Francis Matthews (actor)

Francis Matthews (born 2 September 1927 in York) is an English film, TV and stage actor.

Early life

He attended St Michael's Jesuit College, Leeds and started his acting career with Leeds repertory theatre before service in the Royal Navy.

Film and television career

His most famous roles were for Hammer Studios in the 1950s and '60s, including as the Baron's assistant in "The Revenge of Frankenstein" (1958), and as the dashing heroes of "" and "Rasputin, the Mad Monk", both filmed in 1965.

On television he came to fame playing Francis Durbridge's amateur sleuth Paul Temple in six very popular series in the 1960s. The programmes were largely based on the previous decades radio scripts and Matthews' portrayal found fame not just in the UK , but internationally. Indeed so popular was the series in West Germany that later series were eventually co-produced with German TV - making it one of the first 'international' co-productions.

A superb light comedian, Matthews not only appeared with Morecambe and Wise in "The Intelligence Men" (1965) - forging a close friendship with Morecambe - but also appeared throughout the 1960s and 1970s in a variety of comedy roles. He starred alongside George Cole in Charles Woods's highly regarded TV sitcom "Dont Forget To Write" (1977) as a successful writer.

In 1967, Matthews provided the voice of Captain Scarlet in the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson television series and was the narrator and host in the BBC-produced English crash course "Follow me!".

He has continued to appear on the small screen into the 21st century.

Personal life

In 1963, he married actress Angela Browne. The couple had two sons who became actors: Damien Matthews and Paul Rattigan. Angela died in 2001.

External links

*imdb name|id=0560022|name=Francis Matthews