Ballard Berkeley

Ballard Berkeley (born Ballard Blascheck; 6 August 1904 – 16 January 1988) was an English actor best remembered for his role in the British sitcom "Fawlty Towers", in which he played the character of Major Gowen.

He was born in 1904 in Margate, Kent, England. Berkeley served as a Special Constable with the Metropolitan Police during World War II, witnessing The Blitz at first hand [http://www.timeout.com/london/features/315.html] .

Acting

He also portrayed a retired military man (Colonel Freddie Danby) in "The Archers", taking over the role from Norman Shelley; he also played a starring role in "Fresh Fields" as main character Hester's father Guy, was Uncle Greville in "To the Manor Born", had a small role in the 1980 adaptation of "Little Lord Fauntleroy", and appeared once in "The Avengers". Earlier in his career, during the 1930s, he performed regularly in the so-called "quota quickies". One of his earliest roles was in the 1942 film "In Which We Serve" - he also appeared in the Hitchcock film "Stage Fright"

Berkeley later performed the role of 'The Major' in the radio comedy "Wrinkles" by Doug Naylor and Rob Grant, although it is never suggested that this was the same character as portrayed in "Fawlty Towers". [http://www.ganymede.tv/indepth/wrinkles-a-first-listen] He also played the role of Badedas the Blue, one of the wizards in the radio comedy series "Hordes of the Things"

His last notable role was as the Head of the Army in the animated film version of Roald Dahl's The BFG.