I'll never forget Whats'isname (Michael Ripper)

Michael Ripper is an interesting case, he was as ubiquitous as Kensington Gore in Hammer productions and did quite a bit of TV work too. His roles were generally brief, sometimes not much more than bit parts but his range as a character was quite wide, taking on the roles of grumbling inn keepers, merchant sailors aboard distressed vessels, kindly geezers and belligerent heavies in his stride. He did get a quite a meaty role in Freewheelers, a children's TV drama series from the sixties and seventies. Freewheelers aired during the early evening slot, where children's TV tended to predominate, before the early evening news bulletin. I recall it being a little naff, something of the Saturday morning serial about its production standards but it did make efforts to keep the action rolling, speedboats and other marine vessels being quite prominant, probably because the production was based in Southampton.

I'll never forget Whats'isname (George Murcell)

You know those character actors whose name may have known but it escapes when you're trying to recall and you resort to referring to the person in question by a role or character type you associate them with, "You know the guy who played oily villains on The Saint and The Adventures of Robin Hood..."? That's happening to me all the time, so I've decided to record such notables on this blog, the first being George Murcell.

George Murcell

That capture is from an episode of The Champions apparently, not sure which one but Mr. Murcell seems to be in a slightly atypical role. A rather more congenial character than the surly protagonists leering with a lascivious menace at some heroine, that I remember him for.