John Neville, who has died aged 86, achieved early renown as a leading Shakespearean actor with the Old Vic company in the 1950s and later starred in the title role in the 1988 film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and as "The Well-Manicured Man" in the The X-Files.
John Neville as Baron Munchausen
Noted for his aquiline good looks, swift intelligence and distinctive baritone voice, Neville dominated, with Richard Burton, the Old Vic stage in the late 1950s. He played many leading roles, including Romeo, Hamlet and an acclaimed Richard in Richard II, alongside Virginia McKenna as Queen Anne.
In 1956 he and Burton performed a memorable double-act, alternating the roles of Othello and Iago. Neville later recalled how, before one matinée performance, they had gone out for a liquid lunch at The Ivy: "Staggering out of the restaurant a little the worse for wear, we returned to the theatre and both played Iago. The audience noticed nothing unusual and nor, in the state we were in, did we."
Although the two men were good friends, the gossip columns made them out to be rivals ("the Willesden Wizard v The Welsh Wonder"), and both had their own (mostly young, female) claques. When they appeared together in Henry V, a reviewer noted: "John Neville as Chorus could not move a muscle without eliciting a loud bravo; Richard Burton dared not twitch his crown without waking a counter-cheer from the balcony."
Neville was frequently billed as John Gielgud's natural successor, and he could have become as well-known but for the fact that he never seemed able to settle, and gained a reputation for walking out of jobs when he became bored. In 1972 he left Britain for good and moved to Canada.
The son of a lorry driver and council mechanic, John Neville was born in Willesden, north London, on May 2 1925 and educated at Chiswick County School for Boys. A church choir outing to the Old Vic to see Ralph Richardson and Vivien Leigh in A Midsummer Night's Dream inspired him with a love of theatre, and he went on to play Brutus in a school production of Julius Caesar.
He left school aged 16 to work as a stores clerk in a garage, but his performance as Hamlet in a church drama group production won him a council scholarship to Rada.
He took it up after three years' wartime service as a signalman in the Royal Navy, during which he took part in the Normandy landings and served in the Far East.
Neville made his West End debut in 1947 in a walk-on part in Richard II at the New Theatre. The following year he was engaged for the Open Air Theatre season at Regent's Park, where he played Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Chatillon in King John.
In 1949 he was engaged by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre where, among other roles, he played John Worthing in The Importance of Being Ernest; he also married the play's Cecily, Caroline Hooper.
Moving on to the Bristol Old Vic, Neville soon became the company's leading man, playing Surface in The School for Scandal; Ferdinand in Love's Labour's Lost; and Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
In 1953 Michael Benthall engaged him for the Old Vic, where early roles included Lewis the Dauphin in King John; Orsino in Twelfth Night; Macduff in Macbeth; and Berowne in Love's Labour's Lost. It was, however, his performance as Richard II in February 1955 that established him in the company's front rank. He captured perfectly the beleaguered king's combination of arrogance and pathos, and on the opening night his performance won him 23 curtain calls.
His other roles at the theatre included Hotspur, Troilus, Romeo and Andrew Aguecheek. He was Pistol in King Henry the Fourth and a subtle but forceful Mark Antony in Julius Caesar. His Hamlet came in 1957, with Jack Gwillim as Claudius and Judi Dench as Ophelia. The Daily Telegraph's critic, WA Darlington, felt that although he gave a memorable performance – "sensitive, romantic-looking and intelligent" – it lacked something "in music and emotional force".
Neville left the Old Vic in 1959 to explore other avenues. He directed The Importance of Being Ernest at the Bristol Old Vic, then took over from Keith Michell as Nestor in the musical comedy Irma La Douce at the Lyric Theatre, winning praise for his fine singing voice. Rather less convincing was his performance as Lord Alfred Douglas in Gregory Ratoff's biopic Oscar Wilde (1960), critics considering Neville too old for the part.
After a temporary return to the Old Vic to direct Henry V, with Donald Houston playing the king, Neville was the enigmatic Stranger in Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea, with Margaret Leighton, at the Queen's Theatre. He also appeared in Peter Ustinov's film Billy Budd (1962) and Peter Sellers's directorial debut, Mr Topaze, in 1961.
Also in 1961, in another departure, Neville turned his back on the West End stage and moved to the Nottingham Playhouse, where he served as joint director from 1963 and played numerous roles, including Macbeth, Coriolanus, Faustus and Sir Thomas More. In 1967, however, he resigned after a row with the city authorities over funding.
For a time Neville worked with Prospect Productions and also starred as Marlborough in the 1969 BBC Two serial The First Churchills, and as Captain Macheath in The Beggar's Opera at Chichester in 1972. But his efforts to find another theatre directorship in Britain got nowhere, and in 1972 he accepted an offer to direct The Rivals at the newly-built National Arts centre in Ottawa. He decided to stay and later took Canadian citizenship.
For the next two decades he continued to act and direct the classics. At Edmonton he oversaw the development of a new arts complex; directed Much Ado About Nothing (playing Benedick) and Uncle Vanya; and played Sherlock Holmes and Bernard Shaw in Dear Liar. Moving to the Neptune Theatre at Halifax, Nova Scotia, he toured in Othello; directed The Seagull; and starred in The Taming of the Shrew and The Master Builder.
In 1982 he moved to Stratford, Ontario, where in 1985 he took over the financially troubled Festival Theatre, founded in 1953 by Tyrone Guthrie. During a notably successful four years he staged Mother Courage, Othello, The Three Sisters and a modern-dress Hamlet. He also took leading roles himself in Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, Pericles, The Merchant of Venice (as Shylock) and Henry VIII.
In 1988 Terry Gilliam chose Neville to play the title role in his film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Although the film was a financial flop, Neville's performance as the baron (from the ages of 35 to 80) was well-received and led to numerous invitations to appear on film and television. From 1995 to 1998 he had a prominent recurring role in The X-Files as the "Well-Manicured Man".
John Neville was appointed OBE in 1965 and a member of the Order of Canada in 2006.
He is survived by his wife, Caroline, and by their three sons and three daughters.
John Neville, born May 2 1925, died November 19 2011
He took it up after three years' wartime service as a signalman in the Royal Navy, during which he took part in the Normandy landings and served in the Far East.
Neville made his West End debut in 1947 in a walk-on part in Richard II at the New Theatre. The following year he was engaged for the Open Air Theatre season at Regent's Park, where he played Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Chatillon in King John.
In 1949 he was engaged by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre where, among other roles, he played John Worthing in The Importance of Being Ernest; he also married the play's Cecily, Caroline Hooper.
Moving on to the Bristol Old Vic, Neville soon became the company's leading man, playing Surface in The School for Scandal; Ferdinand in Love's Labour's Lost; and Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
In 1953 Michael Benthall engaged him for the Old Vic, where early roles included Lewis the Dauphin in King John; Orsino in Twelfth Night; Macduff in Macbeth; and Berowne in Love's Labour's Lost. It was, however, his performance as Richard II in February 1955 that established him in the company's front rank. He captured perfectly the beleaguered king's combination of arrogance and pathos, and on the opening night his performance won him 23 curtain calls.
His other roles at the theatre included Hotspur, Troilus, Romeo and Andrew Aguecheek. He was Pistol in King Henry the Fourth and a subtle but forceful Mark Antony in Julius Caesar. His Hamlet came in 1957, with Jack Gwillim as Claudius and Judi Dench as Ophelia. The Daily Telegraph's critic, WA Darlington, felt that although he gave a memorable performance – "sensitive, romantic-looking and intelligent" – it lacked something "in music and emotional force".
Neville left the Old Vic in 1959 to explore other avenues. He directed The Importance of Being Ernest at the Bristol Old Vic, then took over from Keith Michell as Nestor in the musical comedy Irma La Douce at the Lyric Theatre, winning praise for his fine singing voice. Rather less convincing was his performance as Lord Alfred Douglas in Gregory Ratoff's biopic Oscar Wilde (1960), critics considering Neville too old for the part.
After a temporary return to the Old Vic to direct Henry V, with Donald Houston playing the king, Neville was the enigmatic Stranger in Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea, with Margaret Leighton, at the Queen's Theatre. He also appeared in Peter Ustinov's film Billy Budd (1962) and Peter Sellers's directorial debut, Mr Topaze, in 1961.
Also in 1961, in another departure, Neville turned his back on the West End stage and moved to the Nottingham Playhouse, where he served as joint director from 1963 and played numerous roles, including Macbeth, Coriolanus, Faustus and Sir Thomas More. In 1967, however, he resigned after a row with the city authorities over funding.
For a time Neville worked with Prospect Productions and also starred as Marlborough in the 1969 BBC Two serial The First Churchills, and as Captain Macheath in The Beggar's Opera at Chichester in 1972. But his efforts to find another theatre directorship in Britain got nowhere, and in 1972 he accepted an offer to direct The Rivals at the newly-built National Arts centre in Ottawa. He decided to stay and later took Canadian citizenship.
For the next two decades he continued to act and direct the classics. At Edmonton he oversaw the development of a new arts complex; directed Much Ado About Nothing (playing Benedick) and Uncle Vanya; and played Sherlock Holmes and Bernard Shaw in Dear Liar. Moving to the Neptune Theatre at Halifax, Nova Scotia, he toured in Othello; directed The Seagull; and starred in The Taming of the Shrew and The Master Builder.
In 1982 he moved to Stratford, Ontario, where in 1985 he took over the financially troubled Festival Theatre, founded in 1953 by Tyrone Guthrie. During a notably successful four years he staged Mother Courage, Othello, The Three Sisters and a modern-dress Hamlet. He also took leading roles himself in Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, Pericles, The Merchant of Venice (as Shylock) and Henry VIII.
In 1988 Terry Gilliam chose Neville to play the title role in his film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Although the film was a financial flop, Neville's performance as the baron (from the ages of 35 to 80) was well-received and led to numerous invitations to appear on film and television. From 1995 to 1998 he had a prominent recurring role in The X-Files as the "Well-Manicured Man".
John Neville was appointed OBE in 1965 and a member of the Order of Canada in 2006.
He is survived by his wife, Caroline, and by their three sons and three daughters.
John Neville, born May 2 1925, died November 19 2011
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