Jack May

Known for ActingBorn 1922-04-23Died 1997-09-19Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Jack May was a mellifluous-voiced actor best known for playing butlers and establishment figures, often representing Britain's interests in far-flung corners of the empire. With regards the former, he memorably played William E. Simms, former music hall artise turned manservant to Gerald Harper's titular swashbuckling adventurer in '60s TV cult classic Adam Adamant Lives! as well as providing the voice of Igor, the long-suffering valet in Cosgrove Hall's 1980s animation Count Duckula. His film credits included the district commissioner in 1975's The Man Who Would Be King and the prosecuting naval attorney in the remake of The Bounty (1984). For many, May was Nelson Gabriel 'the most disreputable character in Ambridge' in BBC Radio 4's long-running soap The Archers. May took the role of the shady rogue, later antique dealer and wine bar owner, in 1952 and continued to play him right up until the year of his death, 1997. This 45 year stint made May, at the time, the fourth-longest serving soap opera star in the world. He died at the age of 75, on 19 September 1997, survived by his wife, the actress Petra Davies, his daughter Henrietta, and son David.Read more

Movies & web series

Without Air

Espionage

Whinfrey's Last Case

Hawkmoor

The Children of the New Forest

Detective

Richard the Lionheart

Willie's War

Big Muzzy

Jeeves and Wooster

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Main Chance

Friends and Other Lovers

Count Duckula

Soap Opera in Stockwell

The Protectors

Festival

All Creatures Great and Small

The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel

Mark Saber

Doctor Who

Shoestring

The Avengers

UFO

A Night to Remember

The Man Who Would Be King

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

Adam Adamant Lives!

Brief Encounter

The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy

Budgie

Danger Man

Bulman

A Horseman Riding By

Target

Dawson's Weekly

Out of the Unknown

Stranger in the Family

Poldark

The Bounty

The Agatha Christie Hour

Pride and Prejudice

The Adventures of Sir Lancelot

This Happy Breed

The Gay Dog

Scarecrow and Mrs. King

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

The Shooting Party