Actor Tim Pigott-Smith dies aged 70

The actor Tim Pigott-Smith has died at the age of 70.

The character actor’s career spanned almost five decades on stage and screen. Born in Rugby in 1946, he graduated from the University of Bristol in 1967 and went on to train at the Bristol Old Vic theatre school. He began his professional career at the Bristol Old Vic in 1969.

His flawless classical technique saw him become a fixture of British television and in 1984 he took on the role he would become best known for – as the sinister Merrick in the ITV miniseries The Jewel in the Crown, set in the dying days of the British Raj. His performance in the series won him a Bafta for best actor.

From his first appearance in 1971 in Boswell’s Life of Johnson he was barely absent from film and TV screens. In the 1970s he became established as Marco in Doctor Who, Angelo in TV movie Measure for Measure in 1979, and Brendan Bracken in 1981 series Winston Churchilll: The Wilderness Years.

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In his later years he became known to younger viewers for parts in Silent Witness, Downton Abbey, Lewis and Miranda. Most recently he starred in the BBC adaptation of the Evelyn Waugh novel Decline and Fall as Mr Sniggs.

Pigott-Smith also earned a formidable reputation as a skilled theatre actor. In 1974 he starred on Broadway in a production of Sherlock Holmes, playing the detective’s companion Dr Watson. This major theatre role left a lasting impression on him and he said in an interview with the Daily Mail last year that he had used the personalised towel from that production ahead of every theatre appearance ever since.

“On the first night, our wardrobe mistress Rosie gave each of us these personalised towels. From that day to this, I’ve used it to lay out my stage make-up,” he said.

As his reputation in theatre circles grew, he was invited to join Sir Ian McKellen in a production of Hamlet – a career highlight that introduced him to his idol, the man who was to be a constant source of inspiration to him, as he told the Guardian in 2014.

Describing the moment McKellen knocked on his dressing room door he said: “I ushered him in nervously, expecting notes for my poor performance or indiscipline – I was a foolish, naughty young actor. To my relief, he was not displeased but questioned me about my plans, my ambitions.

“He generously suggested one or two technical things I could do to develop my voice and breathing. I have never got over the fact that this man, with – let’s face it – enough on his plate climbed three floors to talk to me, to help me. He could have been resting. It was a great act of kindness.”

Even after Pigott-Smith’s 70th birthday, work continued to flood in and he had only recently wrapped filming on a number of films that are due for release later this year including Victoria and Abdul, The Little Vampire and 6 Days.

Just before his death, he finished work on a television adaptation of the critically acclaimed play King Charles III, in which he plays the title role of a stubborn King Charles, rebelling against the government in the wake of his mother’s death.

His performance in the play’s run in London and New York won him nominations for Olivier and Tony awards.

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His deeply resonant and recognisable voice made him sought after by documentary directors and he became the voice of TV documentaries Serial Killers and Doomsday.

His agent, John Grant, said in a statement: “Tim was one of the great actors of his generation. Much-loved and admired by his peers, he will be remembered by many as a gentleman and a true friend.”

In 1972 Pigott-Smith married actor Pamela Miles and they had one child, Tom, a violinist who now has children of his own. Pigott-Smith and Miles were set to play couple Willy and Linda Loman in a Northampton production of Death of a Salesman, due to open on 10 April.

He was awarded an OBE for services to drama in the New Year honours list.

Pigott-Smith was most famous on television for his role in The Jewel in the Crown. By a tragic twist of fate, the death at the age of 87 of the producer-director of that momentous TV series, Christopher Morahan, was also announced on Friday.

Morahan was an admired director whose work spanned all media. He first made his mark in television in 1966 with John Hopkins’s quartet of plays, Talking To A Stranger, which examined the life of a family over the course of a weekend from four separate viewpoints and which produced a celebrated performance from Judi Dench.

Morahan was head of plays at the BBC from 1972 to 1976 before joining the National Theatre in 1977 as deputy to Peter Hall. His work for the National embraced contemporary writers such as Michael Frayn, Robert Bolt and Nigel Williams and classics by Tolstoy, Ibsen, Shaw and Galsworthy.

Morahan was a supreme professional, but it was his ability to mastermind the complex logistics of shooting The Jewel In The Crown in India, as well as capturing unforgettable performances from the whole cast, for which he will be best remembered.

• This article has been edited to correct the misattribution of a quotation.