Richard Morant

Richard Morant (30 October 1945 – 9 November 2011) was an English actor. Morant was born in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire. His father was Shakespearean actor Philip Morant (1909–1993). His sister is actress Angela Morant. He was also a nephew of actors Bill and Linden Travers, and a cousin of actress Penelope Wilton. He trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama before joining the Prospect Theatre Company, and touring with Ian McKellen in Richard II, Edward II and Twelfth Night.He enjoyed a long television and theatrical career, first creating an impression as the bully Flashman in a BBC adaptation of the Thomas Hughes novel, Tom Brown's Schooldays (1971), and had a starring role in Thames Television's Armchair Theatre play Verité (1972) and followed this up with a regular role as Dr Dwight Enys in the popular BBC series of Poldark (1975).Morant also appeared in several BBC classic serials, including adaptations of Walter Scott's Woodstock (1973), as the future Charles II, and The Talisman (1980), as Conrade of Montserrat.He played Maximilien Robespierre in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982), and he later played Mervyn Bunter, the valet of Lord Peter Wimsey, in A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery, the BBC's 1987 productions of Strong Poison, Have His Carcase and Gaudy Night (all based on Dorothy Sayers's original novels). In 1988 he played Theodore Dyke Acland in the serial Jack the Ripper.His film career included roles in Zeppelin (1971), Mahler (1974), The Company of Wolves (1984), The Second Victory (1986), Scandal (1989) and Janice Beard (1999).His stage appearances included a starring role in Noël Coward's Private Lives at the Theatre Royal, Bath in 1984. The following year he co-starred with Stephanie Beacham and Pam Ferris in ITV's rag-trade soap drama, Connie. He also did voice-over, radio, and audio book work including voicing books by Julian Barnes and Julian Fellowes.