Alan Wheatley
Biography
Alan Wheatley was an English actor who made his first stage appearance at the Festival Theatre in Cambridge in 1928 and went on to work with the Old Vic company and on Broadway. He made some forty films between 1931 and 1965, among them Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), Brighton Rock (1948), Calling Paul Temple (1948) and The House Across the Lake (1954). On television he played Sherlock Holmes in 1951 in the first television series to feature the detective, and played the Sheriff of Nottingham in The Adventures of Robin Hood in 54 episodes between 1955 and 1959. During the Second World War he broadcast to occupied Europe as an announcer for the BBC European Service, and in his later years he acted and read poetry mostly on radio. He died in 1991.
84years old at death
- Born Tolworth
- Died City of Westminster
- Star sign: AriesLast day of the sign, on the Taurus cusp
Movie Career
- Films
- 6
- Career span
- 16 years1945 to 1961
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A first
Wheatley was the first actor to play Sherlock Holmes in a television series, starring in six televised Conan Doyle adaptations in 1951, with Raymond Francis as Dr Watson and Bill Owen as Inspector Lestrade.
A change of course
From May to September 1940 Wheatley announced on the BBC Overseas Service, then served as the European Service's principal announcer and newsreader until March 1945. The Times noted his clarity of diction became well known in war-time Europe.
Behind the camera
Wheatley translated poetry by Federico García Lorca, completing "Lament on the Death of a Bullfighter" first; the BBC broadcast it in 1946 and he recorded nine translations in 1953.
Alan Wheatley movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Worked with
Alan Wheatley made one film with each of them. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Christopher Lee's page
Marianne Stone's page
Sidney James's page
Richard Attenborough's page
Claude Rains's page
André Morell's page
John BoultingDirector, 1 film, 1948
All films by John Boulting
Gabriel PascalDirector, 1 film, 1945
All films by Gabriel Pascal
John GillingDirector, 1 film, 1961
All films by John Gilling
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.