Philip James Voss (20 August 1936 – 13 November 2020) was a British stage, radio, film and television actor.

Philip Voss
Born
Philip James Voss

(1936-08-20)20 August 1936
Leicester, England
Died13 November 2020(2020-11-13) (aged 84)
OccupationActor
Years active1963–2016
PartnerJohn Peacock (died 2017)

Early life edit

Voss was born in Leicester, the elder son of James Voss, a pharmacist, and his wife, Viola (née Walmsley). He had a younger brother, John. When he and his family moved to the village of Wollaton, near Nottingham, he attended Nottingham High Pavement Grammar School. He joined a local amateur theatre and, after national service with the RAF, trained for the stage at RADA.

Career edit

Voss played roles in the Doctor Who serials Marco Polo and The Dominators,[1] Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, the 1981 Lord of the Rings radio series,[2] Indian Summer, an RSC 1996 revival of The White Devil, The Brides in the Bath, two plays in the Arkangel Shakespeare and a small role in an audio dramatisation of an Anton Chekhov short story.[3] He also played recurring roles in the TV series Fish as Ivan Vishnevski and Vicious as Ian McKellen's cynical brother Mason Thornhill.

Other credits include a stint at the London Shakespeare Workout, two roles for the Shared Experience Company (in Three Sisters and The Seagull), and playing Serebryakov in a West End rendition of Anton Chekhov's The Wood Daemon. At the RSC during the 1990s, he played Menenius in Coriolanus, Sir Epicure Mammon in Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist, Ulysses in Troilus and Cressida, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, and Prospero in The Tempest.

Personal life and death edit

From the 1970s onwards, Voss lived in Bushey, Hertfordshire, with his partner, writer John Peacock. They entered into a civil partnership in 2006, and remained together until Peacock’s death in 2017. Voss died from cancer and complications of COVID-19 in Watford, Hertfordshire, on 13 November 2020, aged 84. He was survived by his brother.[4]

Filmography edit

Film edit

Year Title Role Notes
1974 Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell Ernst
1980 Hopscotch Helicopter Pilot Wrong Philip Voss
1983 Octopussy Auctioneer
1986 Lady Jane Herald
Clockwise Headmaster #9
1990 Mountains of the Moon Colonel Rigby
1992 Northern Crescent Education Chief
1993 The Secret Rapture Civil Servant
1994 Four Weddings and a Funeral Laura's Father - Wedding One
1996 Indian Summer Duncan
2013 About Time Theatre Judge

Television edit

Year Title Role Notes
1963 Suspense Randolph Yerbray Season 2, episode 31: "The White Hot Coal"
Maupassant Belloncle Season 1, episode 10: "Bachelors"
1964 No Hiding Place Jaroslav Konowski Season 6, episode 2: "Who Takes the Blame?"
1964

1968

Doctor Who Acomat

Wahed

Season 1: "Marco Polo" (3 episodes)

Season 6, episode 1: "The Dominators: episode 1"

1965 Out of the Unknown Police Officer Season 1, episode 5: "Time in Advance"
1967 Theatre 625 Piotr Ollendorf Season 4, episode 15 "Hotel Torpe"
1968 Virgin of the Secret Service Captain Nigel Bratby Season 1, episode 6: |"The Rajah and the Suffragette"
1970 The Troubleshooters Bosun Season 6, episode 1: "The Slick and the Dread"
1971 Elizabeth R King Richard TV mini-series
1972 Crime of Passion Chief Inspector Marsan Season 3, episode 11: "Baptiste"
1974 Dial M for Murder Inspector Season 1, episode 13: "Recording Angel"
Melissa Detective Chief Inspector Carter Season 1: (3 episodes)
1975 Raffles Albany Manager Season 1, episode 1: "The Amateur Cracksman"
1977 Jubilee Newsreader Season 1, episode 4: "Nanny's Boy"
1978 Lillie Edward Carson Season 1, episode 11: "Mr. Jersey"
1980 Crossroads Raymond Hilier Season 1, episode 3254
Spy! Solms Season 1, episode 5: "The Venlo Incident"
Ladykillers Auguste de Mean Season 1, episode 6: "Miss Madeleine Smith"
Escape Unknown Season 1, episode 2: "Hijack to Mogadishu"
1983 Pig in the Middle Police Inspector Season 3: (2 episodes)
Goodnight and God Bless George Season 1, episode 3: "Did You Hear the One About?"
1985 C.A.T.S. Eyes Mr. Jenkins Season 1, episode 11: "Fingers"
Shine on Harvey Moon Vicar Season 4, episode 2: "Anything Goes"
Me and the Girls Professor Lembach TV movie
1986 Murrow Censor TV movie
1987 Inspector Morse Coroner Season 1: (2 episodes)
Floodtide Vicar TV mini-series
1994 The Dwelling Place Cunnimgham Season 1: (3 episodes)
Shakespeare: The Animated Tales Shepard

Judge

Season 2, episode 5: "The Winter's Tale"
1995 A Village Affair Richard Jordan TV movie
Boon Jeremy Walters Season 7, episode 14: "Thieves Like Us"
1996 Testament: The Bible in Animation Lord Potiphar

Judge

Season 1, episode 7: "Joseph"
A Royal Scandal Sir Robert Gifford TV movie
1999 Where the Heart Is Gerald Webster Season 3, episode 14: "The Letter"
Let Them Eat Cake Physician Season 1, episode 1: "The Pox"
2000 In Motion Narrator TV short
Fish Ivan Vishnevski Season 1: (6 episodes)
Trial & Retribution Lord Justice Henry Bradpiece Season 4, episode 2
North Square Judge Christopher Darling Season 1, episode 1
Second Sight: Hide and Seek David Ingham TV movie
2002 Dinotopia Cortez Season 1, episode 3: "Handful of Dust"
2003 The Brides in the Bath Mr. Justice Scrutton TV movie
2011 Law & Order: UK Justice Reynolds Season 6, episode 5: "Line Up"
2013–2016 Vicious Mason Thornhill Season 1: (4 episodes) / Season 2: (6 episodes)

Theatre edit

Radio edit

References edit

  1. ^ Doctor Who BBC Home. Retrieved March 2011
  2. ^ Philip Voss naxos.com. Retrieved March 201
  3. ^ The Black Monk BBC Radio 4. Retrieved March 2011
  4. ^ Coveney, Michael (20 November 2020). "Philip Voss obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2021.

External links edit