Philip Madoc
Birthday:
5 July 1934, Twynyrodyn, Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales, UK
Birth Name:
Phillip Jones
Philip Madoc was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, and attended Twyn School. He became interested in acting when he was a teenager. He studied at the University of Vienna and pursued a theatrical career by attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. During the 1960s, he became a familiar face on British television, often cast in sinister roles due t...
Show more »
Philip Madoc was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, and attended Twyn School. He became interested in acting when he was a teenager. He studied at the University of Vienna and pursued a theatrical career by attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. During the 1960s, he became a familiar face on British television, often cast in sinister roles due to his dark looks and deep voice. He became particularly familiar to fans of fantasy television, playing five different roles on The Avengers (1961) and four different roles on Doctor Who (1963). Into the 1970s and the guest appearances kept coming, including comedies such as Dad's Army (1968) (as a U-Boat captain in one of the most famous scenes on British TV) and The Good Life (1975). Although widely respected as a versatile actor adept at accents, Madoc never really became a star until 1981, when he portrayed former British prime minister David Lloyd George on an acclaimed television series, The Life and Times of David Lloyd George (1981). Madoc has not been short of work for the last 40 years, a rare accomplishment for an actor, and has worked on films, radio and on the stage as well as his prolific television career. Madoc died of cancer in 2012. Show less «
Certainly initially I rarely played heroes because there was still this tradition that heroes were six foot tall. Certainly if you had a voi...Show more »
Certainly initially I rarely played heroes because there was still this tradition that heroes were six foot tall. Certainly if you had a voice that wasn't high and dark eyes then there was a feeling that we were set out to play the villains of this world. I didn't ever argue with that, because they were more or less the best parts. Show less «
[on The Life and Times of David Lloyd George (1981)] A great experience. A great company to work with. Very gifted actors and I thought a sp...Show more »
[on The Life and Times of David Lloyd George (1981)] A great experience. A great company to work with. Very gifted actors and I thought a splendid production right through, working from a script that was so clever as well, you know, you just did it really, it spoke for itself. So all my memories of those days are a good part of my life. Show less «
[on his guest appearances in two hugely popular Doctor Who (1963) serials, Doctor Who: The War Games: Episode Seven (1969) and Doctor Who: T...Show more »
[on his guest appearances in two hugely popular Doctor Who (1963) serials, Doctor Who: The War Games: Episode Seven (1969) and Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius: Part One (1976)] I'm getting to realise how popular that a couple of the series that I did as the guest villain or whatever, how popular they were. Now I'm realising it and there are a couple which I watched them myself not long ago and I was delighted...somehow I'd expected them to show an age and they haven't done that. They're sparkling. They're my words, I'm saying them, so I'm the best critic in a way but I was surprised to feel their quality. So whoever wrote them and however we delivered them, it's still of a standard and that's marvellous because you realise it may have been 20-30 years ago but the quality is there. Show less «
Philip Madoc's Photos
Fenner
