Nigel Stock

Nigel Stock (21 September 1919 – 23 June 1986) was a British actor born in Malta to an Army captain. He spent his early years in India before receiving his formal education at St Paul's School in London and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he was awarded the Leverhulme Exhibition, the Northcliffe Scholarship, and the Principal's Medal.

Stock made his stage debut in 1931 and went on to perform at distinguished venues including the Old Vic and on Broadway, where he appeared in 1948 in You Never Can Tell. His classical and contemporary stage work also encompassed productions of The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, She Stoops to Conquer, and Uncle Vanya. In May 1986, just weeks before his death, he and his third wife, actress Richenda Carey, appeared together on stage in the world premiere of Mumbo Jumbo.

During the Second World War, Stock served with the London Irish Rifles and the Assam Regiment of the Indian Army, seeing action in Burma, China, and Kohima. He was discharged with the rank of Major and was twice mentioned in dispatches. Following the war, he resumed his acting career across stage, film, and eventually television.

His film work began with uncredited appearances in The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1938) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), with his first credited role coming in Lancashire Luck (1937). After his military service, Stock appeared in a range of notable films, including Brighton Rock (1947), The Dam Busters (1955), Victim (1961), The Great Escape (1963), The Lion in Winter (1968), The Lost Continent (1968), and Russian Roulette (1975).

On British television, Stock became widely recognized between 1964 and 1968 for portraying Dr. Watson opposite the Sherlock Holmes adaptations produced by the BBC. He later returned to the Holmes universe by playing the detective's mentor in Young Sherlock Holmes, and reprised the role of Dr. Watson in the BBC radio production 221B in 1986. His television credits also included Danger Man (1965), The Avengers (1964 and 1966), The Prisoner (1967), The Doctors (1969–71), Owen, M.D. (1971–73), in which he played the title role, Quiller (1975), Van der Valk (1977), in which he played Hoofd-commissaris Samson, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979), a BBC dramatisation of A Tale of Two Cities (1980), Yes Minister (1982), the Doctor Who serial Time Flight (1982), and The Pickwick Papers (1985), in which he portrayed Mr. Pickwick.

Stock was married three times. He wed his first wife, Catherine Hodnett, in 1943; they had one son and divorced in 1947. His second marriage, to Sonia Williams in 1951, produced three children before ending in divorce in 1980. He married actress Richenda Carey in 1979, and they remained together until his death. Stock died of a heart attack on 23 June 1986 at his home in north London at the age of 66.