Anthony Ainley

Ainley was born in Stanmore, Middlesex, the son of the actor Henry Ainley, on 20 August 1932, although his birth was not registered until January 1938 at around the time that he was admitted to the actors' orphanage. The birth certificates of Anthony and his brother Timothy identify their mother as Clarice Holmes and it is under this surname that they are recorded in the Official Register. Although no father is named on the birth certificates Timothy's marriage certificate identifies Henry Ainley as his father.

Under the name of Anthony Holmes, Ainley attended Cranleigh School from 1947 to 1950. His first job was as an insurance clerk which was followed by a period at RADA.[1] He won the Fabia Drake Prize for Comedy whilst at RADA.[2] His half-brother, Richard Ainley, was also an actor.

Ainley's swarthy appearance tended to get him parts as villains, though an early regular role on British television was as Det. Sgt Hunter, sidekick to William Mervyn's Chief Inspector Rose in the second series of It's Dark Outside in 1966. Other notable roles include a subaltern in the 1969 film version of Oh! What a Lovely War,[3] Dietz in the 1975 film version of The Land That Time Forgot,[3] Reverend Fallowfield in the Tigon film The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971),[3] Henry Sidney in Elizabeth R (1971),[3] Clive Hawksworth in Spyder's Web (1972),[3] Rev. Emilius in the BBC's adaptation of The Pallisers (1974),[3] Johnson in the first episode of the BBC programme Secret Army (1977), and Sunley in The Avengers episode "Noon Doomsday" (1968). He was also one of the Hong Kong policemen who discover James Bond's supposed corpse in the opening sequence of You Only Live Twice (1967). Ainley played the role of the wealthy young peer Lord Charles Gilmour in the LWT series Upstairs, Downstairs (1973).[3]

Ainley remained unmarried throughout his life.[6] He joked on the DVD commentary for The Keeper of Traken (which was recorded shortly before his death) that he did not like the three rings of marriage: the engagement ring, the wedding ring and the bickering.

Ainley was a keen sportsman. Initially he was a rugby player, he played at fly-half for the Old Cranleighans, Richmond and Middlesex.[7] Later he turned his attentions to cricket, citing Sophie Aldred (who played Ace) as his friend once he learned that she played the game. He appeared on many occasions for the Stage and London Theatres C.C. mainly as an opening batsman.[8]

Ainley died at the age of 71 on 3 May 2004. Ainley was known to be very private, and he remained out of the public eye for most of his life after Doctor Who was placed in long-term hiatus in 1989.

• Anthony Ainley at IMDb
• Obituary in The Guardian
• "Obituary". Archived from the original on 19 June 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2010.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) in The Independent