Howard Goorney

Acting

Howard Goorney

Born — Died

1921-05-11 — 2007-03-29

Place of birth

Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

52 titles

Howard Jacob Goorney (11 May 1921 – 29 March 2007) was a Manchester born Jewish actor, committed communist and a founder member of Joan Littlewood's 'Theatre Workshop'. He wrote The Theatre Workshop Story, published by Methuen - a definitive account of the company's early years, including their move to the Theatre Royal in Stratford East. He is also known for numerous theatre roles, including Bill Bryden's The Mysteries and Lark Rise to Candleford at the National Theatre in the 1970s and 1980s, TV roles such as Knock Knock in Only Fools and Horses, and films like The Hill, The Offence, Blood on Satan's Claw and Fiddler on the Roof.

Known for

The Avengers poster
7.8

A quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).

The Avengers

1961

The Saint poster
7.4

Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need.

The Saint

1962

Peak Practice poster
6.5

Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time. It originally starred Kevin Whately as Dr Jack Kerruish, Amanda Burton as Dr Beth Glover and Simon Shepherd as Dr Will Preston, though the roster of doctors would change many times over the course of the series. Cardale was based on the Staffordshire village of Longnor for the final series, but was previously based in the Derbyshire village of Crich, although certain scenes were filmed at other nearby Derbyshire towns and villages, most notably Matlock, Belper and Ashover.

Peak Practice

1993

Waking the Dead poster
7.2

A detective team apply new techniques to old crimes as they solve cold cases.

Waking the Dead

2001

No Hiding Place poster
4.8

No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series Murder Bag and Crime Sheet, all starring Raymond Francis as Detective Superintendent, later Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart.

No Hiding Place

1959

Only Fools and Horses poster
8.1

Only Fools and Horses.... Is a British sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally transmitted on BBC One from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until 2003. In working-class Peckham in south-east London, ambitious market trader Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter and his younger half-brother Rodney, explore their highs and lows in life, in particular their attempts to get rich. Initially not an immediate hit and receiving little promotion early on, it later achieved consistently high ratings, and the 1996 episode "Time on Our Hands" (originally billed as the series finale) holds the record for the biggest UK audience for a sitcom episode, attracting 24.3 million viewers. The series bears a significant influence on British culture, contributing several words and phrases to the English language.

Only Fools and Horses

1981

Film credits

2000s · 3 titles

1980s · 3 titles

1970s · 10 titles

Blood on Satan's Claw poster
6.2

After a landsman in 18th century England discovers a corpse covered in fur buried in a field, the town becomes infected by "the devil's skin," leading the local children to engage in demonic rituals and criminal behavior.

Blood on Satan's Claw

1971

Fiddler on the Roof poster
7.7

In a pre-revolutionary Russia, a poor Jewish milkman struggles with the challenges of a changing world as his daughters fall in love and antisemitism grows.

Fiddler on the Roof

1971

To the Devil a Daughter poster
5.5

An American occult novelist battles to save the soul of a young girl from a group of Satanists, led by an excommunicated priest, who plan on using her as the representative of the Devil on Earth.

To the Devil a Daughter

1976

The Offence poster
6.8

A burned-out British police detective finally snaps while interrogating a suspected child molester.

The Offence

1973

You Can't Win 'Em All poster
5.9

During the 1922 Turkish Civil War, two Americans and a group of foreign mercenaries offer their services to a local Turkish governor who hires them as guards for a secret transport.

You Can't Win 'Em All

1970

Innocent Bystanders poster
7.8

Washed-up agent John Craig is given the task of proving his worth by tracking down a Russian scientist on the run. Cross and double-cross is the name of the game.

Innocent Bystanders

1972

Savage Messiah poster
6.4

In the Paris of the 1910s, brash young sculptor Henri Gaudier begins a creative partnership with an older writer, Sophie Brzeska. Though the couple is 20 years apart in age, Gaudier finds that his untamed work is complemented by the older woman's cultural refinement. He then moves to London with Brzeska, where he falls in with a group of avant-garde artists. There, Gaudier encounters yet another artistic muse in passionate suffragette Gosh Boyle.

Savage Messiah

1972

Take a Girl Like You poster
5.8

Young Jenny heads to the South of England to start a new career as a school teacher. Even before she has had a chance to settle in she meets Patrick, one of the local "lads". Within a short time she has her hands full when a number of the local boys take a liking to her. But who will be the lucky one who wins her affections?

Take a Girl Like You

1970

Crucible of Horror poster
5.4

A mother and daughter hatch a scheme to murder their family's domineering and sadistic patriarch.

Crucible of Horror

1971

Just One Kid poster
8.0

A 1974 dramatised documentary based on the memories of Alfred Maron.

Just One Kid

1974

1960s · 8 titles

The Evil of Frankenstein poster
6.2

Once hounded from his castle by outraged villagers for creating a monstrous living being, Baron Frankenstein returns to Karlstaad. High in the mountains they stumble on the body of the creature, perfectly preserved in the ice. He is brought back to life with the help of the hypnotist Zoltan who now controls the creature. Can Frankenstein break Zoltan's hypnotic spell that incites the monster to commit these horrific murders or will Zoltan induce the creature to destroy its creator?

The Evil of Frankenstein

1964

Bedazzled poster
6.2

A hapless loser sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for seven wishes, but has trouble winning over the girl of his dreams.

Bedazzled

1967

The Hill poster
7.5

North Africa, World War II. British soldiers on the brink of collapse push beyond endurance to struggle up a brutal incline. It's not a military objective. It's The Hill, a manmade instrument of torture, a tower of sand seared by a white-hot sun. And the troops' tormentors are not the enemy, but their own comrades-at-arms.

The Hill

1965

Berserk! poster
5.6

A lady ringmaster milks the publicity from a string of murders.

Berserk!

1967

Where's Jack? poster
7.5

Based on the adventures of Jack Sheppard, the thief and jail-breaker who became a folk hero in 1720s London.

Where's Jack?

1969

Three Clear Sundays poster
6.0

Ken Loach production for The Wednesday Play, reflecting contemporary debates surrounding the abolishment of capital punishment.

Three Clear Sundays

1965

Marriage of Convenience poster
5.5

A young woman going to her wedding is waiting for her fiancée, a hood in custody, who is allowed by the police to go to his wedding.

Marriage of Convenience

1960

No artwork available
NR

Teacher Alec Waterman is released from jail after a sentence for fraud. Dick Sothers gets him a job with Lucas Builders but when Alec starts to make new friends he becomes trapped between his old life and his new life.

The Swindler

1963

Series credits

The Avengers poster
7.8

A quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).

The Avengers

1961

The Avengers poster
7.8

A quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).

The Avengers

1961

The Saint poster
7.4

Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need.

The Saint

1962

Peak Practice poster
6.5

Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time. It originally starred Kevin Whately as Dr Jack Kerruish, Amanda Burton as Dr Beth Glover and Simon Shepherd as Dr Will Preston, though the roster of doctors would change many times over the course of the series. Cardale was based on the Staffordshire village of Longnor for the final series, but was previously based in the Derbyshire village of Crich, although certain scenes were filmed at other nearby Derbyshire towns and villages, most notably Matlock, Belper and Ashover.

Peak Practice

1993

Waking the Dead poster
7.2

A detective team apply new techniques to old crimes as they solve cold cases.

Waking the Dead

2001

No Hiding Place poster
4.8

No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series Murder Bag and Crime Sheet, all starring Raymond Francis as Detective Superintendent, later Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart.

No Hiding Place

1959

Only Fools and Horses poster
8.1

Only Fools and Horses.... Is a British sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally transmitted on BBC One from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until 2003. In working-class Peckham in south-east London, ambitious market trader Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter and his younger half-brother Rodney, explore their highs and lows in life, in particular their attempts to get rich. Initially not an immediate hit and receiving little promotion early on, it later achieved consistently high ratings, and the 1996 episode "Time on Our Hands" (originally billed as the series finale) holds the record for the biggest UK audience for a sitcom episode, attracting 24.3 million viewers. The series bears a significant influence on British culture, contributing several words and phrases to the English language.

Only Fools and Horses

1981

All Creatures Great and Small poster
7.8

The trials and misadventures of the staff at a country veterinary office in Yorkshire. James Herriot, a young animal surgeon, moves to a small Yorkshire town to begin his first job.

All Creatures Great and Small

1978

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes poster
7.5

An anthology series produced by Thames Television, comprised of short mystery, suspense or crime adaptations featuring, as the title suggests, detectives who were literary contemporaries of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

1971

Born and Bred poster
9.0

In the 1950s at the fictional Lancashire village of Ormston, a father and son, both doctors, navigate the challenges of running a cottage hospital under the newly established National Health Service.

Born and Bred

2002

The Adventurer poster
6.3

The Adventurer is an ITC Entertainment TV adventure series created by Dennis Spooner that ran for one season from 1972 to 1973. It premiered in the UK on 29 September 1972. The show starred Gene Barry as Gene Bradley, a government agent of independent means who poses as a glamorous American movie star.

The Adventurer

1972

Man in a Suitcase poster
7.2

Accused of treason, a former U.S. intelligence officer based in London tries to clear his name, taking on freelance jobs around Europe as he searches for answers.

Man in a Suitcase

1967

Ace of Wands poster
6.3

Ace of Wands is a fantasy-based British children's television show broadcast on ITV between 1970 and 1972, created by Trevor Preston and Pamela Lonsdale and produced by Thames Television. The title, taken from the name of a Tarot card describes the principal character, called "Tarot" who combined stage magic with supernatural powers. Tarot has a pet Owl named Ozymandias, played by Fred Owl. The series ran for two seasons of thirteen episodes and a third season of twenty, with fourteen story arcs, in a similar manner to early Doctor Who. Many, if not all, of the first 26 episodes are believed to have been wiped, although the final season is intact.

Ace of Wands

1970

Private Schulz poster
5.3

Private Schulz is a six-part 1981 television comedy-drama serial written by Jack Pulman and produced for BBC Two. It stars Michael Elphick in the title role, with Ian Richardson, Tony Caunter, Billie Whitelaw, Billy Murray, and Mark Wingett. Set primarily in Germany, during and immediately following World War II, fraudster and petty criminal Gerhard Schulz is forced to serve in the SS. In a story based on the real, though unrealised, plot by the Germans known as Operation Bernhard, Schulz tricks the Nazis into making counterfeit British £5 notes, millions of which will be used to destroy the British economy.

Private Schulz

1981

A.D. poster
5.4

A.D. is a 1985 television drama miniseries created and written by Vincenzo Labella and Anthony Burgess, based on Burgess' historical novel The Kingdom of the Wicked. The five-part serial is considered the third and final part of a trilogy, preceded by Moses the Lawgiver (1974) and Jesus of Nazareth (1977). Set just after Jesus' Crucifixion, the lives and adventures of His disciples are explored, and events in Rome during the reigns of Emperors Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero.

A.D.

1985

The Six Wives of Henry VIII poster
8.1

A six-episode dramatisation of Henry VIII's relationships with each of his six wives. Each episode, with a different writer, is devoted to one wife, and is a complete play in itself.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII

1970

Rescue Me poster
8.0

Rescue Me is a British romantic comedy television series produced by Tiger Aspect Productions and broadcast on BBC One from 3 March to 7 April 2002. It was created, and principally written, by David Nicholls, and stars Sally Phillips as Katie Nash, a woman recovering from a divorce while at the same time writing relationship features for women's magazine Eden. Filming took place from November to December 2001. Six episodes aired, averaging 3.4 million viewers and a 15% audience share in its Sunday night timeslot. The low ratings meant it was not recommissioned for a second series, leaving an unresolved cliffhanger. Nicholls had written four episodes of the unmade second series before discovering the series had been cancelled.

Rescue Me

2002

Into the Labyrinth poster
7.1

Three children stumble upon imprisoned sorcerer Rothgo and are drawn into a mysterious search through time for the magical Nidus, which has been stolen by the evil witch Belor.

Into the Labyrinth

1981

Into the Labyrinth poster
7.1

Three children stumble upon imprisoned sorcerer Rothgo and are drawn into a mysterious search through time for the magical Nidus, which has been stolen by the evil witch Belor.

Into the Labyrinth

1981

Counterstrike poster
7.0

Simon King, an alien agent from the Inter Galactic Council, is sent to Earth on a mission to stop unscrupulous refugees from a dying planet from wiping out Mankind and taking over the planet Earth.

Counterstrike

1969

Tom Grattan's War poster
NR

During World War I, young Londoner Tom Grattan is sent to live with relatives in rural Yorkshire, where he becomes involved in espionage, sabotage, and other wartime adventures with local friends, facing threats like spies and German POWs.

Tom Grattan's War

1968

Jamaica Inn poster
5.0

In the early 1800s, Mary Yellan's life is changed after her father is murdered by shipwreckers. When her mother dies of a broken heart not long afterwards, Mary is forced to go live with her Aunt Patience at her inn on Bodmin Moor. It's there that she discovers her slightly mad Uncle Joss is the wreckers' ringleader and that Jamaica Inn is their headquarters. Mary is determined to bring Joss and his gang to justice and calls upon Joss' younger brother Jem to help.

Jamaica Inn

1983

Freud poster
5.0

Freud, also known as Freud: The Life of a Dream, is a 1984 six-part BBC television serial dramatised by Carey Harrison, and starring David Suchet as Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Each episode begins with Freud and his family in London, where they had fled from Vienna in 1938 following the Nazi Anschluss, leading up to Freud's death a little over a year later. The rest of the episodes are told mainly in flashbacks to key moments in Freud's life and career.

Freud

1984

No artwork available
8.0

A former army officer tries to adapt to life on 'Civvy Street'.

Fair Game

1958

The Mysteries poster
NR

National Theatre Cottesloe production filmed for Channel 4

The Mysteries

1985