Actor

1914-06-21 · South Africa · Male

11 series in the catalog

Wensley Ivan William Frederick Pithey (21 June 1914 – 10 November 1993) was a South African-British character actor who had a long stage and film career.

Biography

Pithey was born in Cape Town, South Africa. A graduate of the University of Cape Town where he studied music and drama, he travelled to Britain in 1947. He appeared in various Shakespearean roles in his long career (memorably as Sir Toby Belch) and appeared in Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie. He also directed and produced plays in the West End and appeared in a range of roles on television including the 1976 drama Edward and Mrs Simpson (as Winston Churchill – a role he also played in the miniseries Ike) and Special Branch and Poldark. His British television appearances included Danger Man (1961) among others. He also played the title role of Detective Superintendent Charlesworth in a number of BBC series including Charlesworth at Large (1958) and its sequel Charlesworth the following year. In 1964 he played a ballistics expert in the BBC series Call the Gun Expert.

Between 1961 and 1976, Pithey appeared in German TV commercials as a fake coffee expert for Tchibo.