John Wood (1930 - 2011)

Mr John Wood (Male)

Nationality: English

Born: 5 July 1930

Died: 6 August 2011

Actor. Wood joined the Old Vic company in London in 1954 before appearing in the West End as Don Quixote in Tennessee Williams's Camino Real at the Phoenix Theatre in 1957. He made his Broadway debut as Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in 1967. Wood frequently appeared Stoppard's work throughout his career first in Stoppard's short television plays for the BBC Teeth and Another Moon Called Earth (1967), then orientating the role of Henry Carr in Travesties in 1974, appearing as Ivanov in the premiere of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour in 1977 directed by Trevor Nunn at the Royal Festival Hall, and as the poet AE Houseman in Stoppard's The Invention of Love in 1997 at the National Theatre. Wood's work with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) between 1971-1976 was critically acclaimed, particularly as Yakov Bardin in Maxim Gorky's Enemies (1971), Sir Fopling Flutter in The Man of Mode (1972), Brutus in Julius Caesar (1972), the title role in Sherlock Holmes (1974), and the title role in Ivanov (1976). He returned to the RSC in 1988 for a further four years where his performance as Prospero in The Tempest (directed by Nicholas Hytner) was lauded by critics in 1988. On screen, Wood appeared in multiple television series and films including Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), Slaughterhouse Five (1972), War Games (1983), Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), alongside Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep in Heartburn (1986), Franco Zeffirelli's Jayne Eyer (1996), and The White Countess (2005). He was made CBE in 2007.

Training and Education

Bachelor's degree [please use undergraduate degree]

University of Oxford   (Training & Education | Est. Unknown)

Wellington Square, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 2JD, England

Other Names

No other Name have been added to this person record yet.

Productions

No productions have been added to this person record yet.

Appears In

That's Your Trouble (1964)
A (That's Your Trouble) (Age: Not specified, Male)

Performer

Applicant (1964)
Man [Applicant] (Age: Not Specified, Male)

Performer

Trouble in the Works (1964)
Mr Fibbs (Age: Not specified, Male)

Performer

Exiles (Mermaid - Aldwych) (1970)
Richard Rowan (Age: Not Specified, Male)

Performer

A James Joyce Evening (1972)
Richard Rowan (Age: Not Specified, Male)

Performer

The Proust Screenplay (1995)
Baron De Charlus (Age: Not Specified, Male)

Performer

No Man's Land (Lyttelton Tour)* (2001)
Spooner (Age: sixties, Male)

Performer

Linked People

No Linked People have been added to this person record yet.

Linked Awards

CBE

2007

Resources

No resources have been added to this person record yet.

Sources

The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/aug/10/john-wood-obituary

URL

Obituary by Michael Coveney for The Guardian, 10/8/2011

Simon Trowbridge's The Company

Simon Trowbridge, The Company: a Biographical Dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Editions Albert Creed, 2013)

Biography

This source provides a comprehensive index and brief biographies for key actors, directors, designers and writers who have worked regularly with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Wood's entry can be found on pp. 504-505. An entry for Harold Pinter can be found on pp. 375-377.