Cast & creator
George Murcell
Best known for The Avengers, The Saint, The Saint
Arthur George Murcell (30 October 1925 – 3 December 1998) was a British character actor. Born in Italy, he made his film debut in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Battle of the River Plate (1956), Murcell went on to develop a career playing snarling villains in both film and television. These could either be stupid, brutish henchmen, as in Hell Drivers and Campbell's Kingdom (both 1957), or sophisticated rogues, such as Needle in "You Have Just Been Murdered", an episode of The Avengers. He specialised in playing foreign characters, including Germans, Russians and South Americans. A number of these roles were in ITC adventure TV series of the 1960s and 1970s, such as Danger Man, The Baron, The Saint, The Champions (Reply Box No.666 episode, 1967) Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), The Persuaders! and Jason King. His film roles included Sea of Sand (1958), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), The Heroes of Telemark (1965), Kaleidoscope (1966), The Fixer (1968), A Dandy in Aspic (1968), The Assassination Bureau (1969), A Walk with Love and Death (1969), Penny Gold (1973), Special Branch (1974), Inside the Third Reich (1982, as Hermann Göring), Year of the Gun (1991), and Cutthroat Island (1995). He enjoyed a long stage career, which involved working with Tyrone Guthrie and Peter Brook, and was active in the Royal Shakespeare Company.In the 1970s, he acquired a Victorian church in North London, which he converted into an Elizabethan-style theatre in collaboration with director Adrian Brown. In 1973, he opened it as "St George's Theatre", intending that it present little-seen classical plays. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he continued to work at St George's Theatre as both an actor and a director, often with his wife, Elvi Hale.
35
film credits
33
television credits
68
1950–2022 · acting roles
6.5
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (68)
Showing 68 of 68 credits
The Avengers
Needle
1961
The Saint
Vogler
1962The Saint
Abdul Graner
1962
The Professionals
Yashinkov
1977
Theatre 625
Delamarche
1964Theatre 625
Wensley Grafton
1964Theatre 625
Grels
1964
Thirty-Minute Theatre
Second Man
1965
No Hiding Place
1959
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Sheriff's Guard
1955
Sunday Night Theatre
M. Lafarge
1950Sunday Night Theatre
1950
Danger Man
Bruno
1960
The Champions
Nikko
1968The Champions
El Gaudillo
1968Sunday-Night Play
Gannerac
1960
The Persuaders!
Zorakin
1971
Gideon's Way
Kautsky
1965
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot
Jaggyd
1956
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
Inspector Vandeleur
1971
You Only Live Twice
Russian Diplomat (uncredited)
1967
Jason King
1971
Manhunt
Franco
1970
The Informer
Willie Cluff
1966
Cutthroat Island
Mordachai Fingers
1995
Peter the Great
1986
Smuggler
Silas Kemble
1981
Supercar
1961
The Fall of the Roman Empire
Victorinus
1964
Inside the Third Reich
Herman Goering
1982
Armchair Theatre
Beno
1956
1990
Tiny
1977
The Heroes of Telemark
Sturmfuhrer
1965
Presented in Supercolorisation
Professor Rudolph Popkiss / Black Morgan (voice)
2022Presented in Supercolorisation
Professor Rudolph Popkiss (voice) (credit only)
2022
Year of the Gun
Pierre Bernier
1991
The Battle of the River Plate
Chief Officer, Newton Beach
1956
Hell Drivers
Tub
1957
A Dandy in Aspic
1968
Armchair Cinema
Maître Rabut
1974
Pascali's Island
Herr Gesing
1988Rogues' Gallery
Sir Esmond Bellasize
1968
The Horsemen
Mizrar
1971
The Assassination Bureau
Zeppelin pilot
1969
Kaleidoscope
Johnny
1966
The Year of the Sex Olympics
Grels
1968
The Pursuers
Freddy
1961
Mafia Junction
1973
Don't Panic Chaps
Meister
1959
There Was a Crooked Man
Receptionist at 'The McKillup Arms'
1960
The Naked Runner
1967
Sea of Sand
Cpl. Simms
1958
Blood of the Vampire
First Guard
1958
The Prison
Maître Rabut
1974
A Walk with Love and Death
The Captain
1969
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
1975
In Search of the Castaways
Ayerton's Assistant
1962
The Angry Silence
Jones
1960
Campbell's Kingdom
Max, a worker
1957
Penny Gold
Doctor Merrick
1973A Sound from the Sea
George
1970
The Cherry Orchard
Yermolai Alexeyevich Lopahin
1962
Sea Fury
Loudon
1958
Crossroads to Crime
Diamond
1960The Merry Christmas
Mr. Fezziwig
1955
Penelope Pulls It Off
Owen
1975
The Ice Princess
1996
The Possessed
Liputin
1969