Anton Rodgers

Dec 5 2007 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

HIS domed head and quizzical, close-eyed gaze from heavily-rimmed glasses suggested a wise owl of superior feather, appraising the lower life forms grubbing about beneath his perch.

And, indeed, in later life, he was ideally cast as a lofty, middle-class figure, slightly adrift in the modern world.

Thus, Anton Rodgers became one of the most familiar faces on British TV and stage, though his generally affable bearing could be changed into something more sinister, if the part so demanded.

But the sitcoms in which he starred in the 1980s and ’90s, Fresh Fields, 27 episodes leading into French Fields, 19 episodes; and May to December, 39 episodes, left a lasting impression.

In the first two, he plays William Fields opposite the wonderful Julia McKenzie (Hester Fields).

It is pretty standard British fare, in which a lively, middle-aged woman, at last free from her children, attempts to prod her sedate Financial Times-reading husband into a more adventurous life. The banality of the idea is lifted by John Chapman’s lively scripts and sparkling performances from the couple.

May to September was a spring/autumn romance between a solicitor and a winsome, young PE teacher (Eve Matheson) on the bounce from a divorce.

Rodgers was perhaps typecast by comedies, which charmed the public without exciting guffaws, but his long acting career had been more varied.

From Westminster School, Rodgers set out as a juvenile actor in repertory, touring as Pip in Great Expectations in 1948 and then in the title role in Terence Rattigan’s The Winslow Boy.

His commanding presence, versatile face and splendid sense of comic-timing enabled him to top the bill in a variety of West End shows, including The Boy Friend, The Crooked Mile (in which he broke a little from cast as the criminal Fingers) and then, And Another Thing.

On TV, he appeared in numerous plays and series, but his smooth manners could also be given a sinister ruffle as was seen more often in his films which included The Day of the Jackal, The Man Who Haunted Himself, East of Elephant Rock and The Fourth Protocol.

The extent of his acting range was perhaps not always appreciated, but Rodgers, married twice with five children, had a face remembered with a smile by nearly everybody.

Anton Rodgers, actor; born January 10, 1933,died December 1, 2007.