The Champions actor William Gaunt
It’s 60 years since actor William Gaunt made his screen debut. Here he chats about his long and illustrious TV career and what he’s up to now
From the hit F sci-fi series The Champions to EastEnders and sitcoms like No Place Like Home and Next of Kin, actor William Gaunt has been a familiar face on TV for decades. One of Britain’s most consistent and recognisable actors, what’s the secret of his success?
“I’ve kept well, I’ve rarely missed a day of work, and I’ve been prepared to change course which is the gift an actor needs more than anything,” laughs William.
Growing up in Yorkshire he was not from a showbiz
family – his father Ivor was a solicitor and his mother Helen was a housewife. “As a teenager at school I got interested in drama but didn’t do any. At 16 during holidays, I joined a group in Ilkley and did amateur acting,” says William (83).
He went on to train at RADA with Edward Fox and Sarah Miles, and had early TV success in the detective series Sergeant Cork. Then along came The Champions in 1968 in which he, Stuart Damon and Alexandra Bastedo played United Nations lawenforcement agents with extra-sensory powers.
“We were very close. We worked terribly hard but had a good time,” says William who admits he was envied for working with Alexandra.
By then, William was already dating Crossroads actress Carolyn Lyster. They married in 1974 and had daughter Tilly (now an actress) and son Albie (a teacher). It was perfect practice for playing harassed dad Arthur in the sitcom, No Place Like Home from 1983 to 1987, with Patricia Garwood as mum Beryl.
“On screen that is the role I’ve enjoyed most and one most people seem to like. It was a lovely job with a very happy team, including
Martin Clunes in his first regular role as one of my sons,” he says. From 1995 to 1997, William starred in another hit sitcom, Next Of Kin, with Penelope Keith as a well-todo couple who abandon early retirement plans to raise their grandchildren when their parents die in a car crash. “I loved working with Penelope, and I still see a lot of her because she’s president of the Actors Benevolent Fund of which I am a vice-president and a trustee,” he says. Some may recall William’s stint as Judge St John Redmond in EastEnders in 2015. “I sent Dot Cotton to jail!” he laughs. The Gaunts, who now have three grandchildren, have lived in
their Victorian home in West London for 30 years. Their good friends include fellow actors James Bolam, Brian Murphy, and Sir Ian McKellen.
But William has no plans to retire. “I’d love to play Gloucester in King Lear again – I toured the world doing that with Ian McKellen and it was a marvellous experience which got me the best notice of my career from The Wall Street Journal. I’d like to be remembered as a good husband and as a good father and grandfather. But if somebody were to say about me, ‘He was a good actor’, I’d be quite satisfied. ‘A jolly good actor’ would be even better!”
■ William is vice president and trustee of the Actors Benevolent Fund which supports actors and stage managers experiencing hardship due to injury, illness or old age. For more details visit www.actorsbenevolentfund.co.uk
■ Talking Pictures (Sky 328, Freeview 81, Freesat 306 Virgin 445) is airing The Champions from
Sunday, March 9 at 9pm