickie]]'' as [[Clement Attlee]]
* 2015 ''[[The Lady in the Van]]'' as Man In Confessional
* 2018 ''[[The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (film)|The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society]]'' as Mr. Gilbert

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=0581378}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merrison, Clive}}
[[Category:1945 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Actors from Suffolk Coastal]]
[[Category:Alumni of Rose Bruford College]]
[[Category:Male actors from Pembrokeshire]]
[[Category:Male actors from Suffolk]]
[[Category:People from Tenby]]
[[Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members]]
[[Category:Welsh male radio actors]]
[[Category:Welsh male Shakespearean actors]]
[[Category:Welsh male television actors]]

Clive Merrison - Revision history

imported>Bird244: /* Selected filmography */