Alan Fernand Badel (;G. M. Miller, BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names (Oxford UP, 1971), p. 9. 11 September 1923 – 19 March 1982) was an English actor who appeared frequently on stage, in film, on radio and on television.
Early life Badel was born in Rusholme, Manchester, and educated at Burnage High School. He fought in France and Germany during the Second World War, serving as a paratrooper on D-Day. He partially lost his hearing when a shell exploded near him.TV Times, 1973, 71 (22), p.7
Career Badel's earliest film role was as John the Baptist in the Rita Hayworth version of Salome (1953), a version in which the story was altered to make Salome a Christian convert who dances for Herod in order to save John rather than have him condemned to death. He portrayed Richard Wagner in Magic Fire (1955), a biopic about the composer. He also played the role of Karl Denny, the impresario, in the film Bitter Harvest (1963). Around the same time he played opposite Vivien Merchant in a television version of Harold Pinter's play The Lover (also 1963) and as Edmond Dantès in a BBC television adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo (1964).
Badel also played the villainous sunglasses-wearing Najim Beshraavi in Arabesque (1966) with Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren. He played the French Interior Minister in The Day of the Jackal (1973), a political thriller about the attempted assassination of President Charles de Gaulle. In the political television drama Bill Brand (1976) he played David Last, the government's Employment Minister, a left-wing former backbench MP who had recently joined the front bench after 30 years in the House of Commons. One of his last roles was that of Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg in the Paramount film Nijinsky (1980). A television adaptation for the BBC of The Woman in White (1982) by Wilkie Collins, in which Badel played the role of Count Fosco, was shown posthumously.
Personal life Badel married the actress Yvonne Owen in 1942 and they remained married until his death from a heart attack in Chichester, aged 58. Their daughter, Sarah Badel, is an actress.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1952 The Stranger Left No Card Stranger Short film1953 Salome John the Baptist Will Any Gentleman...? The Great Mendoza1955 Three Cases of Murder Owen/Mr. X/Harry Magic Fire Richard Wagner 1961 The Complaisant Lover Clive Root TV film1963 This Sporting Life Weaver The Lover Richard TV film Bitter Harvest Karl 1964 Children of the Damned Dr. David Neville 1966 Arabesque Beshraavi1969 Otley Alec Hadrian Where's Jack? The Lord Chancellor The Siegfried Idyll Richard Wagner TV film 1970 The Adventurers President Rojo 1973 The Day of the Jackal The Minister 1974 Luther Cardinal Cajetan de Vio 1976 Where Adam Stood Philip Gosse TV film 1977 Telefon Colonel Malchenko1978 The Medusa Touch Quinton Force 10 from Navarone Major Petrovitch1979 Agatha Lord Brackenbury The Riddle of the Sands Dollmann1980 Nijinsky Baron de Gunzburg Shōgun Father Dell'Aqua TV film
Television Year Title Role Notes 1951 Michèle and René Poins Episode: "Up the River" 1953 Omnibus Fool/Napoleon Episodes: "King Lear" & "The Man of Destiny" 1956–1957 Vanity Fair Rawdon Crawley Series regular, 6 episodes 1957 Sunday Night Theatre Fouguier-Tinville Episode: "The Public Prosecutor"1958 Pride and Prejudice Fitzwilliam Darcy Series regular, 6 episodes Armchair Theatre Don Juan Episode: "Death of Satan" 1961 Theatre 70 Roger Webb Episode: "The Substitute"1962 ITV Play of the Week Don Juan Episode: "Don Juan in Hell" Thirty-Minute Theatre Don Juan Episode: "Don Juan in Hell"1963 BBC Sunday-Night Play The Prisoner Episode: "The Prisoner" ITV Play of the Week Hero Episode: "The Rehearsal" Chronicle Julius Caesar Episode: "Four Views of Caesar" 1964 The Count of Monte Cristo Edmond Dantès Series regular, 12 episodes1965 ITV Play of the Week Tom Episode: "A Couple of Dry Martinis" Famous Gossips Oscar Wilde Episode: "Oscar Wilde: Monsieur Sebastien Melmoth" 1966 Play of the Month General Gordon Episode: "Gordon of Khartoum" 1967 Theatre 625 Henry IV of England Episode: "Henry IV"1968 Play of the Month Father Episode: "The Parachute" The Wednesday Play Rory Farquhar Episode: "Toggle" Theatre 625 David de Beaudrigue Episode: "The Fanatics"1970 ITV Playhouse Edward Kimberley Episode: "The Creeper" Biography Charles I Episode: "A King and His Keeper" 1974 A Raging Calm Tom Simpkins Series regular, 7 episodes1976 Bill Brand David Last Series regular, 6 episodes Play of the Month Svengali Episode: "Trilby"1977 BBC2 Play of the Week Michael Arlen Episode: "Exiles" Play of the Month Sir Robert Morton Episode: "The Winslow Boy"1978 Horizon Henry Winstanley Episode: "The Eddystone Lights" The CBS Festival of Lively Arts for Young People Charles Dickens Episode: "The Secret of Charles Dickens" The Sunday Drama Buster Barnes Episode: "The One and Only Buster Barnes" 1980 Shōgun Father Dell'Aqua Series regular, 5 episodes1982 The Woman in White Count Fosco Series regular, 5 episodes Play of the Month Sir Fretful Plagiary Episode: "The Critic" The Agatha Christie Hour Sir Alington West Episode: "The Red Signal"
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