Ballard Berkeley

Ballard Berkeley

Birth : 1904-08-06, Margate, Kent, England, UK

Death : 1988-01-16

History

Ballard Berkeley made his professional stage debut in 1928, and performed for many years in London's West End and in New York theatres. He is best remembered as Major Gowen in the British television series "Fawlty Towers" (1975).

Profile

Ballard Berkeley

Movies

The BFG
Head of the Army (voice)
Sophie is snatched from her orphanage early one morning by the BFG (Big Friendly Giant), whom she witnesses engaged in mysterious activities. She is soon put at ease, as she learns that BFG's job is to collect, catalog and deliver pleasant dreams to children. She joins him that night, but a mean giants follow them, planning to eat the children of the world.
National Lampoon's European Vacation
2nd Motorist
The Griswalds win a vacation to Europe on a game show, and so pack their bags for the continent. They do their best to catch the flavor of Europe, but they just don't know how to be be good tourists. Besides, they have trouble taking holidays in countries where they CAN speak the language.
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Harry Lorradaile
Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. But after the death of the Earl's remaining son, he decides to accept Cedric as his heir.
The Wildcats of St. Trinian's
Humphry Wills
The girls of St. Trinian's decide they are being asked to do too much work so they go on strike.
Queen of the Blues
Uncle Fred (as Ballard Barclay)
A seedy striptease club in London's West End becomes the target for unpleasant crooks.
The Playbirds
Trainer
In order to unmask a pathological killer who is targeting the beautiful centrefolds of Playbirds magazine, a sexy policewoman Lucy Sheridan puts her life and reputation on the line by sleeping with millionaire publisher Harry Dougan. The Chief Superintendant and Police Commissioner are keeping a close eye on her, but time is running out fast.
Confessions of a Driving Instructor
Lord Snodley
Timothy Lea and his brother-in-law Sidney decide upon opening a driving school as their latest get-rich-quick scheme. Though he sincerely wants to teach, young Timmy finds that his female students are far more interested in keeping their eyes on him than on the road.
The Weekend Murders
Peter, the butler
An aristocratic English family gather for the reading of their father's will. The family are dismayed to find that everything has been left to Barbara, the deceased's favourite daughter. The butler is soon found stabbed to death and Sergeant Thorpe, the local bobby, telephones Scotland Yard for assistance. Inspector Grey arrives and he and Barbara narrowly escape being shot. Cousin Ted and his wife Pauline are both killed. Sergeant Thorpe recalls some photos which Ted asked to have developed...
Hostile Witness
Clerk of Court
Simon Crawford is a barrister whose daughter is killed in a hit-and-run accident. When his neighbor is also killed, evidence points to the barrister as the murderer.
The Night Caller
Cmdr. Savage
The inhabitants of Ganymede need to find mates from another world or they will become extinct. They soon discover a suitable breeding stock amongst the females of planet Earth.
Impact
Bill MacKenzie
Crime reporter Jack Moir is framed by crooked nightclub owner, 'The Duke'. In prison, Moir plans his revenge.
A Matter of Choice
Charles Grant
A philandering woman finds herself in deep trouble when her diabetic lover is accidentally killed by a gang of youths.
Cone of Silence
Commissioner
A seasoned pilot is condemned for an error which causes a crash. The pilot later dies in a crash with similar circumstances and an examiner looks for scientific reasons for the crashes.
Further Up the Creek
Whacker Payne
The sequel to 'Up The Creek' sees David Tomlinson return as bumbling navy boffin Lieutenant Humphrey Fairweather. This time he is skipper of the ship Aristotle and, together with his second-in-command, Fairweather wreaks havoc when he is ordered to deliver the Aristotle to its new owners in a mythical Middle-Eastern country.
Chain of Events
Stockman
When a clerk tries to dodge paying a bus fare, it sparks a series of unforseen consequences
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
Court Clerk (uncredited)
American scientist Dr. Frank Smith is brought to Britain to help the C.I.A. There is a defecting East block scientist they want him to debrief. The commies are less than amused and set Dr. Smith up for a murder.
After the Ball
Andrews
The life and loves of Music hall singer Vesta Tilley, who married into the nobility
Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst
Lieutenant Colonel Dewar-Curie
While sailing lawfully up the Yangste in 1949, the British warship Amethyst found its return to the open sea blocked by Communist Chinese shore batteries that unexpectedly opened fire. In charge, Lietenant Commander Kerans was not however prepared for his crew and his ship to remain as a hostage for the Chinese to use as an international pawn.
The Betrayal
Lawson
Fourteen years after he was blinded in a WWII concentration camp, a Canadian perfume executive travels to London on business and recognizes the voice of the traitor who betrayed him and his fellow prisoners to the Germans.
My Teenage Daughter
Magistrate
Magazine editor Valerie Carr lives in London with her two daughters Jan, aged seventeen, and Poppet, thirteen. When Jan is invited to a party at the Savoy, she meets dashing young Tony Ward Black mad about jive, owner of a Bentley, and supposedly running through a legacy. Attracted to the daring young man, she rejects Mark, a young farmer who is in love with her. But it soon becomes apparent to everyone but Jan that neither Tony's fortune nor even his name may be his own, and her association with him will lead her into delinquency and danger.
The Men of Sherwood Forest
Walter
Robin Hood is persuaded by two nobles whom he believes to be loyal to King Richard to recover secret plans attaining to the rescue of the king from captivity in Germany. Though disguised as a troubadour, Robin is betrayed and captured. Lady Alys and the merry men help him escape in time to foil an intended ambush on King Richard as he returns from the Crusades.
Delayed Action
Insp. Crane
Robert Ayres plays a moody author with a suicide complex. Ayres' melancholia plays right into the hands of a gang of thieves. For a lofty fee, they convince the author to confess to their crimes and then kill himself. Yes, you're way ahead of us: Ayres has a change of heart and decides that he loves life. Delayed Action was produced by Robert Baker and Monty Berman, the men behind the popular 1960s TV adventure series The Saint.
Forbidden Cargo
Cooper
Kenyon is a narcotics agent who, with the aid of a titled bird-watcher attempts to trap a brother and sister drug smuggling team.
Dangerous Cargo
Findley
Inspired by the real events of the attempted heist at Heathrow Airport in 1952, a criminal tricks an old friend into giving away the location of a shipment of gold bullion so he and his gang can steal it.
The Weak and the Wicked
Police Detective
Jean Raymond an upper class woman with a gambling addiction, is given a twelve-month prison sentence resulting from her inability to pay her debts. At first she is overwhelmingly depressed by life in the women's prison; gradually, however, her misery is relieved by the many close friends she makes there. This sympathetic drama traces the contrasting lives and often faltering progress of the inmates of a women's prison.
Three Steps to the Gallows
Insp. Haley
A U.S. sailor (Scott Brady) docks in London and in three days tries to save his brother from the gallows.
Operation Diplomat
Inspector Austin
A physician is forced to operate on a mystery figure under shady circumstances.
The Blue Parrot
Supt. Chester
'Rocks' Owen, the well-off owner of a car-hire business, is found murdered; the last place he was seen alive was the Blue Parrot nightclub. Scotland Yard go in to investigate, with the help of a visiting American detective and a nightclub hostess who may not be all she appears to be.
Circumstantial Evidence
Det. Insp. Hall
Long after being deserted by her husband, Linda Harrison will soon be free to marry her lover, Michael Carteret. But when her husband suddenly reappears, he attempts to blackmail the couple with a threat of ruining Michael's career. When her husband is murdered, Michael appears to be the only obvious suspect - but will the circumstantial evidence be enough to sentence him to death?
The Lost Hours
Doctor
An ex-GI wakes up with blood on his clothes in a strange hotel room. He can't remember the night before but he later finds out that a man he got into a fight with earlier in the night was murdered.
The Frightened Man
Inspector Bligh
Kicked out of Oxford, a junk dealer's son (Dermot Walsh) joins a gang of thieves fenced by his father (Charles Victor).
The Long Dark Hall
Supt. Maxey
A devoted family man tries to help a beautiful alcoholic showgirl with her life, and becomes the the only suspect when someone else murders her.
Stage Fright
Sergeant Mellish
A struggling actress tries to help a friend prove his innocence when he's accused of murdering the husband of a high-society entertainer.
They Made Me a Fugitive
Rockliffe
After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.
Quiet Weekend
Jim Brent
Comedy of a family trying to spend a country weekend which is disrupted by an unpleasant friend of the son.
In Which We Serve
Engineer Commander
The story of the HMS Torrin, from it's construction to its sinking in the Mediterranean during action in World War II. The ship's first and only commanding officer is Captain E.V. Kinross, who trains his men not only to be loyal to him and the country, but—most importantly—to themselves.
The Flying Squad
Smuggler in Airplane
Inspector Bradley of Scotland Yard is on the trail of the murderous ringleader of a smuggling organization in London.
The Saint in London
Richard Blake
Suave soldier of fortune Simon Templer gets mixed up with a gang of counterfeiters who've murdered and robbed an European count of 1,000,000 pounds. He is aided reluctantly by Scotland Yard inspector Teal, who's convinced that Templar himself pulled off the heist, and less reluctantly by light-fingered Dugan and dizzy socialite Penny Parker.
Black Eyes
Diner
Ivan Petrov has one weakness in his life, and one love: his little black-eyed daughter, Tania. In fact, his entire career is devoted to her future happiness, though Tania remains ignorant as to his vocation. Done with cool deliberation, Petrov's all-consuming fear is that one day his lovely daughter will discover his true profession, and despise him for it...
Jennifer Hale
Richard Severn
A showgirl who is wrongly accused of murdering her manager goes on the run to try to prove her innocence.
East Meets West
Nazim
The story of an Eastern sultan who is inordinately proud of his son. The young man bids fair to break his father's heart by conducting an affair with the wife of a notorious criminal.
White Ensign
'Santa Barbara. British battleship quells rebellion promoted by big business.' (British Film Catalogue)
The Chinese Bungalow
Richard Marquess
A young British woman marries a Chinese mandarin then falls in love with an Englishman. The mandarin plots his revenge.
London Melody
Jan Moor
A film musical directed by Geoffrey Malins.