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Michael Goodliffe is a Actor British born on 1 october 1914 at Bebington (United-kingdom)

Michael Goodliffe

Michael Goodliffe
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Birth name Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe
Nationality United-kingdom
Birth 1 october 1914 at Bebington (United-kingdom)
Death 20 march 1976 (at 61 years) at London (United-kingdom)

Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (1 October 1914 – 20 March 1976) was an English actor best known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working class parts.

Goodliffe was born in Bebington, Cheshire, the son of a vicar, and educated at St Edmund's School, Canterbury, and Keble College, Oxford. He started his career in repertory theatre in Liverpool before moving on to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon. He joined the British Army at the beginning of the Second World War, and received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in February 1940. He was wounded in the leg and captured at the Battle of Dunkirk. Goodliffe was incorrectly listed as killed in action, and even had his obituary published in a newspaper. He was to spend the rest of the war a prisoner in Germany.

Whilst in captivity he produced and acted in (and in some cases wrote) many plays and sketches to entertain fellow prisoners. These included two productions of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, one in Tittmoning and the other in Eichstätt, in which he played the title role. He also produced the first staging of Noël Coward's Post Mortem at Eichstätt. A full photographic record of these productions exists.

After the war he resumed his professional acting career. As well as appearing in the theatre, he worked in film and television. He appeared in The Wooden Horse in 1950 and in other POW films. His best-known film was A Night to Remember (1958), in which he played Thomas Andrews, designer of the RMS Titanic. His best-known television series was Sam (1973–75) in which he played an unemployed Yorkshire miner. He also appeared with John Thaw and James Bolam in the 1967 television series Inheritance.

Suffering from depression, Goodliffe had a breakdown in 1976 during the period that he was rehearsing for a revival of Equus. He committed suicide a few days later by leaping from a hospital fire escape, while a patient at the Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon, London.

Biography

Dans les années 1930, Michael Goodliffe débute au théâtre à Liverpool, puis rejoint la troupe de la Royal Shakespeare Company à Stratford-upon-Avon, vers la fin de ces mêmes années. Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale (prisonnier de guerre en Allemagne dès 1940 et durant tout le conflit, il joue au théâtre dans le camp où il est interné, à Eichstätt), il poursuit sa carrière sur les planches au Royaume-Uni, notamment à Londres, se consacrant entre autres à William Shakespeare. Il se produit également à Broadway (New York) à deux reprises, en 1954 et 1964.

Au cinéma, il débute en 1949 dans La Mort apprivoisée du tandem Powell-Pressburger, puis il participe à cinquante-cinq autres films, majoritairement britanniques, jusqu'en 1976, année de sa mort. Un de ses rôles les mieux connus est celui de Thomas Andrews, architecte du Titanic, dans Atlantique, latitude 41°, sorti en 1958.

À la télévision, Michael Goodliffe contribue à cinquante séries et à six téléfilms, entre 1947 (avec la pièce téléfilmée Roméo et Juliette de Shakespeare) et 1976.

En 1976, il rentre dans une profonde dépression ce qui le pousse à se suicider. Il avait 61 ans.

Usually with

Val Guest
Val Guest
(6 films)
Geoffrey Keen
Geoffrey Keen
(7 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Michael Goodliffe (51 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

To the Devil a Daughter, 1h29
Directed by Peter Sykes
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Fantastic, Horror
Themes Films about religion, Demons in film
Actors Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Honor Blackman, Nastassja Kinski, Denholm Elliott, Michael Goodliffe
Roles George de Grass
Rating57% 2.897812.897812.897812.897812.89781
Occult writer John Verney (Widmark) is asked by Henry Beddows (Elliot) to pick up his daughter Catherine (Kinski) from the airport. Catherine is a nun with the Children of the Lord, a mysterious heretical order based in Bavaria and is allowed to come to visit once a year on her birthday. But after Catherine arrives, Beddows then insists that she stay with Verney. The order, however, under the sinister excommunicated heretic Father Michael Rayner (Lee), makes all efforts to get Catherine back and uses black magic to stop Verney as he protects her. Verney learns that the order really harbours a group of practicing Satanists, who have prepared Catherine to become an avatar of Astaroth upon her eighteenth birthday.
The Man with the Golden Gun, 2h5
Directed by Guy Hamilton
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Thriller, Action, Adventure, Spy
Themes Films about children, Spy films, Films about terrorism
Actors Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Maud Adams, Hervé Villechaize, James Cossins
Roles Bill Tanner, le chef d'état-major
Rating66% 3.347453.347453.347453.347453.34745
In London, a golden bullet with James Bond's code "007" etched into its surface is received by MI6. It is believed that it was sent by famed assassin Francisco Scaramanga, who uses a golden gun, to intimidate the agent. Because of the perceived threat to the agent's life, M relieves Bond of a mission revolving around the work of a scientist named Gibson, thought to be in possession of information crucial to solving the energy crisis with solar power. Bond sets out unofficially to find Scaramanga.
Henry VIII and His Six Wives, 2h5
Directed by Waris Hussein
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Biography, Historical
Themes Politique, Political films, Films about royalty
Actors Keith Michell, Charlotte Rampling, Donald Pleasence, Jane Asher, Brian Blessed, Frances Cuka
Roles Thomas More
Rating67% 3.389193.389193.389193.389193.38919
On his deathbed, Henry VIII reflects upon his long reign, and especially the crucial part his six marriages have played. The bulk of the film is depicted in flashback, while the elderly Henry VIII is surrounded by his family and courtiers waiting for him to die.
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, 1h40
Directed by Mel Stuart
Origin USA
Genres Fantastic, Comedy, Fantasy, Musical
Themes Cooking films, Films about children, Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Children's films
Actors Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear, Julie Dawn Cole, Denise Nickerson
Roles Mr. Teevee (uncredited)
Rating77% 3.897723.897723.897723.897723.89772
In an unnamed European town, children go to a candy shop after school. Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum), whose family is poor, can only stare through the window as the shop owner sings "Candy Man". The newsagent for whom Charlie works after school gives him his weekly pay, which Charlie uses to buy a loaf of bread. On his way home, he passes Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. A mysterious tinker (Peter Capell) recites the first lines of William Allingham's poem "The Fairies", and tells Charlie, "Nobody ever goes in, and nobody ever comes out." Charlie rushes home to his widowed mother (Diana Sowle) and his four bedridden grandparents. After he tells Grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson) about the tinker, Joe tells him that Wonka locked the factory because his arch-rival, Mr. Slugworth, and other candy makers sent in spies disguised as employees to steal Wonka's recipes. Wonka disappeared, but three years later began selling more candy; the origin of Wonka's labour force is a mystery.
The 5th Day of Peace, 1h46
Directed by Giuliano Montaldo
Origin Italie
Genres Drama, War
Themes Politique, Prison films, Political films, Films about capital punishment
Actors Richard Johnson, Franco Nero, Michael Goodliffe, Bud Spencer, Helmuth Schneider, Rade Šerbedžija
Roles Snow
Rating63% 3.1824853.1824853.1824853.1824853.182485
Two German deserters, Ensign Bruno Grauber (Franco Nero) and Corporal Reiner Schultz (Larry Aubrey) are captured by the Canadians at the end of World War II. They are interned in a Canadian-run POW camp where the senior German officer, Colonel Von Bleicher, is a career officer. Their fellow German prisoners of war, led by Von Bleicher, discover that they are deserters. They are put through a formal military court martial organised by Von Bleicher and charged with cowardice. They are sentenced to death and are to be executed on the "fifth day of peace". Von Bleicher pressures the Canadian camp commandant to allow the execution to be carried out and requests rifles and ammunition to carry out the sentence.
Cromwell
Cromwell (1970)
, 2h19
Directed by Ken Hughes
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, War, Biography, Historical
Themes Political films, Films about capital punishment
Actors Richard Harris, Alec Guinness, Robert Morley, Nigel Stock, Geoffrey Keen, Dorothy Tutin
Roles Solicitor General
Rating69% 3.4965453.4965453.4965453.4965453.496545
Oliver Cromwell is a devout Puritan, a country squire, magistrate and former member of Parliament. King Charles I's policies, including the enclosing of common land for the use of wealthy landowners and the introduction of "Popish" and "Romish" rituals into the Church of England have become increasingly grating to many, including Cromwell. In fact Charles regards himself as a devout Anglican, permitting his French Queen to practise Roman Catholicism in private but forbidding her to bring up the young Prince of Wales in that faith. Cromwell plans to take his family to the New World, but, on the eve of their departure, he is persuaded by his friends to stay and resume a role in politics.
The Fixer
The Fixer (1968)
, 2h12
Directed by John Frankenheimer
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Crime
Themes Films about racism
Actors Alan Bates, Dirk Bogarde, Georgia Brown, Hugh Griffith, Ian Holm, David Warner
Roles Ostrovsky
Rating67% 3.3912353.3912353.3912353.3912353.391235
It is the story of a man named Yakov Bok, a Jew living in the Russian Empire, who was unjustly imprisoned based on prejudice and the blood libel. It was based on the incidents of the Beilis Trial in 1913, in which Menahem Mendel Beilis was wrongly accused of having murdered a Ukrainian boy named Andrei Yushchinsky, with blood libel being presented as the alleged motivation.
The Night of the Generals, 2h28
Directed by Anatole Litvak, Norman J. Warren, Andrzej Żuławski
Origin France
Genres Drama, War, Thriller, Action, Crime
Themes Politique, Serial killer films, Political films
Actors Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasence, Joanna Pettet, Philippe Noiret
Roles Hauser
Rating71% 3.595633.595633.595633.595633.59563
The murder of a prostitute in German-occupied Warsaw in 1942 causes Abwehr Major Grau (Omar Sharif) to start an investigation, as she was also a German agent. His evidence soon points to the killer being one of three German general officers: General von Seydlitz-Gabler (Charles Gray); General Kahlenberg (Donald Pleasence), his chief of staff; and General Tanz (Peter O'Toole). Grau's investigation, however, is cut short by his summary transfer to Paris at the instigation of these officers.
The Jokers
The Jokers (1967)
, 1h34
Directed by Michael Winner
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Thriller, Comedy, Crime
Themes Heist films
Actors Oliver Reed, Michael Crawford, Harry Andrews, Michael Hordern, James Donald, Daniel Massey
Roles Lt. Col. Paling
Rating65% 3.2923953.2923953.2923953.2923953.292395
Michael Tremayne is booted out of Sandhurst. He and his brother David want to do something “big”. They decide to do a crime as a “grand gesture”. The brothers take Inge, David's new inamorata on a tour of London, including the Tower of London. At a dinner party they learn that you cannot be charged with theft unless you intend to permanently deprive the owner of their property. David proposes stealing the crown jewels and sending letters out beforehand, showing they aren’t intending to permanently deprive. Michael is somewhat jealous of David, as David is considered the ‘good’ son and him the ‘bad’ son. They write and deliver the letters. They plant a bomb at the Albert Memorial and observe the police procedure. Next they put a bomb at the lion cage at the London zoo. Then they blow up a ladies lavatory. David gets a laser. They put a bomb at the stock exchange and David goes to the army base, and using a tape recorder records the procedures. Finally the day comes. Michael goes to the jewel room in the Tower and hides a bomb there. David and Michael go to the base and tie up the duty officer. They take the place of the bomb disposal expert and his assistant. They ride with the army to the Tower. The pair go into the bomb room and knock out the rather silly Colonel who went in with them and who commands the army base. David and Michael have had the alarms turned of, due to the danger of “vibration” and use the laser to cut into the cabinets and steal the Crown Jewels. The pair set off a small bomb and a smoke bomb. They two stagger out pretending to be hurt. The pair then escape from the ambulance taking them to hospital along with the jewels. The theft causes a huge stink and a worldwide search is undertaken for the robbers. David and Michael enjoy the media frenzy. One week after the robbery on June 23, 1967, the letters are opened and delivered to the police. When they go to get the jewels from their hiding place they are not there. The police arrive to arrest David. Michael says he doesn’t know anything about the robbery. Michael never delivered his letter. David is identified as the bomb expert, but the witnesses can’t identify Michael. The police investigate, but can’t break down Michael’s alibi of being at a party. Michael is released. David is indicted and bail is refused. The police set up a plan to make Michael think his alibi is breaking down, but Michael evades police surveillance. We then see him digging up the jewels from where he buried them at Stonehenge. Michael calls on a telephone he knows is tapped to say he’s returning the jewels at Trafalgar Square at 4 a. m. The police set up a cordon, but Michael uses their concentration on the square to put them in the scales of justice on top of the Old Bailey. We close with both brothers imprisoned in the Tower, plotting their escape.
Von Ryan's Express, 1h57
Directed by Mark Robson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Thriller, Action, Adventure, Historical
Themes Prison films, Transport films, Aviation films, Rail transport films, Political films, Évasion, Children's films, Disaster films, Films about aviation accidents or incidents
Actors Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, Raffaella Carrà, Adolfo Celi, Sergio Fantoni, Brad Dexter
Roles Captain Stein
Rating70% 3.549363.549363.549363.549363.54936
Colonel Joseph Ryan (Frank Sinatra) is a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot who is shot down over Italy. He is captured by Italian troops and taken to a POW camp, run by the cruel Blackshirt Major Basilio Battaglia (Adolfo Celi). The camp is mainly populated by British prisoners.
Man in the Middle, 1h34
Directed by Guy Hamilton
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, War
Actors Robert Mitchum, France Nuyen, Barry Sullivan, Trevor Howard, Keenan Wynn, Sam Wanamaker
Roles Colonel Shaw
Rating65% 3.293673.293673.293673.293673.29367
In the midst of World War II, Lieut. Col. Barney Adams’s superiors call on him to defend troubled US army Lieutenant Winston who has confessed to murdering a British non-commissioned officer. Military court officials want the cleanest possible trial for the lieutenant. They believe that Liet. Col. Adams, a war hero and distinguished lawyer, is the best man for the job. But when Adams begins to investigate the murder, he finds that this seemingly open-and-shut case is actually much more complicated. Before long he is absorbed in a dramatic struggle for a fair trial against the most overwhelming odds.
The 7th Dawn, 2h3
Directed by Lewis Gilbert
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, War, Action, Adventure
Themes Political films
Actors William Holden, Capucine, Tetsurō Tanba, Susannah York, Michael Goodliffe, Sydney Tafler
Roles Trumphey
Rating63% 3.197843.197843.197843.197843.19784
Three friends who fought the Japanese in Malaya during World War II end up on opposing sides in the Communist insurgency following the war. Ferris (William Holden) becomes a prosperous rubber plantation owner, while his mistress Dhana (Capucine) is now head of a schoolteacher's union. The third former guerrilla, Ng (Tetsuro Tamba), goes to Moscow to obtain an education. When he returns, an even more committed revolutionary than during the war, Dhana is torn between the two.
633 Squadron, 1h41
Directed by Walter Grauman
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Action, Historical
Themes Transport films, Aviation films, Political films
Actors Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris, Maria Perschy, Harry Andrews, Donald Houston, Michael Goodliffe
Roles Squadron Leader Frank Adams
Rating63% 3.1976853.1976853.1976853.1976853.197685
When Norwegian resistance leader Lieutenant Erik Bergman travels to Great Britain to report the location of a German V-2 rocket fuel plant, the Royal Air Force's No. 633 Squadron is assigned to destroy it. The squadron is led by Wing Commander Roy Grant, an ex-Eagle Squadron pilot (U.S. fighter pilots serving in the RAF before America entered the war).
The Gorgon
The Gorgon (1964)
, 1h23
Directed by Terence Fisher
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Fantastic, Fantasy, Horror
Themes Films based on mythology, Films based on Greco-Roman mythology, Films based on Greco-Roman mythology
Actors Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Richard Pasco, Barbara Shelley, Michael Goodliffe, Patrick Troughton
Roles Professor Jules Heitz
Rating63% 3.1983853.1983853.1983853.1983853.198385
The year is 1910. In the rural German village of Vandorf, seven murders have been committed within the past five years, each victim having been petrified into a stone figure. Rather than investigate it, the local authorities dismiss the murders for fear of a local legend having come true. When a local girl becomes the latest victim and her suicidal lover made the scapegoat, the father of the condemned man decides to investigate and discovers that the cause of the petrifying deaths is a phantom. The very last of the snake-haired Gorgon sisters haunts the local castle and turns victims to stone during the full moon.