Since Leaving Central School, Joss Ackland has covered the theatrical field in everything except ballet. He has played in Shakespeare all over the world with the Old Vic, been a disc jockey in Cape Town, written radio shows, was Associate Director of the Mermaid Theatre with Sir Bernard Miles, has made over 400 TV appearances and was a tea planter in Central Africa. He has played opposite Ingrid Bergman, Claire Bloom, Wendy Craig, Judi Dench, Edith Evans, Glenda Jackson, Glynis Johns, Virginia McKenna, Vanessa Redgrave, Jean Simmons, Maggie Smith, Ellain Terriss and Denholm Elliot. His parts have ranged from Falstaff, Belch and Caliban at the Old Vic to Galileo and Bedbug at the Mermaid. In musicals he has played Squeezum in Lock up Your Daughters, Jorrocks in Jorrocks, Frederick in A Little Night Music and the King in the Stanley Donen film musical of The Little Prince. Recent plays in the West End include the Professor in The Professor, Gus in Hotel in Amsterdam, Come As You Are, Brassbound in Captain Brassbound’s Conversion, Sam Browne in Collaborators, Mitch in Streetcar Named Desire, Pertuchio in The Taming of the Shrew and Eutace Perrin State in The Madras House at the National. Recent films include Great Expectations, England Made Me, S.P.Y.S., Operation Daybreak, The Silver Bears, The Greek Tycoon, Someone is Killing the Great Chiefs of European and Saint Jack. Joss lives in Surrey with his wife, Rosemary Kirkcaldy, a former actress he met when they were both acting in James Barrie’ Mary Rose at the first Pitlochry Festival. They have seven children.

» Back

» Print This Article