James Ottaway

Over four decades from the Thirties, James Ottaway was a regular on the West End stage, but his talents as a character actor were not fully realised on television until the Sixties. He followed roles in such classic productions as Laurence Olivier's Macbeth at the Old Vic Theatre in 1937 with dozens of guest-starring appearances on television, including a regular part as Jill Gascoine's screen father in The Gentle Touch. In later years, he was usually seen switching between the extremities of upper-class and lower-class old men, displaying his wide range.