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Anthony Valentine

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Anthony Valentine

Anthony Valentine (17 August 1939 – 2 December 2015) was an English actor best known for his television roles: the ruthless Toby Meres in Callan (1967–72), the sadistic Major Horst Mohn in Colditz (1972–74), the suave titular gentleman thief in Raffles (1977), and the murderous Baron Gruner in the Sherlock Holmes episode "The Illustrious Client" (1991).

Valentine was born in Blackburn, Lancashire; he moved with his family to Chiswick, West London when he was 6 years old, going on to attend Acton County Grammar School.

Aged 9, Valentine was spotted tap-dancing in a stage version of Robin Hood at Ealing Town Hall. He made his professional acting debut at the age of 10 in the Nettlefold Studios film No Way Back (1949), and at the age of 12 he played a boy sleuth in The Girl on the Pier (1953). He worked regularly as a child actor for the BBC, most notably as Harry Wharton in the 1950s adaptation of Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School, having initially played Lord Mauleverer in earlier episodes.

In 1958 he appeared in a television production of Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman, with Laurence Olivier as Borkman and Irene Worth as his wife, as part of ITV's series The Play of the Week.

Valentine's early stage credits include the premiere of Arnold Wesker's Chicken Soup with Barley (Royal Court Theatre, 1958); John Osborne's Epitaph for George Dillon (Royal Court Theatre, 1958); the Australian drama The Shifting Heart (Duke of York's Theatre, 1959, with Leo McKern); John Mortimer's Two Stars for Comfort (Garrick Theatre, 1962, with Trevor Howard); the original production of Half a Sixpence (Cambridge Theatre, 1963, with Tommy Steele); and The Platinum Cat (Wyndham's Theatre, London, 1965, with Kenneth Williams).

Valentine continued to work on stage, but he became best known for his striking performances on television: as the ruthless Toby Meres in the series Callan (1967–72), the Luftwaffe officer Major Horst Mohn in the BBC drama Colditz (1974), the eponym in Yorkshire TV's Raffles (1975-1977), and the suave crook George Webster in The Knock (1994–96).

Valentine's later stage credits include No Sex Please, We're British (Strand Theatre, 1971); Anthony Shaffer's Sleuth (St Martin's Theatre, 1972, with Marius Goring); a revival of Hans Christian Andersen (London Palladium, 1977, again with Tommy Steele); 'Art' (Wyndham's Theatre, 1999–2000); and, as Cardinal Monticelso, in Webster's The White Devil (Lyric Theatre, 2000).

Valentine made his debut as a writer and director in 1998 at The Mill at Sonning with The Waiting Game. He went on to direct regularly at the Mill, including productions of Separate Tables (2005), The Odd Couple (2009) and California Suite (2012). On 12 November 2005 Valentine became a patron of the Thwaites Empire Theatre in his birthplace, Blackburn.

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