Cuthbert Mark Dignam (20 March 1909 – 29 September 1989) was an English actor.[1][2]

Mark Dignam
in The Saint (1968)
Born(1909-03-20)20 March 1909
Ealing, London, England
Died29 September 1989(1989-09-29) (aged 80)
London, England
OccupationActor

Born in London, the son of a salesman in the steel industry, Dignam grew up in Sheffield, and was educated at the Jesuit College, where he appeared in numerous Shakespearean plays.

He learned his craft touring Britain and America with Ben Greet's Shakespeare company.[3] His range extended from the Louis Macneice radio play, The Dark Tower in the 1940s to the TV thriller, The XYY Man in the late 1970s.[4][5]

Along with Philip Guard and John Bryning, Dignam can be heard on the fade-out of the Beatles' song "I Am the Walrus", during which is played a 1967 BBC radio broadcast of King Lear, with Dignam in the role of the Earl of Gloucester.[6]

Dignam was married three times, divorced twice (his character in The XYY Man frequently complains about the expense of maintaining multiple ex-wives).[7]

Family

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His brother Basil was also a well-known character actor and his sister-in-law was the actress Mona Washbourne.[8]

Dollis Hill

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Dignam lived in Dollis Hill, north-west London, from 1967 until his death in 1989.[9][10]

Selected filmography

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Radio

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References

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  1. ^ "Mark Dignam". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Mark Dignam - Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  3. ^ Wearing, J. P. (15 May 2014). The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780810893047 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - The Dark Tower". BBC.
  5. ^ "The Xyy Man Part 1 Law and Order (1977)". BFI. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019.
  6. ^ "Recording, mixing, editing: I Am The Walrus, Your Mother Should Know". The Beatles Bible. 29 September 1967. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  7. ^ McFarlane, Brian (16 May 2016). The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9781526111968 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ "Basil Dignam - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos". AllMovie.
  9. ^ Walters, Max (4 May 2013). "Campaign launched to save Old Oxgate Farm in Dollis Hill". Kilburn Times.
  10. ^ "At Oxgate Farm - Spitalfields Life".
  11. ^ "The Dark Tower". Genome. BBC. 21 January 1946.
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