British stage, screen, radio, and TV actor Gerald Harper, 96, died on July 2. A RADA graduate, he had, as per The Guardian, “a silky manner, smooth voice, immaculate dress and self-assured, lady-killing charm [which] personified the well-heeled Englishman.” Harper starred in the TV series Hadleigh (as a caddish upper-class squire, loosely based on the infamous Lord Lucan) and as a time-traveling crimefighter in Adam Adamant Lives! (shades of Austin Powers). From the 1950s through 2001, Harper appeared in such films and TV series as The Dam Busters, Paradise Lagoon, The League of Gentlemen, Swingers’ Paradise, Up Jumped a Swagman, The Shoes of the Fisherman, The Avengers, and The Lady Vanishes. A member of the Old Vic company, he also appeared on Broadway in several Shakespeare plays, and in Boeing-Boeing. Harper appeared on radio, hosting A Sunday Affair with Gerald Harper and sending listeners champagne and roses. He was married to actress Jane Downs from 1957-75.
The delightful opening of Adam Adamant Lives! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V96-kvbZwQk&list=RDV96-kvbZwQk&start_radio=1
