Michael Aldridge

Michael Aldridge (born Michael William ffolliott Aldridge on 1920-09-09 in Glastonbury, Somerset, England) was a distinguished English actor whose career spanned over five decades, beginning on the stage in the late 1930s and concluding with beloved television roles in the early 1990s. He first appeared professionally in August 1939 at the Palace Theatre, Watford, playing Kenneth in French Without Tears, and quickly moved into repertory work across the United Kingdom before his service in the Royal Air Force during World War II, where he rose to the rank of flight lieutenant and served in Africa, the United States, the Middle East and the Mediterranean. After the war he returned to the theatre, touring with the Arts Council Midland Theatre Company and earning critical notice in productions such as Salad Days at the Vaudeville Theatre (1954‑1957) and a succession of West End and regional performances that showcased his versatility in both classic Shakespearean roles—Othello, Macbeth, and Hamlet—and contemporary comedies. In the 1960s and 1970s Aldridge expanded into television, delivering memorable performances as criminologist Ian Dimmock in The Man in Room 17 and its sequel The Fellows, and portraying the infamous Grigory Rasputin in the historical drama Fall of Eagles (1974). His film work included the role of Pistol in Orson Welles’ Chimes at Midnight (1965) and a turn as Percy Alleline in the acclaimed adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979). Perhaps his most iconic television character was the inventive ex‑headmaster Seymour Utterthwaite, whom he brought to life in the long‑running BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine from 1986 to 1990, endearing himself to a new generation of viewers. Aldridge was renowned for his professionalism, a quality highlighted by The Times obituary which praised his “extra dimension of dramatic interest” whenever he joined a cast, even in modest roles. Off‑screen he married Kirsteen Rowntree in 1947, raised three daughters, and pursued personal interests such as sailing, market gardening, cricket, and tennis, living his later years in Greenwich, London, where he passed away on 1994-01-10.