Gordon Gostelow
- Publication: The Times
- Date: 2007-07-02
- Author:
- Page: 61
- Language: English
Gordon Gostelow, actor, was born on May 14, 1925. He died on June 3, 2007, aged 82
Character actor who triumphed on stage and TV
Gordon Gostelow's craggy features and quirky voice made him ideal casting for eccentric roles on stage and television and for more than four decades he was one of Britain's most prolific character actors.
He excelled in Dickensian roles such as Barkis in the 1966 BBC production of David Copperfield and was the definitive Newman Noggs in Nicholas Nickleby (BBC, 1968).
He is also fondly remembered for his role as station master Perks in the 1968 TV production of E. Nesbit's The Railway Children.
Born in Australia in 1925 Gostelow, like fellow Australian actors Bill Kerr and Vincent Ball, moved to England to find stage and TV work in the late Fifties. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford in 1961, then under the aegis of Peter Hall, and, for a period of 20 years, became one of its most valued players.
He worked with leading directors such as William Gaskill, John Barton, Terry Hands and Ronald Eyre and his notable roles included Conrade in Much Ado About Nothing (1961), Thersites (succeeding Peter O'Toole) in Troilus and Cressida (1962), Adam in John Whiting's The Devils (1962) and Kurt Gerstein in Rolf Hochhuth's The Representative (1963).
Throughout the Sixties and Seventies he appeared in a variety of character roles on TV including Milo Clancy in "The Space Pirates" storyline of Dr Who (1969) opposite Patrick Troughton, Fomich in Anna Karenina (1977) and Mr Scruby in The Pallisers (1974). He also won an army of young fans when he read a series of colourful Australian folk tales on Jackanory (1969-70).
He returned to the RSC in 1971 at the Aldwych Theatre playing Edmund Langley in Richard II, Canterbury/Gower/Charles V1 in Henry V (1971), Old Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice (1972), the Prince of Gododdin in John Arden's classic The Island of the Mighty (1972) and Mr Smith in Graham Greene's The Return of A. J. Raffles (1976).
On television he played the role of Bardolph in Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 (1979) opposite Anthony Quayle, and again in The Merry Wives of Windsor (1982) with Richard Griffiths and Judy Davis.
He starred in several films including the epic Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) and the satirical comedy How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989).
More recently he was a guest star in TV series such as Midsomer Murders and Wives and Daughters.
He died from a sudden heart attack and is survived by his wife, the actress Vivian Pickles.
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- APA 6th ed.: (2007-07-02). Gordon Gostelow. The Times p. 61.
- MLA 7th ed.: "Gordon Gostelow." The Times [add city] 2007-07-02, 61. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: "Gordon Gostelow." The Times, edition, sec., 2007-07-02
- Turabian: "Gordon Gostelow." The Times, 2007-07-02, section, 61 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Gordon Gostelow | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Gordon_Gostelow | work=The Times | pages=61 | date=2007-07-02 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=12 March 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Gordon Gostelow | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Gordon_Gostelow | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=12 March 2025}}</ref>
