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Michael Jayston
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Jayston (born 29 October 1935 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire) is an English actor.
Jayston was born as Michael James. He worked briefly as a trainee accountant at the offices of the National Coal Board before obtaining a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to train as an actor. He made his professional debut, aged 27, in a production of The Amorous Prawn, going on to work on the stage at the Salisbury Repertory, Bristol Old Vic and with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
He enjoyed success as a classical stage actor before becoming well known on British television. Shakespearean roles on TV include Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968) and Edmund in King Lear (1975).
He was once considered for the part of James Bond (both his looks and manner somewhat resemble Daniel Craig) and he portrayed the character in a radio adaptation of You Only Live Twice. In 1970 he played Henry Ireton in Cromwell. In 1971, he starred as Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in the film Nicholas and Alexandra, then in 1973 took the lead role of Mr Rochester in a BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre opposite Sorcha Cusack. He made two appearances in the anthology series Thriller in 1974 and in 1975 played Quiller, a spy who never used a gun, in the British TV series of the same name. In 1979 he played Peter Guillam opposite Alec Guinness in the mini-series Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
In 1986, Jayston played the role of the Valeyard in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. In the serial The Ultimate Foe, the Valeyard is revealed to be an evil version of the Doctor himself. He later reprised the part of the Valeyard in He Jests at Scars..., an audio play in the Big Finish Productions' Doctor Who Unbound series.
Jayston played Neville Badger in the 1989 television adaptation of David Nobbs's comedy of manners A Bit of a Do. In 1991, he appeared as Colonel Mustard in the television series Cluedo and a year later made a guest appearance in the Press Gang episode "UnXpected". Other notable TV appearances include in EastEnders, Coronation Street, The Darling Buds of May', Tales of the Unexpected and The Bill.
He has also narrated many audio books, including works by P. D. James and John le Carré.Also the provided voices for the Wind in the Willows within Story Teller group of tapes from 1983 to 1985 now very rare and collectible. In 2004, he narrated a gripping radio version of Geoffrey Household's thriller Rogue Male for digital radio station BBC 7.
He also provided a "voice" for a song by the British group Saint Etienne. He was at one point a prolific voiceover on British television adverts, as well as voicing Capital Radio's station idents. Since 2001, he has been the male station voice on BBC Essex.
Jayston's first wife was actress Lynn Farleigh.