IMDB

Actor

1933-05-10 · Finsbury, Middlesex England, UK · Male

8 series in the catalog

William Patrick Gorman (10 May 1933 – 9 October 2018) was an English actor known in particular for his many small roles in the science fiction programme Doctor Who.

Early life

Gorman was born in the East End of London on March 10, 1933. His parents died before he was five, and he was raised by his grandmother. He later served in the army and work in Canada as a miner and logger before returning to London to help look after his widowed grandmother. He got into acting after a chance meeting with an agent looking for extras and stuntmen while Gorman was working at a market.

Career

Despite never appearing in a starring role, Gorman appeared in minor roles in a large number of films and television productions, including The Elephant Man, Z-Cars, Fawlty Towers, I, Claudius and Blake's 7. He also played the killer in the television series The Nightmare Man.

He appeared in minor roles in 83 episodes of the science fiction series Doctor Who between 1964 and 1985: only six other actors appeared in more in the show's original run. Toby Hadoke's obituary in Doctor Who Magazine called Gorman "the unknown soldier of Doctor Who" in tribute to the many small roles he played throughout the first decades of the show, many in full costume as aliens or monsters. These roles include: a Silurian in The Silurians (1970); a Primitive in Colony in Space (1971); a Sea Devil in The Sea Devils (1972). and a pilot in The Armageddon Factor (1979). Although he worked frequently and had a reputation as a reliable actor willing to take on any task, he did not seek the limelight and gave few interviews. One of these was with David Banks, author of the book Cyberman, in which he said that playing one of the giant robot monsters in 1968's The Invasion was very enjoyable: "There was a great feeling of power when we walked down the steps of St. Paul's."

Death

Gorman died on 9 October 2018 in Ruislip, London, England after a short illness. He was survived by his wife, Vera, and daughter Jackie.