I'm starting a sweep on how many
"will he be cremated in a wicker man?" comments there will be.
Edward Woodward dies at 79
Brit thesp Edward Woodward has died at the age of 79, the BBC reports. The actor, who'll be fondly remembered for making an ill-advised 1973 visit to Summerisle, passed away at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro as the result of "various illnesses including pneumonia". Confirming his death, Woodward's agent Janet Glass said …
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Monday 16th November 2009 14:33 GMT Graham Marsden
You didn't mention Callan...
... one of the best UK dramas from the 1970s, where Woodward played the eponymous Callan who worked for "The Section", a seedy undercover Government intelligence department who would keep an eye on "undesirable elements" and, if necessary, blackmail, bankrupt or assassinate them.
Woodward was excellent in that role for the way he played Callan as all too human, with doubts and ethical questions about what he was doing, even while he was compelled to do his unpleasant duty.
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Monday 16th November 2009 15:34 GMT Dave Harris
RIP Ewar Woowar
@Eithafwr
And what do you call a man with four wooden heads?
I don't know, but Edward Woodward would
Just this weekend, we were watching Hot Fuzz, and I was trying to explain to my missus my joy at seeing Mr Woowar as a torch-and-pitchfork wielder (being from Java, parts of of which would see a Wicker man as a cooking vessel, she is unfamiliar with his work).
Sadly missed.
Gravestone, deserved, for the living statue and crusty jugglers
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Monday 16th November 2009 16:59 GMT Anonymous Coward
1990 - by Wilfred Greatorex (BBC, 1977-78)
"British society has been taken over by bureaucracy. Freedom on all fronts is stifled by the government through bugging, rationing and the invidious presence of the public control department (PCD). Jim Kyle [Woodward], a journalist with the ‘free press’ treads the fine line between exposure of the truth and governmental propaganda - whilst covertly helping to smuggle scientists and doctors abroad, emigration having been all but outlawed."
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Monday 16th November 2009 16:59 GMT MinionZero
That is very sad news.
I remember the concern for his health back when he had his first heart attack (if I remember correctly) back when he was in The Equalizer. Its good he managed to go on for so many more years but I'm sorry for his family now. I was such a fan of The Equalizer and his performance especially at the end of The Wicker Man was very memorable. He was also very good in Hot fuzz.
RIP Edward Woodward AKA The Equalizer.
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Monday 16th November 2009 16:59 GMT Anonymous Coward
Strange coincidence
I was telling my wife about the Callan series a couple of nights ago. She'd asked what TV I particularly remembered from growing up, and one thing that had really stuck in my mind was a rerun of the Callan series in the 1980's. The swinging light bulb in the credits and the gritty noir feel were really memorable. Another thing that stuck in my mind was the great theme music to The Equalizer, and they way Woodward's character was immensely cool - kind of like the Dad or Grandad you'd want on your side if you ever got into bother!
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Monday 16th November 2009 17:01 GMT Nigel Callaghan
Tan ar y Comin?
And who could forget him in 'Tan ar y Comin/Fire on the Common' - filmed twice - once in Welsh
and once in English (i.e. not dubbed) and he had to learn his Welsh lines phonetically 'cos he didn't speak a word of the language of heaven. Not brilliant, but a damn good try! Heddwch i'w lwch...
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Tuesday 17th November 2009 06:03 GMT Michael Fremlins
@EW
What do you call a man with a piece of wood on his head? Edward.
What do you call a man with two pieces of wood on his head? Edward Wood.
What do you call a man with three pieces of wood on his head? Edward Woodward.
What do you call a man with four pieces of wood on his head? I don't know, but Edward Woodward would.
RIP.
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Tuesday 17th November 2009 06:03 GMT John Dougald McCallum
who needs a bleedin' title
"The bleakly enduring vision of a bare light bulb swinging, a plaintively haunting theme tune, a man cursed with a conscience trapped in a remorseless, deadly occupation from which the only true escape is death, David Callan was a genuine television original. A brutal antidote to the over-hyped espionage antics of James Bond and 'The Man From Uncle.'' Quote from televisionheaven.co.uk Callan was first seen as a play in the great series of plays that was Armchair Theatre.and I thiunk this quote sums up our "hero"dosn't make friends easily.....and all his enemies are dead........
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Tuesday 17th November 2009 06:03 GMT Nordrick Framelhammer
RIP Mr Woodward
Yet another great actor has died, reducing the quality of the pool to a much lower level of idiocy, banality and lack of greativity, which, alas, tends to reflect the idiocy, banality and lack of creativity of the movie and TV industry in general.
Rest well, sir. You shall be sorely missed.
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Saturday 21st November 2009 07:38 GMT Brett Weaver
I remember...
The Callan episodes where his death gets faked.. and then he came back. The pathos of Lonely being at the side of the grave..
Brilliant. He was one of those very few number of actors where you will watch anything with him in it - simply because you know he is in it.
I never knew how much of a fan I was till he died..
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
