John Castle

John Michael Frederick Castle, born on 14 January 1940 in Croydon, England, is an actor whose career has spanned stage, film, and television. He was educated at Brighton College and Trinity College, Dublin, and received his formal acting training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

Castle made his stage debut on 5 June 1964, at the age of 24, playing Westmoreland in a production of Henry V at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park. His Broadway debut followed in February 1970, when he appeared as Jos in the musical Georgy. His stage work also included a role as Oswald in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1967 revival of Ibsen's Ghosts, and in 1982 he took on the title role in Gandhi, a play by Guerney Campbell, staged at the Tricycle Theatre in London under the direction of Peter Stevenson.

His screen debut came in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blowup, in which he played Bill, the artist friend of the character portrayed by David Hemmings. Two years later, he appeared opposite Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn in the 1968 film adaptation of The Lion in Winter, portraying the scheming Prince Geoffrey. In 1967, he appeared in the British television series The Prisoner, playing Number 12, a sympathetic guardian, in the episode titled The General. He went on to play Octavius Caesar in Charlton Heston's 1972 film version of Antony and Cleopatra, and portrayed Postumus Agrippa in the BBC's 1976 series I, Claudius.

Castle made two appearances in the British police drama The Professionals, first as CI5 Officer Tommy McKay in the episode Heroes, and later as underworld hitman Peter Crabbe in Man Without a Past. His connection to detective fiction extended to several Agatha Christie adaptations: he played Inspector Craddock in the 1985 television production of A Murder is Announced, reprised that role in the 1992 Miss Marple story The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, and took the title role in the 2000 television film Lord Edgware Dies. He also appeared as Carruthers in the Granada Television Sherlock Holmes episode The Solitary Cyclist in 1984, and later played Nigel St Clair in the 1991 film The Crucifer of Blood. In 1990, he starred as Superintendent George Thorne in BBC radio adaptations of John Penn's novels. Additional television credits include appearances in Ben Hall and Lost Empires. His later film work includes a role in RoboCop 3 in 1993. Castle is married to writer Maggie Wadey.