Born in Farnworth, Lancashire, England; trained at RADA, London. Primarily a stage player, he has been impressive in his many film and television appearances since the early 1960s. He was nominated for an Oscar® for his performance as Iago in the film version of the National Theatre of Great Britain production of OTHELLO (1965), co-starring Laurence Olivier in the title role. He was also delightfully memorable as Porthos in THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1974) and THE FOUR MUSKETEERS (1975). More recently, he has been featured as Eric Thornhill in the TV series "Life Begins" (2004-06) and as Arnold Tennison (Helen Mirren's father) in "Prime Suspect: The Final Act" (also 2006).  Nominated for Supporting Actor 1965: OTHELLO 1 nomination