Bryan Stanyon

Bryan Stanyon, also known as Bryan Stanion, is a British actor born around 1941 in Leicester. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he earned an honours diploma and received two prizes: the Bossom Prize for diction and the William Powell Prize for Shakespeare.

Stanyon began his career in radio at the age of 16, playing Dusty Rhodes in The Archers. He went on to work in repertory companies and performed the role of Hamlet on two occasions, at theatres in Dundee and Coventry. His stage work also included Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor and a role in Peter Brook's original production of Marat/Sade with the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre. He played Steve in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Piccadilly Theatre in London.

His Broadway credit came through the Belgrade Theatre production of Semi-Detached, which transferred to the Music Box Theatre in New York in 1963. The same play was also represented in his radio work, with Stanyon appearing as Tom Midway in a 1964 BBC radio broadcast of Semi-Detached as part of the series Repertory in Britain. Additional radio credits include the role of Peter in the 1967 BBC programme Thirty Minute Theatre and the role of Teddy in a 1970 Afternoon Theatre production of Stay Where You Are.

In film, Stanyon appeared in the 1967 production Stranger in the House, alongside James Mason and Geraldine Chaplin. His television work included appearances as a judge in the British courtroom series Crown Court from 1973 to 1977. He is perhaps best known on television for his recurring portrayal of Professor Cawston in the British science fiction serial The Tomorrow People, a character described as a professor of psionics who periodically assists the series' central characters. His first appearance in the role came in the 1974 serial A Rift in Time. He returned to the role in 1975 for Secret Weapon, which co-starred Trevor Bannister, and appeared again in Revenge of Jedikiah later that same year.

While simultaneously filming The Tomorrow People and performing in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Piccadilly Theatre, Stanyon decided to leave acting. When that theatrical run concluded, he began training as a social worker at the Braintree office. He remained in social work through retirement, with his work concentrated in mental health and children's services.