Garfield Morgan(1931-2009)
- Actor
Garfield Morgan was born in Birmingham, England, in 1931. After a brief
sojourn working as a trainee dental technician, he trained as an actor at
a local drama school. His career began at the Arena Theatre in
Birmingham in the fifties and he later became involved in both
production and directing duties at The Marlow Theatre in Canterbury,
Kent, and at The Library Theatre, Manchester. During the seventies he
was Associate Director of Northgate Theatre and Associate Director of
The Nottingham Playhouse.
His television career began in the mid-fifties and although initially
playing small parts, during the sixties he began to take on bigger
roles, including the part of Detective Chief Inspector Lewis in the
BBC's long-running
Softly Softly (1966) series. He
often played policemen but none more famous than DCI Frank Haskins in
The Sweeney (1975), opposite
John Thaw and
Dennis Waterman, during the seventies,
where he was an admirable foil to Thaw's brash, renegade Inspector Jack
Regan. He was also a regular in other TV series such as
The Nineteenth Hole (1989),
You Must Be the Husband (1987)
and Shelley (1979), all during the
eighties, and
No Job for a Lady (1990)
opposite Penelope Keith in the nineties.
He preferred acting on stage and in television so his film career was
rather limited but he did have a decent role in
The Odessa File (1974) in 1974.
In his personal life, early on he was married to the actress
Dilys Laye before it ended in divorce. After
a short illness, Morgan died from cancer on December 5, 2009. His
former wife died just a few months previously.
sojourn working as a trainee dental technician, he trained as an actor at
a local drama school. His career began at the Arena Theatre in
Birmingham in the fifties and he later became involved in both
production and directing duties at The Marlow Theatre in Canterbury,
Kent, and at The Library Theatre, Manchester. During the seventies he
was Associate Director of Northgate Theatre and Associate Director of
The Nottingham Playhouse.
His television career began in the mid-fifties and although initially
playing small parts, during the sixties he began to take on bigger
roles, including the part of Detective Chief Inspector Lewis in the
BBC's long-running
Softly Softly (1966) series. He
often played policemen but none more famous than DCI Frank Haskins in
The Sweeney (1975), opposite
John Thaw and
Dennis Waterman, during the seventies,
where he was an admirable foil to Thaw's brash, renegade Inspector Jack
Regan. He was also a regular in other TV series such as
The Nineteenth Hole (1989),
You Must Be the Husband (1987)
and Shelley (1979), all during the
eighties, and
No Job for a Lady (1990)
opposite Penelope Keith in the nineties.
He preferred acting on stage and in television so his film career was
rather limited but he did have a decent role in
The Odessa File (1974) in 1974.
In his personal life, early on he was married to the actress
Dilys Laye before it ended in divorce. After
a short illness, Morgan died from cancer on December 5, 2009. His
former wife died just a few months previously.