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{{Short description|English actor}}{{for multi|the Irish footballer|Anton Rodgers (footballer)|those of a similar name|Anthony Rogers (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
<!--Anthony Rodgers redirects here-->
{{Infobox person
| name        = Anton Rodgers
| image       = Anton Rodgers.jpg
| imagesize   =
| caption     =
| birth_name  = Anthony Rodgers
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1933|1|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Ealing]], [[Middlesex]], England
| death_date  = {{death date and age|2007|12|1|1933|1|10|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Reading, Berkshire]], England
| alma_mater = {{ubl|
* [[Italia Conti Academy]]
* [[London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]]}}
| occupation  = Actor
| years_active = 1947–2007
| spouse      = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|Morna Watson|1959|end = divorced}}|{{marriage|[[Elizabeth Garvie]]|1983}}}}
| children    = 5<ref name = RP>{{cite web|url = https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/getreading/obituary.aspx?n=anton-rodgers&pid=99133334|title = Mr. Anton Rodgers|newspaper = [[Reading Post]]|date = 6 December 2007|publisher = [[Legacy.com]]|accessdate = 4 July 2022}}</ref>
}}

'''Anthony''' "'''Anton'''" '''Rodgers'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/16060|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115040005/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/16060|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-01-15|title=Anton Rodgers|website=Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk}}</ref> (10 January 1933 &ndash; 1 December 2007) was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film, in television dramas and [[Situation comedy|sitcoms]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Anton Rodgers |work=telegraph.co.uk |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2007/12/03/db0301a.xml |date=3 December 2007 |access-date=3 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203205358/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F12%2F03%2Fdb0301a.xml |archive-date=3 December 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="BBC">{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7126800.stm |title=Actor Anton Rodgers dies aged 74 |access-date=4 December 2007|work=BBC News Online  | date=4 December 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071206111432/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7126800.stm| archive-date= 6 December 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> He starred in several sitcoms, including ''[[Fresh Fields]]'' (ITV, 1984–86), its sequel ''[[French Fields]]'' (ITV, 1989–91), and ''[[May to December]]'' (BBC, 1989–94).

==Early life and career==
Rodgers was born in [[Ealing]],<ref name = Goodman>{{cite web|url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/actor_had_a_special_bond_with_town_1_385488?usurv=skip|title=Actor had a special bond with town|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927123256/http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/actor_had_a_special_bond_with_town_1_385488?usurv=skip|archive-date=27 September 2015|df=dmy-all|last = Goodman|first = Sheila}}</ref> the son of William Robert Rodgers and Leonore Victoria (née Wood).<ref name="Who's Who">Who's Who in the Theatre: A Biographical Record of the contemporary stage, seventeenth edition, ed. Ian Herbert, Gale Research Co., 1981, p. 582</ref> His early education was at [[Westminster City School]].<ref name="Who's Who" /><ref name = Barker>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/dec/04/guardianobituaries.television|title=Obituary: Anton Rodgers|date=4 December 2007|website=The Guardian|access-date=15 December 2020|last = Barker|first = Dennis}}</ref> The family were evacuated to [[Wisbech]], Isle of Ely during the war, where his father worked for Balding and Mansell, printers of ration books, permits and passes; Rodgers was sometimes erroneously reported as having been born in Wisbach.<ref name = Goodman/> Later he was educated at the [[Italia Conti Academy]] and [[LAMDA]]. He appeared on stage from the age of 14. He was known for his television performances, specifically his long-running roles in the television sitcoms ''[[Fresh Fields]]'' in the 1980s and ''[[May to December]]'' from 1989 to 1994.

He also had a long career both on stage and in film. His stage roles ranged from contemporary comedy and satirical farce to Restoration comedy, [[Henrik Ibsen|Ibsen]], [[George Bernard Shaw|Shaw]] and [[Oscar Wilde|Wilde]] and [[Peter Nichols (playwright)|Peter Nichols]]. He appeared in films such as ''[[The Man Who Haunted Himself]]'' (1970), ''[[Scrooge (1970 film)|Scrooge]]'' (1970, in which he performed the [[Academy Award]]-nominated [[Academy Award for Best Song|Best Original Song]] "Thank You Very Much"), ''[[The Day of the Jackal (film)|The Day of the Jackal]]'' (1973), and ''[[The Fourth Protocol (film)|The Fourth Protocol]]'' (1987). He also narrated the children's animated TV series ''[[Old Bear Stories]]'' and appeared as Andre, the comically corrupt French policeman who aided [[Michael Caine]] in his romantic/financial schemes in ''[[Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (film)|Dirty Rotten Scoundrels]].''

He narrated programmes for the railway video production company Video 125, including ''Cornish Branchlines: A Drivers Eye View''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.video125.com/collections/train-videos/products/cornish-branches|title = Cornish Branches}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Rodgers first married Morna Watson, a ballet dancer, in [[Kensington]] in 1959,<ref>"WATSON Morna E / RODGERS Anton / Kensington 5c 2281" in General Index to Marriages in England and Wales, 1959</ref> and they had a son and a daughter and later divorced.<ref name = Barker/> Rodgers's second wife was the actress [[Elizabeth Garvie]]; they frequently appeared on stage together and toured giving readings from the works of [[Jane Austen]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/1161733.Anton_Rodgers_in_Monmouth/|title=Anton Rodgers in Monmouth|author=Daniel Lombard|date=2 February 2007|website=Southwalesargus.co.uk|access-date=3 November 2017}}</ref> and [[Robert Browning]], among others. He was a patron of the [[Angles Theatre]], Wisbech. At the time of his death, he was a resident of [[Whitchurch-on-Thames]], Oxfordshire.<ref name = RP />

Rodgers died in [[Reading, Berkshire]] on 1 December 2007, aged 74.<ref name = Strachan>{{cite news|url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/anton-rodgers-versatile-actor-best-known-for-his-middleclass-heroes-in-the-sitcoms-fresh-fields-and-may-to-december-762153.html|title = Anton Rodgers: Versatile actor best known for his middle-class heroes in the sitcoms 'Fresh Fields' and 'May to December'|newspaper = [[The Independent]]|date = 4 December 2007|accessdate = 4 July 2022|last = Strachan|first = Alan}}</ref>

==Credits==
===Theatre===
Rodgers made his first West End appearance in 1947, aged 14, in ''[[Carmen]]'' at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He followed this in same year with a tour of an adaptation of Charles Dickens' ''[[Great Expectations]]'' playing Pip, and the title role in a revival of [[Terence Rattigan]]'s ''[[The Winslow Boy]]'' which toured the UK in 1948.  After repertory experience at Birmingham, Northampton and Hornchurch, he trained at [[LAMDA]].

Returning to London in November 1957 he joined the cast of ''[[The Boy Friend (musical)|The Boy Friend]]'' at [[Wyndham's Theatre]]. Thereafter his credits include:
{{div col|colwidth=26em}}
*Fingers in ''The Crooked Mile'', [[Cambridge Theatre]], September 1959
*Appeared in the revue ''And Another Thing'', [[Fortune Theatre]], October 1960
*Appeared in the revue ''Twists'', [[Arts Theatre]], February 1962; and [[Edinburgh Festival]], August 1962
*Withers and Tim in [[John Osborne]]'s double-bill, ''Plays for England'', [[Royal Court Theatre|Royal Court]], July 1962
*He was a member of the original cast of the musical ''[[Pickwick (musical)|Pickwick]]'', in which he played Mr Jingle, [[Saville Theatre]] July 1963; making his New York debut in the same role at the [[46th Street Theatre]], October 1965
*Felix in ''[[The Owl and the Pussycat (play)|The Owl and the Pussycat]]'', [[Criterion Theatre]], February 1966
*Chichester Festival season 1967: Francis Archer in ''[[The Beaux' Stratagem]]''; Randall Utterword in ''[[Heartbreak House]]''; and Fadinard in the [[Eugène Marin Labiche|Labiche]] farce ''[[The Italian Straw Hat (play)|An Italian Straw Hat]]''
*Title role in ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'', [[Belgrade Theatre]], Coventry, March 1968
*Vladimir in ''[[Waiting for Godot]]'', [[University Theatre (Manchester)|University Theatre]], [[Manchester]], 1968
*Directed ''A Piece of Cake'' and ''Grass Roots'' at [[Leatherhead]], 1968
*Devised and co-directed ''We Who Are About To...'' with [[George Melly]] at [[Hampstead Theatre]], February 1969; eight one-act plays presented in a modified form as ''Mixed Doubles'' at the [[Comedy Theatre]], April 1969
*Dr Stockman in ''[[An Enemy of the People]]'', [[Harrogate]], August 1969
*Directed ''[[The Fantasticks]]'', Hampstead, May 1970, and took this production and ''The Rainmaker'' to the [[Ibiza]] Festival
*Directed ''[[The Roses of Eyam]]'' and ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]'' at the [[Northcott Theatre]], [[Exeter]], 1970
*Gerald in ''The Formation Dancers'', Hampstead Theatre, January 1971
*Frank in ''Forget-Me-Not Lane'' ([[Peter Nichols (playwright)|Peter Nichols]]), Greenwich Theatre, then [[Apollo Theatre]], April 1971
*Macheath in ''[[The Threepenny Opera]]'', [[Stratford Festival]], [[Ontario]]. 1972
*Dr Rank in ''[[A Doll's House]]'', Criterion Theatre, February 1973
*Hildy Johnson in ''[[The Front Page]]''. National Theatre production touring Australia, 1974
*Lord Henry Wotton in ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray]]'', Greenwich Theatre, February 1975
*Directed ''[[Death of a Salesman]]'', [[Oxford Playhouse]],  October 1975
*Astrov in ''[[Uncle Vanya]]'', Oxford Playhouse, December 1975
*Jack Manningham in ''[[Gaslight (play)|Gaslight]]'', Criterion Theatre, March 1976
*Directed ''Are You Now or Have You Ever Been...?'', [[Bush Theatre]], June 1977
*Directed ''Flashpoint'', [[New End Theatre]], December 1978; [[May Fair Theatre]], February 1979
*Leading role in the 'musical entertainment' ''[[Songbook (musical)|Songbook]]'', [[Globe Theatre]], July 1979
*Songbook was at the Angles Theatre, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire for a single performance on a Sunday to raise funds for restoring this Georgian theatre.
*Jim in ''[[Passion (play)|Passion]]'' (Peter Nichols), [[Royal Shakespeare Company|RSC]] [[Aldwych Theatre]], January 1981
*Walter Burns in ''[[Windy City (musical)|Windy City]]'', [[Victoria Palace Theatre|Victoria Palace]], July 1982
*Richard de Beauchamp in ''[[Saint Joan (play)|Saint Joan]]'' ([[George Bernard Shaw]]), [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]] Olivier, February 1984
*Tudor Phillips in ''[[Some Singing Blood]]'', [[Royal Court Theatre]] Upstairs, March 1992
*Gerry Stratton in ''[[Time of My Life (play)|Time of My Life]]'' ([[Alan Ayckbourn]]), [[Vaudeville Theatre]], August 1993
*Dr Feldman in ''[[Duet for One]]'' revival ([[Tom Kempinski]]), [[Riverside Studios]]. May 1996
*Etienne in ''[[Under the Doctor]]'', [[Comedy Theatre]]. February 2001
*Grandpa Potts in ''[[Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (musical)|Chitty Chitty Bang Bang]]'', [[London Palladium]], April 2002
{{div col end}}

===Selected filmography===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''[[Vice Versa (1948 film)|Vice Versa]]'' (1948) - Pupil (uncredited)
* ''[[The Browning Version (1951 film)|The Browning Version]]'' (1951) - Pupil (uncredited)
* ''[[Operation Stogie]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Crash Drive]]'' (1959) - Tomson
* ''[[Night Train for Inverness]]'' (1960) - Scottish Doctor (uncredited)
* ''[[The Spider's Web (1960 film)|The Spider's Web]]'' (1960) - Sgt. Jones
* ''[[On the Fiddle]]'' (1960) - Soldier in NAAFI Canteen (uncredited)
* ''[[Tarnished Heroes]]'' (1961) - Don Conyers
* ''[[Part-Time Wife]]'' (1961) - Tom Briggs
* ''[[Petticoat Pirates]]'' (1961) - Alec
* ''[[Girl on Approval]]'' (1961) - Snooty Bowler-hatted Neighbour (uncredited)
* ''[[Carry On Cruising]]'' (1962) - Young Man
* ''[[The Traitors (1962 film)|The Traitors]]'' (1962) 
* ''[[The Iron Maiden]]'' (1962) - Concierge
* ''[[This Sporting Life]]'' (1963) - Restaurant Customer (uncredited)
* ''[[Carry On Jack]]'' (1964) - Hardy
* ''Comedy Workshop: Love and Maud Carver'' (1964) - P.R.O. / Window Dresser
* ''[[Rotten to the Core (film)|Rotten to the Core]]'' (1965) - The Duke
* ''To Chase a Million'' (1967) - Max Stein
* ''[[The Man Who Haunted Himself]]'' (1970) - Tony Alexander
* ''[[Scrooge (1970 film)|Scrooge]]'' (1970) - Tom Jenkins
* ''[[The Day of the Jackal (film)|The Day of the Jackal]]'' (1973) - Jules Bernard
* ''[[Intimate Reflections]]'' (1975) - Michael White
* ''[[East of Elephant Rock]]'' (1977) - Mackintosh
* ''[[The Fourth Protocol (film)|The Fourth Protocol]]'' (1987) - George Berenson
* ''[[Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (film)|Dirty Rotten Scoundrels]]'' (1988) - Inspector Andre
* ''[[Impromptu]]'' (1991) - Duke D'Antan
* ''[[Son of the Pink Panther]]'' (1993) - Chief Lazar
* ''[[Secret Passage (film)|Secret Passage]]'' (2004) - Foscari
* ''[[The Merchant of Venice (2004 film)|The Merchant of Venice]]'' (2004) - The Duke
* ''[[The Last Drop]]'' (2006) - Churchill (uncredited)
* ''[[Go Go Tales]]'' (2007) - Barfly
{{div col end}}

===Television===
{{div col|colwidth=26em}}
* ''[[Brambly Hedge#Adaptations|Brambly Hedge]]'' as Lord Woodmouse (voice)
* ''[[Maigret (1960 TV series)|Maigret]]'', as Radek in episode "Death in Mind" (1962)
* ''[[Old Bear Stories]]'' as [[Narrator]], Old Bear, Bramwell Brown, Little Bear, Rabbit and many others (voices)
* ''[[The Old Curiosity Shop#Adaptations|The Old Curiosity Shop]]'' as [[Dick Swiveller]]
*  ''[[The Sentimental Agent]]'', as Mr Fripp in the episode 'The Height of Fashion' (1963). NB: Billed as 'Anton Rogers'.
* ''[[The Champions]]'', as Jules in the episode 'Reply Box No 666' (1967).
* ''[[Danger Man]]'' as Attala
* ''[[Man in a Suitcase]]'' as Max Stein
* ''[[Gideon's Way]]'' as Peter in the episode, "The Nightlifers." (1966)
* ''[[The Prisoner]]'' episode "[[The Schizoid Man (The Prisoner)|The Schizoid Man]]"  as [[Number Two (The Prisoner)|Number Two]].
* ''[[The Saint (TV series)|The Saint]]'' episode "A Double in Diamonds" (1967) as Pierre
* ''[[Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)]]'' episode 16 "[[When the Spirit Moves You]]" as Calvin Bream
* ''The Elusive Pimpernel'' (1969) as [[The Scarlet Pimpernel|Sir Percy Blakeney]]
* ''[[The Paz Show]]'' as Pappy (voice)
* ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series)|Upstairs, Downstairs]]'' "[[List of Upstairs, Downstairs episodes|The Mistress and the Maids]]" (1972)  as Scone
* ''[[The Protectors]]'' (1972 TV series) episode "King Con" as Alan Sutherland
* ''[[Thomas & Sarah]]'' (1979) episode "Love Into Three Won't Go" as Richard DeBrassey
* ''[[Play for Today]]'' episode "Coming Out" as Lewis Duncan / Zippy Grimes ''
* ''[[Jason King (TV series)|Jason King]]''  as Philippe de Brion
* ''[[The Duchess of Duke Street]]'' "A Test of Love" as Newdigate
* ''[[Something in Disguise]]'' (1982) as John Cole
* ''[[Murder Most English]]'' (1982) as Detective Inspector Purbright
* ''[[Rumpole of the Bailey|Rumpole of the Bailey: Rumpole and the Honourable Member]]''   as Ken Aspen
* ''[[Lillie (TV series)|Lillie]]''   as Edward Langtry
* ''[[Fresh Fields]]'' as William Fields
* ''[[French Fields]]'' as William Fields
* ''[[Noah's Ark (UK TV series)|Noah's Ark]]'' as Noah Kirby
* ''[[Disraeli (TV serial)|Disraeli]]'' as Bentinck
* ''Zodiac'' as David Gradley
* ''[[After the War (TV serial)|After the War]]''   as Samuel Jordan
* ''[[May to December]]'' as Alec Callender
* ''[[Midsomer Murders]]'' "Market for Murder" as Lord James Chetwood
* ''[[Longford (film)|Longford]]'' (2006) as [[William Whitelaw]]
* ''C. S. Lewis: Beyond Narnia'' (2005) as [[C. S. Lewis]]
* ''You Can Choose Your Friends'' (2007) as Ken Snell
* ''[[Richard the Lionheart (TV series)|Richard the Lionheart]]'' as Sir Kenneth
* ''[[Wide-Eye]]'' as Wide-Eye, Great Grandma Toad and Father Natterjack (voices)
{{div col end}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/lgbtq/lgbtq-timeline|access-date=2021-02-14|website=www.bbc.com|title=LGBTQ+ Timeline}}</ref>

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book|title=Who's Who in the Theatre|editor=Ian Herbert, Christine Baxter and Robert E. Finlay|publisher=Gale|location=Detroit|year=1981|isbn=978-0-8103-0234-1|edition=17th|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhointheatre0002unse}}
*[[Theatre Record]] and its annual Indexes

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0734668}}
* {{IBDB name|108745}}
* {{Find a Grave|23240312}}
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2993905.ece Obituary in ''The Times'', 4 December 2007]
* {{cite news |first=Patrick |last=Newley |title=Actor Anton Rodgers dies |work=The Stage |url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/19016/actor-anton-rodgers-dies |date=2007-12-03 |access-date=2007-12-03}}

{{OlivierAward MusicalActor 1979–2000}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Anton}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:21st-century English male actors]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:English male stage actors]]
[[Category:English male television actors]]
[[Category:Laurence Olivier Award winners]]
[[Category:Male actors from London]]
[[Category:People educated at Westminster City School]]
[[Category:People from Ealing]]
[[Category:People from South Oxfordshire District]]