Ken Campbell
Born: 1941-12-10 in Ilford, Essex, England, UK
Died: 2008-08-31
Known For: Acting
Biography
Kenneth Victor Campbell (10 December 1941 – 31 August 2008) was an English writer, actor, director and comedian known for his work in experimental theatre.He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre." Campbell achieved notoriety in the 1970s for his nine-hour adaptation of the science-fiction trilogy Illuminatus! and his 22-hour staging of Neil Oram's play cycle The Warp. The Guinness Book of Records listed the latter as the longest play in the world. The Independent said that, "In the 1990s, through a series of sprawling monologues packed with arcane information and freakish speculations on the nature of reality, he became something approaching a grand old man of the fringe, though without ever discarding his inner enfant terrible." The Times labelled Campbell a one-man whirlwind of comic and surreal performance. The Guardian, in a posthumous tribute, judged him to be "one of the most original and unclassifiable talents in the British theatre of the past half-century. A genius at producing shows on a shoestring and honing the improvisational capabilities of the actors who were brave enough to work with him." The artistic director of the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse said, "He was the door through which many hundreds of kindred souls entered a madder, braver, brighter, funnier and more complex universe."
Filmography
2012
- Nina Conti: Her Master's Voice as Self
2005
- Friends Reunited as Zero
2004
- Agatha Christie's Marple as Crump
- Creep as Arthur
- Ken Campbell's Meaning of Life as Self
2000
- Saving Grace as Sgt. Alfred Masely
1999
1998
- The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story as Wolf 1 (voice)
- Extraordinary Visitor as Rodney
1996
- Hard Men as Mr Ross
- Local Heroes
1995
1994
- Middlemarch as Mr Mawmsey
1992
- Heartbeat as Hector Plumpton
- A Different Hand as The Doctor
- Secret Nation as Parkinson
1990
- Wings of Fame as Head Waiter
- Crimestrike as Julius Caesar
1989
- Scandal as Editor of Pictorial
- The Nineteenth Hole as Johnson
1988
- A Fish Called Wanda as Bartlett
- Erasmus Microman as Erasmus Microman
- Darkest England
1986
- Lovejoy as Ted Goat
- Smart Money as Mr. Sayles
1985
- Ligmalion: Or How to Help Yourself in Self-Help Britain as Samuel Smiles
- Super Gran as Unlucky Luciano
- In Sickness and in Health as The Irate Driver
- Dreamchild as Radio Sound Effects Man/March Hare (voice)
- The Bride as Pedlar
- Home to Roost as Mr Prendergast
- A Zed & Two Noughts as Stephen Pipe
- Joshua Then and Now as Sidney Murdoch
- Letter to Brezhnev as Newspaper Reporter
- The Moon Over Soho as Geoffrey Hargreaves
- In the Secret State as Hoskins
- Unfair Exchanges as Tim Rickett
1984
- Sherlock Holmes as James Ryder
- The Bill
1981
- Private Schulz as Krauss
- Towers of Babel as Alfie
1980
- Breaking Glass as Publican
- The Gentle Touch
1979
- Minder as Seedy Customer
- The Tempest as Gonzalo, an honest councillor
- The Last Window Cleaner as DC Denis Deacey
- The Secret Policeman's Ball as Various Roles
- Phoelix
1978
- An Audience with... as Self
- Dinner at the Sporting Club as Neville
- Law & Order as Alex Gladwell
1977
- The Professionals as Parker
- Secret Service ... (Producer)
1976
- Justine as Dubourg
- The Story of Pantomime as Self
- The Mound Builders ... (Director)
1975
- Fawlty Towers as Roger
- The Rules of the Game ... (Producer)
1971
- The Ken Campbell Roadshow as Self
1969
- The Big Flame as Journalist
1968
- Inspector Clouseau as Reporter
- Uncle Silas as Crabbe
1967
- Poor Cow as Mr. Jacks
- The Heroism of Thomas Chadwick as Thomas Chadwick