Joss Ackland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joss Ackland
Born Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland
February 29, 1928 (1928-02-29) (age 80)
North Kensington, London, England, UK
Occupation actor
Spouse(s) Rosemary Kirkcaldy (1951-2002) (her death) 7 Children

Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland CBE (born February 29, 1928), known as Joss Ackland, is an English actor who has appeared in more than 130 films in his career. He has appeared extensively on television, notably as C. S. Lewis in Shadowlands (1985).

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Ackland was born in North Kensington, London, the son of Ruth Izod and Sydney Norman Ackland.[1] He was trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Ackland and his wife, the former Rosemary Kirkcaldy, were married on August 18, 1951 when Ackland was 23 and she 22. She was an actress and Ackland wooed her when they appeared onstage together in Pitlochry. The couple struggled initially as Ackland's acting career was in its infancy. They moved to Africa where Ackland had decided to try his luck managing a tea plantation in Kenya, and moving to Cape Town after six months when they decided it was too dangerous. Though they both obtained steady acting jobs in South Africa, after two years, they returned to England in 1957.

[edit] Career

Ackland joined the Old Vic, appearing alongside such luminaries as Paul Scofield and Tom Courtenay. Ackland's career really took off with parts in The Sicilian, Lethal Weapon 2 and White Mischief. He has since kept busy with work and features in Passion of Mind with Demi Moore and the 2-part TV miniseries Hogfather based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel of the same name.

Ackland appears in the Pet Shop Boys' 1987 film It Couldn't Happen Here, and in the video for their cover version of the song Always on My Mind, which was taken from the film. Several years later, he claimed in an interview with the Radio Times that he appeared with the band purely as his grandchildren liked their music.

Ackland, in an 2001 interview with the BBC, admitting to being forced to make "awful films" due to being a workaholic, mentioning by name Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey and the Pet Shop Boys music video, while lambasting former co-star Demi Moore as "not very bright or talented".[2]

In 2007 Ackland narrated and provided the voice for the Robert Garofalo biography /film and documentary on notorious Occultist Aliester Crowley, titled In Search Of The Great beast 666 that was released on DVD.

[edit] Personal life

Ackland and his wife were married for 51 years until her death from motor neurone disease in 2002. Together they had seven children and, as of May 2006, 32 grandchildren. Despite his filming taking him to far-flung locations, Ackland said they never spent a night apart. In 1963, their house in Barnes caught fire. Rosemary managed to save their five children but broke her back jumping from the bedroom window to safety. She was told she would lose the baby she was currently pregnant with and would never walk again. She managed to confound the doctors though and both gave birth and returned to walking, after 2 years in Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

Their eldest son, Paul, died of a heroin overdose in 1982, aged 29. In 2000, Rosemary learned she had motor neurone disease. The last two years of her life saw the degenerative effects of this disease manifest themselves. However, she maintained her humorous disposition and continued writing a diary, just as she had done for decades. Rosemary died on July 25, 2002.

In the years since her death, Ackland has read and edited the diaries for forthcoming publication.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] References

  1. ^ Joss Ackland Biography (1928-)
  2. ^ BBC News | SHOWBIZ | Joss Ackland admits 'awful' films

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Lethal Weapon films
Films
Lethal Weapon (1987) • Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) • Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) • Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
Characters
Cast
Crew
Music
Other articles