Actor George Sewell dies

Published Thursday 5 April 2007 at 11:35 by Patrick Newley

George Sewell, one of British television’s most celebrated character actors, has died aged 83. He had been suffering from cancer.

Famous for such roles as Det Chief Inspector Craven in Special Branch and Col Alec Freeman in the cult sci-fi series UFO, Sewell also had a successful film career, notably appearing as Con McCarty in Mike Hodge’s crime thriller Get Carter.

London-born Sewell initially had no aspirations to become an actor, but a chance meeting with the actor Dudley Sutton led to him auditioning for Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop. She cast him as a policeman in the Frank Norman and Lionel Bart musical Fings Ain’t Wot They Use T’Be, after which he began a career in television.

His numerous TV credits included Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Z Cars, Softly Softly, The Power Game and Public Eye. His most recent appearances had been on Heartbeat and Doctors.

He died on April 2, 2007.

A full obituary will appear in a future edition of The Stage.