British actor Edward Woodward starred as the ill-fated Sgt. Howie, a repressed and religious police officer, in Anthony Shaffer’s occult thriller The Wicker Man in 1973. Sent to the remote Scottish island of Summerisle to search for a missing girl, he becomes enmeshed in an arcane pagan ritual that results in his own sacrifice in a burning wicker effigy to ensure a bountiful harvest. Christopher Lee co-starred as Lord Summerisle, and Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, and Ingrid Pitt were featured as enticing pagan ladies.
Woodward was born in Croydon, England, on June 1, 1930. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and made his professional stage debut in 1946. A Shakespearean stage actor, he also appeared frequently in films and television from the early 1960s. He was featured in episodes of The Saint, The Baron, Mystery and Imagination, and Sherlock Holmes, and was Auguste Dupin in a 1968 production of Poe’s The Murders in the Rue Morgue.
Woodward was born in Croydon, England, on June 1, 1930. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and made his professional stage debut in 1946. A Shakespearean stage actor, he also appeared frequently in films and television from the early 1960s. He was featured in episodes of The Saint, The Baron, Mystery and Imagination, and Sherlock Holmes, and was Auguste Dupin in a 1968 production of Poe’s The Murders in the Rue Morgue.
- 11/19/2009
- by Harris Lentz
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Popular actor known for his roles in Callan, The Equalizer and The Wicker Man
Edward Woodward, who has died aged 79, was an actor with possibly far more potential than was ever realised on screen, but he became a popular television star in Callan and The Equalizer and enjoyed cult success with the film The Wicker Man. For many years, he was part of the comfortable community of jobbing actors, directors and producers which could be called the "Teddington set" – those who worked for the BBC, ABC and Thames TV studios in west London in their heyday – and so found it comparatively easy to get parts which were financially rewarding but not too stretching.
Presentable, but sombre in appearance, he played loners on the edges of society, and even sanity, who were in their different ways concerned with justice – either sympathetically or not. He was a man who, like many of his most memorable roles,...
Edward Woodward, who has died aged 79, was an actor with possibly far more potential than was ever realised on screen, but he became a popular television star in Callan and The Equalizer and enjoyed cult success with the film The Wicker Man. For many years, he was part of the comfortable community of jobbing actors, directors and producers which could be called the "Teddington set" – those who worked for the BBC, ABC and Thames TV studios in west London in their heyday – and so found it comparatively easy to get parts which were financially rewarding but not too stretching.
Presentable, but sombre in appearance, he played loners on the edges of society, and even sanity, who were in their different ways concerned with justice – either sympathetically or not. He was a man who, like many of his most memorable roles,...
- 11/16/2009
- by Dennis Barker
- The Guardian - Film News
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