A tall, imposing character actor with a voice to match, John Phillips brought an authoritative manner and dignified military bearing to his many roles on stage and screen. A decorated veteran of the 1944 Normandy Campaign, Phillips frequently appeared on television as uniformed senior officers and police chief constables, from Frontier (1968) to Z Cars (1962). His piercing eyes and forthright manner made him equally suited to portraying magistrates, academics and clergymen.
After a long innings with the Birmingham Repertory prior to 1945, he appeared post-war in Bristol and at the Old Vic in London, playing anything from Henrik Ibsen to Shakespeare. He was critically acclaimed for his roles as Henry VIII and Timon of Athens, Prospero and Tamburlaine the Great (in Christopher Marlowe's play)). Acting on screen from the early 1950's, he was insidious as lawyer Tulkinghorn in Bleak House (1959), and lent gravitas to his Norfolk in Richard III (1955) and Grand Duke Nicholas in Fall of Eagles (1974). He was not beyond parodying his screen personae, being droll and stereotypically stiff-upper-lip, as Colonel Harcourt Badger Owen in the uproarious Ripping Yarns (1976) episode 'Escape from Stalag Luft 112 B'. Phillips retired from the stage in the 1980's and made his celluloid curtain call in the eccentric, off-beat comedy Leon the Pig Farmer (1992).
as King Dafydd(2 eps)
as Dr. Charles Langley-Beard(4 eps)
as Wintour
as Examining Judge
as Magistrate
as DS Bull(1 ep)
as Colonel Harcourt Badger Owen
as Francis Urcombe
as Naso(4 eps)
as Leopold Ruchworth(1 ep)
as Josiah Wedgwood(1 ep)
as Francis Urcombe
as Brander Merton(1 ep)
as Grand Duke Nicholas(1 ep)
as Sir Gregory Grogram(2 eps)
as Koestler (archive footage)
as Dr. Heuteufel(6 eps)
as Mr. Frazer(1 ep)
as Jack - Frazer Senior(1 ep)
as Professor Dyne(1 ep)
as Lanning Koestler(1 ep)
as Rev. Howard Whithead
as Examining Judge(1 ep)
as Maitre Lacan(33 eps)
as Klintzch(2 eps)
as Pope Grigoris(6 eps)
as Arnold Bingley(1 ep)
as Commandant(1 ep)
as Piso(1 ep)
as Councillor Percival
as Eddie Storm (segment 2 "Terror Over Hollywood")
as Stanley Preston
as Sir Howard Price(1 ep)
as Major General Atkins
as Colonel Gaillarde(1 ep)
as Major General Atkins(1 ep)
as Mr. Tredgold(1 ep)
as John Anthony
as Edward Gargan(5 eps)
as Insp. Morgan
as Councillor Percival(1 ep)
as Cardinal Runan(1 ep)
as Forbes-Wainwright(1 ep)
as Sir Gilbert Hardacre(1 ep)
as Elzevir Block(6 eps)
as Alfred Truelove(1 ep)
as Colonel Zapt(6 eps)
as Bishop of Winchester
as Big Ben Lewis(1 ep)
as Rear Admiral
as Bracewell - U.S. Delegate
as Col. Fowler
as Det. Chief Superintendent Robins(1 ep)
as Tom Stone
as Trifonov
as Trifonov
as Hooper Moulsworth
as Nesbitt(1 ep)
as Chief Superintendent Gault
as Professor Stephens
as Trifonov(2 eps)
as Prince Galitzin(1 ep)
as Coyannis(1 ep)
as General Leighton
as Mr Tulkinghorn(8 eps)
as Frank(1 ep)
as Boat Owner Spokesman (uncredited)
as Prosecutor at Esterhazy Trial
as The Mayor
as Doctor
as Willis Croft
as Hooper Moulsworth(1 ep)
as Magistrate(1 ep)
as Mr. Parry(1 ep)
as Deputy Morgan
as Engineer Officer
as Von Brondorff(1 ep)
as Lt. Col. Turbojet