Kurt: /* External links */

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Kurt at 22:54, 17 November 2022

2022-11-17T22:54:15Z

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	{{Short description\|British actor (1925–2006)}}		{{Short description\|British actor (1925–2006)}}
	~~{{other people}}~~
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	{{Infobox person		{{Infobox person
	\| name = William Franklyn		\| name = William Franklyn
	\| image = William Franklyn.jpg		\| image = William Franklyn.jpg
	~~\| imagesize = 150px~~
	\| caption =		\| caption =
	\| birth_name = William Leo Beare		\| birth_name = William Leo Beare

Kurt: 1 revision imported

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en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: Importing Wikidata short description: "British actor (1925–2006)" (Shortdesc helper)

2022-02-27T06:29:17Z

Importing Wikidata short description: "British actor (1925–2006)" (Shortdesc helper)

New page

{{Short description|British actor (1925–2006)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{more footnotes|date=March 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = William Franklyn
| image = William Franklyn.jpg
| imagesize = 150px
| caption =
| birth_name = William Leo Beare
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|9|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Kensington]], [[London]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2006|10|31|1925|9|22|df=y}}
| death_place = [[London]], England (prostate cancer)
| height = 6' (1.83 m)
| othername =
| yearsactive =
| spouse = [[Margo Johns]] (1952–1962) (1 Child)<br>Susannah Carroll (1969–2006) (2 Children) (his death)
| website =
}}

'''William Leo Franklyn''' (22 September 1925 – 31 October 2006) was a British actor, perhaps best known for voicing the "Schhh... You Know Who" adverts for [[Schweppes]] from 1965 to 1973. He also performed on stage, film, television and radio, taking over from [[Peter Jones (actor)|Peter Jones]] as "The Book" (the narrator) in the third, fourth and fifth radio series of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''. He is also known for his portrayal of [[Sexton Blake]] for [[BBC Radio 4]] in 1967.

==Early life==
Franklyn was born in [[Kensington]] into an acting family: his maternal grandfather, Arthur Rigby, Sr and uncle, [[Arthur Rigby (actor)|Arthur Rigby, Jr]], mother, Mary Rigby, and father, [[Leo Franklyn]], were all actors. He was taken to Australia as a baby, where his father toured with musical comedies. The young Franklyn attended [[Wesley College, Melbourne|Wesley]] and [[Haileybury College, Melbourne|Haileybury Colleges]], both in [[Melbourne]], and developed an abiding love of [[cricket]]. He later trialled as a [[fast bowler]] for [[Essex County Cricket Club|Essex]], and opened the bowling for the Stage Cricket Club. He also became a [[leg spin]]ner, and ran his own team, the Sargentmen, raising money for the [[Malcolm Sargent]] Cancer Fund for Children.

He returned to London, aged 11. He was evacuated to [[Luscombe Castle]] in [[Devon]] in the [[Second World War]]. His stage career began at the age of 18, when he appeared in ''[[My Sister Eileen]]'' at the [[Savoy Theatre]] in 1943. He was called up to join the [[Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)|Parachute Regiment]], and was sent to [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]].

==Career==
He appeared in ''[[Arsenic and Old Lace (play)|Arsenic and Old Lace]]'' at [[Southsea Pier]]<ref>newspaper obituaries</ref> in 1946, soon after he was demobilised, and settled on an acting career. He continued to tour with the play in [[repertory]] for six years. In a slow period, he traded as an antiques dealer, taking junk away on a barrow from rich areas of London and selling it as [[antique]]s.

He went on to perform on the stage, on television and radio, and in several films. He appeared in several films in the 1950s, including ''[[Quatermass 2]]'' in 1957, and took a starring role in the 1961 film ''Pit of Darkness'' which was the B-feature shown with [[Adam Faith]]'s ''[[What A Whopper]]''. He featured in the 1965 [[Morecambe and Wise]] film ''[[The Intelligence Men]]''.

He appeared in London's [[West End theatre|West End]] in comedies such as ''[[There's A Girl In My Soup (comedy)|There's a Girl in My Soup]]'' and ''Tunnel of Love''. After perfunctory Italian lessons, he directed a version of ''[[There's A Girl In My Soup (comedy)|There's a Girl in My Soup]]'' in [[Italy]], with Italian actors, in Italian. On television, he was a panellist on game shows such as ''[[What's My Line#United Kingdom|What's My Line]]?'' and ''[[Call My Bluff (UK game show)|Call My Bluff]]''. He played Jacques Fleury in ''[[The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel]]'' (1955–56) and Peter Dallas in the spy drama series ''[[Top Secret (TV series)|Top Secret]]'' (1961–62), and also appeared in several episodes of ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]''.

Franklyn also was in comedy sketch show What's on Next and was the host of espionage quiz game The Masterspy. He was featured on ''[[This Is Your Life]]'' (1978), appeared in the 1984 comedy television series ''[[The Steam Video Company]]'', and in ''[[G.B.H. (TV series)|G.B.H.]]'' (1991) and ''Diana: Her True Story'' (1993).

He was also known for commercial voice-over work; he appeared on screen in 10 commercials and voiced another 40 from 1965 to 1973. The "Schhh... You Know Who" [[Schweppes]] adverts Franklyn voiced were created by [[Ogilvy and Mather]].

He voiced ''[[Danger Mouse (1981 TV series)|Danger Mouse]]'' in the unbroadcast pilot for the British television series (although [[David Jason]] replaced him in all broadcast episodes).

On radio, he was the reader of the quotes on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''[[Quote Unquote]]'' for 11 years, until shortly before his death, and also read for ''[[The News Quiz]]''. In 2004 and 2005 he took over the role of "The Book" (the narrator) from his friend [[Peter Jones (actor)|Peter Jones]] for the third, fourth and fifth radio series of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''.

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1952|| ''[[Secret People (film)|Secret People]]'' || Surgeon || Uncredited
|-
|1953|| ''[[Operation Diplomat (film)|Operation Diplomat]]'' || Dr. Gillespie || Uncredited
|-
|1954|| ''[[The Runaway Bus]]'' || Crook in Opening Sequence || Voice, Uncredited
|-
|1954|| ''[[Time Is My Enemy]]'' || Sgt. Peter Thompson ||
|-
|1954|| ''[[The Crowded Day]]'' || Studio Official ||
|-
|1955|| ''[[Out of the Clouds]]'' || Control Tower Radio Operator || Uncredited
|-
|1955|| ''[[The Love Match]]'' || Arthur Ford ||
|-
|1955|| ''[[Above Us the Waves]]'' || No. 1, X2 ||
|-
|1957|| ''[[Quatermass 2]]'' || Brand ||
|-
|1957|| ''[[That Woman Opposite]]'' || Ned Atwood ||
|-
|1957|| ''[[The Flesh Is Weak]]'' || Lloyd Buxton ||
|-
|1958|| ''[[The Snorkel]]'' || Wilson ||
|-
|1959|| ''[[Danger Within]]'' || Capt. Tony Long ||
|-
|1960|| ''Upgreen – And at 'Em'' || ||
|-
|1960|| ''[[The Big Day (1960 film)|The Big Day]]'' || Mr. T. Selkirk ||
|-
|1961|| ''[[Fury at Smugglers' Bay]]'' || The Captain ||
|-
|1961|| ''[[Pit of Darkness]]'' || Richard Logan ||
|-
|1965|| ''[[The Intelligence Men]]'' || Colonel Grant ||
|-
|1966|| ''[[Cul-de-sac (1966 film)|Cul-de-sac]]'' || Cecil ||
|-
|1972|| ''[[Ooh... You Are Awful]]'' || Arnold Van Cleef ||
|-
|1973|| ''[[The Satanic Rites of Dracula]]'' || Torrence ||
|-
|1983|| ''[[Nutcracker (film)|Nutcracker]]'' || Sir Arthur Cartwright ||
|-
|1993|| ''[[Splitting Heirs]]'' || Andrews ||
|-
|1996|| ''[[Robert Rylands' Last Journey]]'' || Robert Rylands ||
|}

==Personal life==
Franklyn was married twice: first to [[Margo Johns]] in 1952; they had a daughter, actress [[Sabina Franklyn]], but were divorced in 1962. He remarried in 1969; he and his second wife, Susanna, had two daughters, Francesca Franklyn, a film producer, and Melissa Franklyn, an actress.

Franklyn died of [[prostate cancer]] on Tuesday, 31 October 2006. His funeral was held on Monday, 6 November 2006 at Mortlake Crematorium, Richmond-Upon-Thames, England.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=0291598|name=William Franklyn}}
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6102224.stm Obituary], [[BBC News]], 31 October 2006
*[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=NUC3D5MHJL3WXQFIQMGSFFWAVCBQWIV0?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2006/11/01/db0101.xml Obituary]{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 1 November 2006
*[https://www.theguardian.com/obituaries/story/0,,1936125,00.html Obituary], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 1 November 2006
*[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/william-franklyn-422405.html Obituary], ''[[The Independent]]'', 1 November 2006
*[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2430855,00.html Obituary], ''[[The Times]]'', 31 October 2006
*[http://www.tv.com/danger-mouse/show/3897/cast.html], "[[TV.com Danger mouse cast]]", 31 May 2010

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklyn, William}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:English radio personalities]]
[[Category:English male stage actors]]
[[Category:English male television actors]]
[[Category:English male voice actors]]
[[Category:People from Kensington]]
[[Category:Deaths from prostate cancer]]
[[Category:Male actors from London]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]
[[Category:People educated at Haileybury (Melbourne)]]
[[Category:People educated at Wesley College (Victoria)]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:British Parachute Regiment soldiers]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:37, 3 January 2023
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	*[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2430855,00.html Obituary], ''[[The Times]]'', 31 October 2006		*[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2430855,00.html Obituary], ''[[The Times]]'', 31 October 2006
	*[http://www.tv.com/danger-mouse/show/3897/cast.html], "[[TV.com Danger mouse cast]]", 31 May 2010		*[http://www.tv.com/danger-mouse/show/3897/cast.html], "[[TV.com Danger mouse cast]]", 31 May 2010

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	{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklyn, William}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklyn, William}}
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	[[Category:Male actors from London]]		[[Category:Male actors from London]]
	~~[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]~~
	[[Category:People educated at Haileybury (Melbourne)]]		[[Category:People educated at Haileybury (Melbourne)]]
	[[Category:People educated at Wesley College (Victoria)]]		[[Category:People educated at Wesley College (Victoria)]]
	[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]		[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
	[[Category:British Parachute Regiment soldiers]]		[[Category:British Parachute Regiment soldiers]]

William Franklyn - Revision history

Kurt: /* External links */

Kurt at 22:54, 17 November 2022

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: Importing Wikidata short description: "British actor (1925–2006)" (Shortdesc helper)