James Hayter

Acting

James Hayter

Born — Died

1907-04-23 — 1983-03-27

Place of birth

Lonavala, India

Known for

Acting

Credits

77 titles

James Hayter (23 April 1907 – 27 March 1983) was a British actor. He was born in Lonavala, India, brought up in Scotland and died in Spain. His best remembered film roles include Friar Tuck in the 1952 film The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men and Samuel Pickwick in The Pickwick Papers of the same year. His rotund appearance and fruity voice made him a natural choice for such roles. A pupil of Dollar Academy, he became a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, his film career began in 1936 in Sensation, but was interrupted by World War II during which he served in the Royal Armoured Corps. His later career included roles in TV series such as The Forsyte Saga (1967), The …

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 Adventures of Robin Hood poster
6.4

The legendary character Robin Hood and his band of merry men in Sherwood Forest and the surrounding vicinity. While some episodes dramatised the traditional Robin Hood tales, most episodes were original dramas created by the show's writers and producers.

The Adventures of Robin Hood

1955

Lawrence of Arabia poster
8.0

During World War I, English officer Thomas Edward 'T.E.' Lawrence sets out to unite and lead the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes to fight the Turks.

Lawrence of Arabia

1962

Are You Being Served? poster
7.3

This comedy series, which follows the exploits of employees at London's fictional "Grace Brothers" department store, is full of sexual innuendo, slapstick, visual gags, and double entendres. Much of the show's humor parodies Britain's class system, and many of the show's characters are based on stereotypes of the period, including the effeminate Mr. Humphries and the rich, but stingy, store owner.

Are You Being Served?

1972

The Onedin Line poster
7.0

The Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series which ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and deals with the rise of a shipping line, the Onedin Line, named after its owner James Onedin. Around this central theme are the lives of his family, most notably his brother and partner, shop owner Robert, and his sister Elizabeth, giving insight into the lifestyle and customs at the time, not only at sea, but also ashore. The series also illustrates some of the changes in business and shipping, such as from wooden to steel ships and from sailing ships to steam ships. It shows the role that ships played in affairs like international politics, uprisings and the slave trade.

The Onedin Line

1971

Mark Saber poster
8.0

A half-hour 1950s detective television series that took different forms and titles during its run. From October 1951 to June 1954, ABC Mystery Theater stars Tom Conway as the titular character, a plainclothes English detective working with the NYPD Homicide Division. The Vise (seasons 1–4): Donald Gray portrays Saber as a one-armed private detective based in London. Broadcast on ABC from October 1954 to June 1957. Saber of London (seasons 5–7): Gray reprises his role in this final iteration, broadcast on NBC from September 1957 to May 1960.

Mark Saber

1954

Film credits

1970s · 5 titles

1960s · 6 titles

1950s · 25 titles

Night and the City poster
7.5

Londoner Harry Fabian is a second-rate con man looking for an angle. After years of putting up with Harry's schemes, his girlfriend, Mary, becomes fed up when he taps her for yet another loan.

Night and the City

1950

The Crimson Pirate poster
7.0

Burt Lancaster plays a pirate with a taste for intrigue and acrobatics who involves himself in the goings on of a revolution in the Caribbean in the late 1700s. A light hearted adventure involving prison breaks, an oddball scientist, sailing ships, naval fights and tons of swordplay.

The Crimson Pirate

1952

Beau Brummell poster
6.5

Captain George Bryan Brummell is a British soldier who appreciates fine clothing and innovative dress. Although he initially alienates the Prince of Wales with insulting comments about the prince's uniform designs, he eventually becomes his close confidant. Brummel also falls in love with the beautiful Lady Patricia Belham. However, his outspoken manner eventually leads to his being exiled to France.

Beau Brummell

1954

Land of the Pharaohs poster
6.5

A captured architect designs an ingenious plan to ensure the impregnability of the tomb of a self-absorbed Pharaoh, obsessed with the security of his next life.

Land of the Pharaohs

1955

The 39 Steps poster
6.3

In London, a diplomat accidentally becomes involved in the death of a British agent who's after a spy ring that covets British military secrets.

The 39 Steps

1959

For Better, for Worse poster
5.8

In postwar London a young graduate and his girlfriend decide to marry. Her well-to-do parents are not convinced, but they agree once he has got a £5.10.0 job and a 30/- a week single-room flat. The newly-weds find money fearfully tight, the flat cramped, the neighbours a trial, and her parents always hovering. Can faith conquer all? Is there some way of getting rid of tea-leaves except down the sink?

For Better, for Worse

1954

The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men poster
6.2

Young Robin Hood, in love with Maid Marian, enters an archery contest with his father at the King's palace. On the way home his father is murdered by henchmen of Prince John. Robin takes up the life of an outlaw, gathering together his band of merry men with him in Sherwood Forest, to avenge his father's death and to help the people of the land that Prince John are over taxing.

The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men

1952

I Was Monty's Double poster
6.9

The incredible but true story of how an impersonator was recruited to impersonate General Montgomery to mislead the Germans about his intentions before the North Africa campaign.

I Was Monty's Double

1958

Gideon's Day poster
6.4

Scotland Yard Inspector George Gideon starts his day off on the wrong foot when he gets a traffic-violation ticket from a young police officer. From there, his 'typical day" consists in learning that one of his most-trusted detectives has accepted bribes; hunts an escaped maniac who has murdered a girl; tracks a young girl suspected of involvement in a payroll robbery and then helps break up a bank robbery.

Gideon's Day

1958

Gideon's Day poster
6.4

Scotland Yard Inspector George Gideon starts his day off on the wrong foot when he gets a traffic-violation ticket from a young police officer. From there, his 'typical day" consists in learning that one of his most-trusted detectives has accepted bribes; hunts an escaped maniac who has murdered a girl; tracks a young girl suspected of involvement in a payroll robbery and then helps break up a bank robbery.

Gideon's Day

1958

Seven Waves Away poster
7.5

After a massive luxury liner sinks into the ocean, the ship's officer must command a rickety lifeboat, built for only nine, that is stuffed with over twenty desperate and injured passengers. As a hurricane approaches and the many wounded passengers struggle for life, difficult decisions must be made about who will remain on the boat and who must be cast to the sea in order to give others the chance to survive.

Seven Waves Away

1957

Port Afrique poster
5.9

An army veteran with a shattered leg returns to his home in Port Afrique after war only to find his wife has been murdered. He's determined to find the killer, even if it means uncovering family secrets he never knew about.

Port Afrique

1956

Trio poster
6.4

W. Somerset Maugham introduces three more of his stories about human foibles.

Trio

1950

The Pickwick Papers poster
7.0

The Pickwick Club sends Mr. Pickwick and a group of friends to travel across England and to report back on the interesting things they find...

The Pickwick Papers

1952

Tom Brown's Schooldays poster
7.0

In 1830s England, Tom Brown attends a rugby boys' school, where his moral and personal growth is formed through friendship, bullying–particularly from the cruel Flashman–and the influence of headmaster Dr Thomas Arnold.

Tom Brown's Schooldays

1951

Always a Bride poster
6.5

Set against the glitz and glamour of the French Riviera, this comedy follows the misadventures of a father and daughter con artist team (Ronald Squire and Peggy Cummins) who pose as a married couple and swindle wealthy clients at the region's swankiest resorts. But their scams take on a whole new dimension when daughter Clare falls for a British government bureaucrat (Terence Morgan) who may have a secret or two of his own. [Netflix]

Always a Bride

1953

Waterfront poster
6.5

When ship's fireman Peter McCabe walks out on his long-suffering wife, he leaves her impoverished, with two young daughters and a boy born soon after his departure. After an absence of fourteen years McCabe returns, sacked and humiliated, trailing trouble in his wake.

Waterfront

1950

It's a Wonderful World poster
5.8

Two aspiring songwriters finally manage to sell a tune by claiming that it was composed by a reclusive musical genius. When the tune hits the top of the charts, they find themselves having to produce the "real" composer.

It's a Wonderful World

1956

Calling Bulldog Drummond poster
6.5

Bulldog Drummond leaves retirement to help a Scotland Yard Sergeant catch thieves armed with radar.

Calling Bulldog Drummond

1951

A Day to Remember poster
7.4

A group of men from a London pub are going on a darts team outing to Boulogne. Various members of the party have different reasons for going and get involved in various adventures.

A Day to Remember

1953

The Captain's Table poster
6.0

A captain is promoted by his company from tramp steamers to their flagship passenger liner. Although he is a thoroughly competent sailor ready to take charge of such a ship, he is less prepared for the social duties his new position involves, not least the way he in which becomes the target for all the unattached women on board.

The Captain's Table

1959

Morning Departure poster
6.9

The crew of a submarine is trapped on the sea floor when it sinks. How can they be rescued before they run out of air?

Morning Departure

1950

Carry On Admiral poster
6.4

Two friends get drunk and decide to switch identities. One is a Parliamentary Secretary, and the other is the captain of a ship. The former's lack of sea knowledge causes several catastrophes, including torpedoing the First Lord of The Admiralty. The grass is always greener.... In this British comedy, two drunken comrades find out the truth of that saying when they decide to trade places for a while. One of the boozers is a public relations man who knows nothing about sailing, while the other is a captain for the Royal Navy. Comic mayhem ensues as the hapless "captain" tries to run his ship and follow orders.

Carry On Admiral

1957

The Awakening poster
6.5

"The Awakening" is a 1954 short drama film of Douglas Fairbanks Presents anthology series based on Nikolai Gogol's short story "The Overcoat".

The Awakening

1954

I'm A Stranger poster
6.3

When his grandfather dies, George Westcott (Patrick Doonan) returns home from India to collect his inheritance -- only to find that the will has mysteriously gone missing. As his greedy relatives try to seize the estate, George gets the help of a movie star (Greta Gynt), a window cleaner (James Hayter and a police inspector (Herbert Ross) to track down the missing will. It seems that justice will prevail -- but is George Wescott really George Wescott?

I'm A Stranger

1952

1940s · 21 titles

The Fallen Idol poster
7.2

Phillipe, the son of an ambassador in London, hero-worships his father's butler Baines. His perception of the man changes when he accidentally discovers the secret that Baines keeps and witnesses the consequences that adults' lies can cause.

The Fallen Idol

1948

Passport to Pimlico poster
6.9

When an unexploded WWII bomb is accidentally detonated in Pimlico, it reveals a treasure trove and documents proving that the region is in fact part of Burgundy, France and thus foreign territory. The British government attempts to regain control by setting up border controls and cutting off services to the area.

Passport to Pimlico

1949

Woman Hater poster
7.7

An English lord who dislikes women meets a French movie star who dislikes men.

Woman Hater

1948

Vice Versa poster
7.2

Businessman Paul Bultitude is sending his son Dick to a boarding school. While holding a magic stone from India, he wishes that he could be young again. His wish is immediately fulfilled and the two change bodies with each other. Mr Bultitude becomes a school boy who smokes cigars and has a very conservative view on child upbringing, while his son Dick becomes a gentleman who spends his time drinking lemonade and arranging children's parties.

Vice Versa

1948

For Them That Trespass poster
5.3

In this drama, a frustrated upper-class writer decides that he will find real inspiration by examining his subjects first-hand. This leads him to begin wandering about the seamiest side of town where he witnesses a murder. When an innocent man is arrested, the writer refuses to assist him as the knowledge that he has been "slumming" could destroy his career. The young man is sentenced to 15 years in prison.

For Them That Trespass

1949

Once a Jolly Swagman poster
5.8

A factory worker quits his job to become a motorcycle racer.

Once a Jolly Swagman

1949

Bonnie Prince Charlie poster
5.5

Scotland, 1745. After decades of exile, Prince Charles Edward Stuart secretly lands with the purpose of revolting the Highland chieftains against the German House of Hanover, ruler of Great Britain.

Bonnie Prince Charlie

1948

Helter Skelter poster
6.4

A detective gets involved with a wealthy socialite who can't seem to stop hiccuping.

Helter Skelter

1949

The End of the River poster
6.3

A South American Indian is taken from his jungle home into the world of the White Man where he is forced to stand trial for murder.

The End of the River

1947

The October Man poster
6.2

Jim Ackland, who suffers from a head injury sustained in a bus crash, is the chief suspect in a murder hunt, when a girl that he has just met is found dead on the local common, and he has no alibi for the time she was killed.

The October Man

1947

The Spider and the Fly poster
6.9

"The Spider and the Fly is set in Paris during the cloud-cuckoo days before WW I. The storyline intertwines the destinies of three people. Guy Rolfe plays Phillipe de Ledocq, a resourceful safecracker who always manages to elude arrest. Eric Portman is cast as police-chief Maubert, who will not rest until Ledocq is behind bars. And Nadia Gray is Madeleine, the woman beloved by both Ledocq and Maubert. Just as Maubert has managed to capture his man, Ledocq is released at the behest of the government, who wants him to steal secrets from the German embassy revealing the whereabouts of the Kaiser's secret agents. And just how does Madeleine figure into all of this? Spider and the Fly is a diverting precursor to the 1960s TV series It Takes a Thief." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Spider and the Fly

1949

School for Secrets poster
7.2

Wartime tale of a group of British scientists efforts to develop the first radar system. They did it just in time for it to be used in the Battle of Britain against the might of the Nazi Luftwaffe. Without it the little island could well have been overrun.

School for Secrets

1946

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby poster
6.7

A fatherless boy tries to make his fortune despite interference from his rich uncle.

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

1947

Captain Boycott poster
7.2

In 19th-century Ireland, when poverty-stricken tenants dispossessed by greedy landowner Captain Charles Boycott band together to assert their rights, patriotic farmer Hugh Davin leads the rebels. Choosing nonviolent resistance, the villagers ostracise their nemesis, who squanders his fortune to repair his ruined reputation and wagers what's left on a horse race.

Captain Boycott

1947

Quartet poster
6.3

Somerset Maugham introduces four of his tales in this anthology film: "The Facts of Life," "The Alien Corn," "The Kite," and "The Colonel's Lady."

Quartet

1948

A Song for Tomorrow poster
6.3

Derek Wardwell (Shaun Noble) is struck with amnesia, and the last thing he remembers is the beautiful voice of opera singer Helen Maxwell (Evelyn Maccabe). When he regains consciousness, Wardwell thinks he's in love with her. After his amnesia is cured, Wardwell returns to his fiancee while Helen begins a romance with his doctor.

A Song for Tomorrow

1948

The Blue Lagoon poster
5.8

In the Victorian period, two British children survive a shipwreck in the South Pacific. After days afloat, they are marooned on a lush tropical island in the company of kindly old sailor. Together they survive solely on their resourcefulness and the bounty of their remote paradise.

The Blue Lagoon

1949

The Mark of Cain poster
6.2

An attractive young French girl instigates rivalry between two brothers when she becomes the bride of the younger one. As the situation festers it leads to murder…

The Mark of Cain

1947

No Room at the Inn poster
8.5

A group of children are evacuated during world war two into the care of an alcoholic woman.

No Room at the Inn

1948

My Brother Jonathan poster
6.8

Jonathan Dakers' early ambition was to become a great surgeon and to marry Edie Martyn. But, on the death of his father, he is obliged to start work as a partner in a poor general practice in the Black Country. Edie falls in love with Jonathan's brother, Harold, who is killed in the Great War, and Jonathan marries her as planned. It is only afterwards that he realises he now loves another.

My Brother Jonathan

1948

Silent Dust poster
7.4

A wealthy blind man is determined to build a cricket pavilion as a memorial to his dead son, who was killed in battle in World War II. Not long before the dedication ceremony is to be held, the son shows up; it turns out that he wasn't killed in battle but deserted, and has become a blackmailer and a killer. He wants to get some money to "start a new life", but his blind father senses that something is wrong and sets out to find out what's going on.

Silent Dust

1949

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 Adventures of Robin Hood poster
6.4

The legendary character Robin Hood and his band of merry men in Sherwood Forest and the surrounding vicinity. While some episodes dramatised the traditional Robin Hood tales, most episodes were original dramas created by the show's writers and producers.

The Adventures of Robin Hood

1955

Are You Being Served? poster
7.3

This comedy series, which follows the exploits of employees at London's fictional "Grace Brothers" department store, is full of sexual innuendo, slapstick, visual gags, and double entendres. Much of the show's humor parodies Britain's class system, and many of the show's characters are based on stereotypes of the period, including the effeminate Mr. Humphries and the rich, but stingy, store owner.

Are You Being Served?

1972

The Onedin Line poster
7.0

The Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series which ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and deals with the rise of a shipping line, the Onedin Line, named after its owner James Onedin. Around this central theme are the lives of his family, most notably his brother and partner, shop owner Robert, and his sister Elizabeth, giving insight into the lifestyle and customs at the time, not only at sea, but also ashore. The series also illustrates some of the changes in business and shipping, such as from wooden to steel ships and from sailing ships to steam ships. It shows the role that ships played in affairs like international politics, uprisings and the slave trade.

The Onedin Line

1971

Mark Saber poster
8.0

A half-hour 1950s detective television series that took different forms and titles during its run. From October 1951 to June 1954, ABC Mystery Theater stars Tom Conway as the titular character, a plainclothes English detective working with the NYPD Homicide Division. The Vise (seasons 1–4): Donald Gray portrays Saber as a one-armed private detective based in London. Broadcast on ABC from October 1954 to June 1957. Saber of London (seasons 5–7): Gray reprises his role in this final iteration, broadcast on NBC from September 1957 to May 1960.

Mark Saber

1954

The World of Hammer poster
6.8

The World of Hammer is a thirteen-part British documentary series created and written by Robert and Ashley Sidaway for Channel 4. Initially broadcast from 12 August to 4 November 1994, the series is narrated by English actor and frequent Hammer collaborator Oliver Reed.

The World of Hammer

1994

Father Brown poster
7.1

Based on the short stories by G. K. Chesterton, Father Brown is a Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective.

Father Brown

1974

The Adventures of Don Quick poster
5.0

The Adventures of Don Quick is a science fiction comedy television series broadcast from October–December 1970, on ITV. Starring Ian Hendry and Ronald Lacey, six 50 minute episodes were made, shown in a 60 minute time slot. Based on the characters of Don Quixote, astronaut Captain Don Quick and Sergeant Sam Czopanser (i.e. "Sancho Panza") are members of the Intergalactic Maintenance Squad. On each planet they visit, Quick attempts to right imaginary wrongs, often upsetting the inhabitants of whatever society he's in. As of 2008, only the first episode exists, the other five are now missing. A technologically impressive 30 foot model spaceship was built in the studio for the series. However the first three episodes in a primetime slot failed to draw the required ratings so the last three were in a much later slot before the show was cancelled.

The Adventures of Don Quick

1970

No artwork available
NR

The World of Wodehouse was a comedy television series, based on the Blandings Castle and Ukridge comedy stories by P. G. Wodehouse. The series, which followed The World of Wooster, was shown on BBC Television during 1967 and 1968. Apart from one or more extracts from a solitary episode of Blandings Castle broadcast in February 1967, all episodes of both series are lost.

The World of Wodehouse

1967

The Flaxton Boys poster
6.0

The Flaxton Boys is a British historical children's television series produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, created by Sid Waddell. Four seasons—covering a specific period: 1854, during the Crimean War (series 1), 1890 (series 2), 1928 (series 3), and 1945, in the aftermath of WWII (series 4)—explore four generations of young men and their experiences at Flaxton Hall in Yorkshire.

The Flaxton Boys

1969

Wicked Women poster
NR

Dramas about women who made the headlines of Victorian newspapers.

Wicked Women

1970

Armchair Theatre poster
6.0

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

Armchair Theatre

1956

Armchair Theatre poster
6.0

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

Armchair Theatre

1956

Armchair Theatre poster
6.0

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

Armchair Theatre

1956

Armchair Theatre poster
6.0

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

Armchair Theatre

1956

No artwork available
8.0

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

Fair Game

1958

No artwork available
NR

What was the secret of the great deserted house overlooking the sea from the lonely peninsula on the Scottish coast? Why was the house so closely guarded by the silent men who would have no dealings with their neighbours' in the village below? In Judith Kerr's adaptation of John Buchan's most exciting novel Huntingtower you can see how chance brought together strange partners to solve the mystery. A retired grocer, a poet, and a band of tough, ragged Gorbals Boy Scouts combine forces to uncover the secret. Huntingtower by John Buchan was adapted as a six-part BBC Television Children's serial by Judith Kerr and first broadcast on the BBC-tv network on Sundays (5.35–6.05pm) from 16 June to 21 July 1957. It starred James Hayter and Richard Wordsworth.

Huntingtower

1957