Image of Michael Goodliffe

Michael Goodliffe

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (1 October 1914 – 20 March 1976) was an English actor best known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working class parts. Goodliffe was born in Bebington, Cheshire (now Merseyside), the son of a vicar, and educated at St Edmund's School, Canterbury, and Keble College, Oxford. He started his career in repertory theatre in Liverpool before moving on to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon. He joined the British Army at the beginning of World War II, and received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in February 1940. He was wounded in the leg and captured at the Battle of Dunkirk. Goodliffe was incorrectly listed as killed in action, and even had his obituary published in a newspaper. He was to spend the rest of the war a prisoner in Germany. Whilst in captivity he produced and acted in (and in some cases wrote) many plays and sketches to entertain fellow prisoners. These included two productions of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, one in Tittmoning and the other in Eichstätt, in which he played the title role. He also produced the first staging of Noel Coward's Post Mortem at Eichstätt. A full photographic record of these productions exists. After the war he resumed his professional acting career. As well as appearing in the theatre he worked in film and television. He appeared in The Wooden Horse in 1950 and in other POW films. His best known film was A Night to Remember (1958) in which he played Thomas Andrews, builder of the RMS Titanic. His best known television series was Sam (1973–75) in which he played an unemployed Yorkshire miner. He also appeared with John Thaw and James Bolam in the 1967 television series Inheritance. Suffering from depression, Goodliffe had a breakdown in 1976 during the period that he was rehearsing for a revival of Equus. He committed suicide a few days later by leaping from a hospital fire escape, whilst a patient at the Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon, London. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Goodliffe,  licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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Born:
Oct 1, 1914 In Bebington, Cheshire, England
Movie/TV Credits:
64
First Appeared:
In the series Inheritance
Latest Project:
Movie To the Devil a Daughter 1976-03-04
Known For
Poster of Don't Be Like Brenda
Poster of 633 Squadron
Poster of The Battle of the River Plate
Poster of The Wooden Horse
Filmography
Series Inheritance Unknown 2025
Movie To the Devil a Daughter George de Grass 1976-03-04
Movie Hitler: The Last Ten Days General Weidling 1973-04-19
Series Sam Jack Barraclough 1973-06-12
Movie Don't Be Like Brenda Narrator (uncredited) 1973-05-27
Movie Henry VIII and His Six Wives Thomas More 1972-07-13
Movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Mr. Teevee (uncredited) 1971-06-29
Series Hine 1971-04-07
Movie The 5th Day of Peace Snow 1970-04-17
Movie Cromwell Solicitor General 1970-09-16
Movie The Fixer Ostrovsky 1968-12-08
Movie The Jokers Lt. Col. Paling 1967-05-15
Movie The Night of the Generals Hauser 1967-01-29
Series Man in a Suitcase Unknown 1967-09-27
Series Callan Unknown 1967-07-08
Movie Von Ryan's Express Captain Stein 1965-06-23
Movie Man in the Middle Colonel Shaw 1964-01-27
Movie 633 Squadron Squadron Leader Frank Adams 1964-04-06
Movie The Gorgon Professor Jules Heitz 1964-10-18
Movie Woman of Straw Solicitor 1964-04-28
Movie The 7th Dawn Trumphey 1964-09-02
Movie Troubled Waters Jeff Driscoll 1964-12-01
Movie 80,000 Suspects Clifford Preston 1963-08-15
Movie Jigsaw Clyde Burchard 1962-08-21
Movie Number Six 1962-04-01
Movie The £20,000 Kiss Sir Harold Trevitt 1962-12-31
Series The Saint Unknown 1962-10-04
Series Zero One Unknown 1962-10-03
Series The Avengers Unknown 1961-01-07
Movie No Love for Johnnie Dr. West 1961-02-14
Movie The Day the Earth Caught Fire Jacko Jackson the Night Editor 1961-11-01
Movie Testament of Orpheus English Narrator (voice) (uncredited) 1960-02-18
Movie Sink the Bismarck! Captain Banister 1960-02-11
Movie The Battle of the Sexes Detective 1960-02-25
Movie The Trials of Oscar Wilde Charles Gill 1960-05-28
Series Maigret Unknown 1960-10-31
Movie Peeping Tom Don Jarvis 1960-05-16
Movie Conspiracy of Hearts Father Desmaines 1960-04-07
Movie The White Trap Inspector Walters 1959-08-01
Movie Carve Her Name with Pride Coding Expert 1958-02-18
Movie Up the Creek Nelson 1958-05-13
Movie The Camp on Blood Island Father Paul Anjou 1958-04-15
Movie Further Up the Creek Lt. Commander Blakeney 1958-10-28
Movie A Night to Remember Thomas Andrews 1958-07-03
Movie Three Crooked Men Shop Customer 1958-10-01
Movie Fortune Is a Woman Detective Insp. Barnes 1957-03-13
Movie The One That Got Away R.A.F. Interrogator 1957-11-22
Movie Wicked as They Come Larry Buckham 1956-05-22
Movie The Battle of the River Plate Captain McCall, R.N., British Naval Attache, Buenos Aires 1956-10-30
Movie The End of the Affair Smythe 1955-02-24
Movie Quentin Durward Count De Dunois 1955-09-09
Series Dixon of Dock Green Unknown 1955-07-09
Movie Dial 999 John Moffat 1955-12-01
Movie Front Page Story Kennedy 1954-03-15
Movie Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue Robert Walpole 1954-02-27
Movie Sea Devils Ragan 1953-04-12
Movie The Hour of 13 Anderson 1952-11-21
Movie Plan for Coal 1952-01-02
Movie Cry, the Beloved Country Martens 1951-11-16
Movie Captain Horatio Hornblower Col. Caillard - POW Escort 1951-04-10
Movie Family Portrait Narrator (voice) 1950-12-01
Movie The Wooden Horse Robbie 1950-10-16
Movie Stop Press Girl McPherson 1949-06-02
Movie The Small Back Room Till 1949-02-21