Bernard Hepton, the celebrated actor who traversed the worlds of theatre, television and radio, has died at the age of 92.
Bradford-born Hepton was best known for his television work and, in particular, his roles in Colditz, I, Claudius and as intelligence agent Toby Esterhase in two BBC John le Carré adaptations: Smiley’s People and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
In the 70s, Hepton was a consistent presence on UK TV screens with an impressive run of work. He played Thomas Cranmer in two BBC adaptations, The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970) and Elizabeth R (1971), before going to on play one of his most well-loved characters, the German Kommandant in Colditz (1972-74).
Described as being “never on the front cover, but always somehow familiar,” Hepton originally trained at his hometown theatre Bradford Civic Playhouse. “My education in plays and players began in earnest,” he told the Theatre Archive Project in 2006. “I took it extremely seriously.”
It was at the Bradford Civic Playhouse that he met Esmé Church – the former theatre actor and director who had moved to West Yorkshire from the Old Vic – who became his tutor. From there, Hepton worked at the York Rep where he did “anything from Agatha Christie to Shakespeare”.
Hepton said his claim to fame was the fact that he had grown up on the same street as Bradfordian playwright and author JB Priestley (albeit in a different era) and, in the early 80s, he played Inspector Goole in a BBC production of Priestley’s An Inspector Calls.
Despite his small-screen success, Hepton spoke most fondly of Sir Barry Jackson and the Birmingham Rep where he performed at the start of his career. “As soon as television came on the scene the agents said ‘would you like this part on television?’,” Hepton said. “People started leaving the company … which was a great, great shame.”
Hepton had a relatively small filmography but did make an appearance in Get Carter with Michael Caine and and John Frankenheimer’s The Holcroft Covenant in 1985.