Anecdotes

Played Gollum in both Le Seigneur des anneaux (1978) as well as in the Lord of the Rings BBC radio production.

He and Theodore Gottlieb have both played Gollum twice. Theodore played the role in Le Hobbit (1977), while Woodthorpe played him in Le Seigneur des anneaux (1978). This incomplete adaptation sparked two other adaptations: the animated Le retour du roi (1980), in which Theodore reprised the role; and the BBC radio production, in which Woodthorpe reprised the role. Theodore played the role opposite Orson Bean, who played Frodo, but had previously played Bilbo in The Hobbit. Woodthorpe played the role opposite Ian Holm, who played Frodo, and would go on to play Bilbo in Peter Jackson's films.

After appearing in David Copperfield in 2000, an accident left him incapacitated.

While at college in Cambridge, he was a member of the university's dramatic society which led to him making his professional debut in 1955 as Estragon in 'Waiting for Godot' and not doing his final year.

Before he was 30, he appeared on Broadway with Lunt and Fontaine.