Derek Anthony Beckley (7 October 1929 – 19 April 1980)California Death Records – Beckley, Derek Anthony (http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi?surname=Beckley&given=Derek) last accessed: 27/02/13) was an English actor. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Beckley went on to carve out a career on film and television throughout the 1960s and 1970s, often playing villainous roles, as well as being a veteran of numerous stage productions.
Early life Beckley was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England. He was a child out of wedlock and never met his father. His mother, Beatrice Mitchell, worked as a steward on ocean liners such as the and the . Due to work commitments, she was often away, and Beckley was brought up mainly by another woman whom he referred to as his aunt.van Gelder, Lawrence. 1979. "New Face: Tony Beckley - Genial Film Maniac With English Roots." in The New York Times, 19 October 1979, Section The Weekend, Page C3
When he was five years old, Beckley and his mother moved to Portsmouth and when the Second World War broke out he was sent to Winchester, where he attended boarding school at Winton House. It was in Winchester where he first became interested in acting. While his mother wanted him to do "something nice and safe", like working in the civil service, Beckley discovered that acting was what was going to make him happy when he saw a performance in Portsmouth of Emlyn Williams' The Corn Is Green by the Court Players, a local repertory company.
Beckley left school at the age of 16 in pursuit of his acting career. He worked as a stage sweeper and tea maker for two or three months, then moved to London. As he could not get work in the theatre, he did odd jobs as a waiter and in an ice cream factory while spending his spare time watching actors like Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Alec Guinness and the Old Vic productions at the New Theatre.
Shortly before turning 18, he joined the Royal Navy and spent two years as a seaman aboard the destroyer , where he found the time to prepare for admission to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He joined RADA on an ex-Navy grant and during his two-year training befriended people such as actress Sheila Hancock and playwright Charles Laurence.Hancock, Sheila. 2004. The Two of Us – My Life with John Thaw. London: Bloomsbury.
Career After graduating from RADA, Beckley started working for various provincial repertory companies, eventually settling with a company near London (Bromley Repertory"Obituaries: Mr Tony Beckley" in The Times, 10 June 1980, p. 16.) which opened up opportunities for television work. After guest roles in popular TV series such as Sergeant Cork, The Saint, Z-Cars and the then revolutionaryByford, Timothy. "Autobiography. Chapter 6 – Television: the BBC." (http://www.timothybyford.com/work_Chapter-6---Television:-the-BBC_1484) last accessed: 01/03/13 comedy programme Dig This RhubarbOutsider. 1963. "Digging it up" in The Observer Weekend Review, 22 September 1963, p. 23. (http://www.solearabiantree.net/namingofparts/pdf/observer/wideningradioshorizons22september1963.pdf) Beckley made his film debut in 1965 as Ned Poins in Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight.
Beckley appeared in a number of films for director Peter Collinson: The Penthouse (1967); The Long Day's Dying (1968); and most memorably as Camp Freddie in The Italian Job (1969). His only starring role was as the psychotic Kenny Wemys in The Fiend (1972), and he made his last film appearance in 1979 playing another psychopath in When a Stranger Calls. His other films include The Lost Continent (1968), Get Carter (1971), Assault (1971), Sitting Target (1972), Gold (1974), and Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978).
On television, Beckley played the villainous Harrison Chase in the six-part Doctor Who serial The Seeds of Doom (1976). He also guest-starred on shows such as Manhunt, Callan, Jason King, and Special Branch.Tony Beckley (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0065777/) last accessed: 01/03/13
He remained active in the theatre, appearing in the West End in Tennessee Williams' Small Craft Warnings with Elaine Stritch and in Snap with Maggie Smith.
Death Beckley died six months after the premiere of When a Stranger Calls. Just before his death he had been signed for further work in the US. He was supposed to co-star with Elizabeth Montgomery in a television movie titled My Fat Friend and appear in a film, American Dreamer."Deaths Elsewhere -Tony Beckley" in The Blade: Toledo, Ohio, 28 April 1980, p. 15. (https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ah1PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jwIEAAAAIBAJ&dq=tony-beckley&pg=7197%2C3831633) He was also to appear in the NBC miniseries Beulah Land alongside Lesley Ann Warren, Don Johnson and others."Stars added to cast" in The Free Lance-Star Town & County Magazine, 12 January 1980, p. 15. (https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hv5NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1IsDAAAAIBAJ&dq=tony-beckley&pg=2668%2C1631981)
Though the cause of his death was given as cancer,Osborne, Charles. 1986. Giving it away: the memoirs of an uncivil servant.London: Secker & Warburg. p. 75. it appeared rather "mysterious" and according to his friend Sheila Hancock, it may have been AIDS-related, a disease then little understood. Beckley died at the Medical Center of the University of California in Los Angeles"Tony Beckley, Starred In 'Stranger Calls 'Film", in: The New York Times Biographical Service, Volume 11, Apr 1980, p. 495. and is buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Personal life In an interview in 1979, Beckley stated that there was nothing in his background to explain why he became an actor except for possibly "a desire for some attention, which I really didn't get much as a kid."
While often playing villains and psychopaths on screen, Beckley is described as friendly and funny by people who met him and as someone who could tell a good story.Philip Hinchcliffe and John Challis on Doctor Who - The Seeds of Doom DVD Extra "Podshock", 2010 Beckley remarked that he would be surprised if people could find anything psychotic in his behaviour.
For more than 15 years, Beckley was in a relationship with film producer Barry Krost. When Krost opened his own management company, Beckley became his first client.Koffler, Kevin. 1994. Out. Volume 3, Issues 1-5, p. 88. Krost also produced Beckley's last film When a Stranger Calls and was a production associate on The Penthouse.
Although he kept a house in Fulham, London, and had three dogs, Beckley spent time living in California during the last year of his life in an apartment in West Hollywood.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1964 East Lynne Richard Hare TV film 1965 Chimes at Midnight Ned Poins 1967 The Penthouse Tom1968 The Long Day's Dying Cliff The Lost Continent Harry Tyler 1969 The Italian Job Camp Freddie1971 Get Carter Peter the Dutchman Assault Leslie Sanford1972 The Fiend Kenny Wemys Sitting Target Soapy Tucker1974 Gold Stephen Marais Diagnosis: Murder Sergeant Greene 1978 Revenge of the Pink Panther Guy Algo 1979 When a Stranger Calls Curt Duncan
Television Year Title Role Notes1958 ITV Television Playhouse Mr. Roberts Episode: "Miss Em" BBC Sunday Night Theatre Earl of Pembroke Episode: "Till Time Shall End"1963 Suspense Hugo Episode: "Sense of Occasion"The Saint Barry Aldon Episode: "Marcia" John Kennett Episode: "The Saint Plays with Fire"ITV Play of the Week Dolokhov Episode: "War and Peace" Vi Episode: "The Kidnapping of Mary Smith" Sergeant Cork Steve Gurling Episode: "The Case of the Two Drowned Men" 1963-1964 Dig This Rhubarb Series regular1964 Z-Cars Mr. Fry Episode: "Whistle and Come Home" The Great War Various roles 5 episodes Sergeant Cork Les Bartlett Episode: "The Case of the Wounded Warder"1965 Knock on Any Door Harry Benson Episode: "First Offender" ITV Play of the Week Montgiron Episode: "The Corsican Brothers"1966 Sergeant Cork Alex Devere Episode: "The Case of a Lady's Good Name"Conflict Caius Cassius Episode: "Julius Caesar" Young Marlow Episode: "She Stoops to Conquer" ITV Sunday Night Drama Teilo Episode: "Four Triumphant: St David" 1968 ITV Playhouse Roger Bakewell Episode: "Murder: The Dancing Man"1970 Kate J.K. Episode: "Say It with Flowers" Parkin's Patch Curry Episode: "The Journey" Manhunt Hochler 2 episodes Callan Rene Joinville Episode: "Suddenly-At Home" 1971 Now Take My Wife Tom Episode: "A Python Called Monty" 1972 Jason King Giorgio Episode: "Toki" 1973 Arthur of the Britons Morged Episode: "The Swordsman" 1974 Special Branch Helmut Rehfuss Episode: "Catherine the Great" 1975 Ten from the Twenties Dick Wilkes Episode: "Two or Three Graces"1976 Doctor Who Harrison Chase Episodes: The Seeds of Doom Little Lord Fauntleroy Braxton Miniseries1977 The Velvet Glove Otto Mayer Episode: "Happy in War" The Cost of Loving Leonard Draper Episode: "The Assailants"
Radio 1968 - Movie-Go-RoundBBC Genome ()
Stage ??? - Five Finger Exercise"Limelight - Tony Beckley". In The Stage, 12 January 1961, p. 8 1950s - Eden's End 1956 - The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial"Bromley Players Excel In 'The Caine Mutiny'". In The Stage, 22 November 1956, p. 11 1957 - The Rivals"Bromley Celebrates Second Birthday". In The Stage, 7 March 1957, p. 11 1957 - Look Back in Anger"Another Successful Season At Bromley". In The Stage, 27 December 1957, p. 7. 1957 - The Teahouse of the August MoonPlays and Players, Volume 4, Issue 10, Hansom Books, 1957. 1957 - Night of the Ding-Dong"Incident in Adelaide". In The Stage, 20 June 1957, p. 10. 1958 - Brothers-in-Law"Documentary Of Legal Life". In The Stage, 7 February 1957, p. 10. 1958 - Jack and the Bean Stalk"Bromley - 'Jack And The Beanstalk". In The Stage, 2 January 1959, p. 7. 1959 - Wolf's ClothingHobson, Harold. 1959. International Theatre Annual, Issue 4, Citadel Press, p. 271. 1959 - The Entertainer"'Entertainer' not for the Round". In The Stage, 22 October 1959, p. 37 1959 - Bus Stop (as producer) 1959 - The Long and the Short and the Tall"Actor - Director". In The Stage, 3 March 1960, p. 18. 1960 - Two for the See-Saw (as director) 1960 - The Taming of the Shrew"A lively and versatile 'Shrew' at Oxford". In The Stage, 28 April 1960, p. 21. 1960 - Saint Joan"Miss Jenkins' fine diction". In The Stage, 20 October 1960, p. 17. 1960 - Time LimitPlays and Players, Volume 8, Hansom Books, 1960 1961 - S. for Scandal"Return of Sonia Dresdel". In The Stage, 9 February 1961, p. 13 1961 - The Merchant of Venice (as producer)Shakespeare Quarterly, Volume 11, Folger Shakespeare Library 1960, p. 108. 1961 - Mother"Drama With Too Much Doctrine" in The Times, 16 May 1961, p. 17 1962 - The Bed BugMermaid Theatre: The Bed Bug. 1962 (http://www.infotextmanuscripts.org/webb/webb_bed_bug.pdf) 1962 - Arden of Faversham"Balloons of Dialogue" in The Times, 26 April 1962, p. 8 1962 - Diary of a ScoundrelTime & Tide, Volume 43, Time and Tide Publishing Company, 1962 1962 - Infanticide in the House of Fred GingerTheatricalia.com (http://theatricalia.com/play/4y/infanticide-in-the-house-of-fred-ginger/production/10g) 1966 - Lorca"Playwright makes Lorca a lay figure" in The Times, 7 September 1966, p. 16 1969 - Hedda Gabler"Fenella Fielding as Hedda Gabler" in The Times, 20 March 1969, p. 16 1969 - Cages 1973 - Small Craft Warnings 1974 - Snap"Entertainments - Theatres" in The Times, 5 August 1974, p. 6 1974 - The Dog Beneath the SkinThe Times, 30 July 1977
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