Bruce Purchase

Jun 13 2008 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

HE PLAYED with the greats and was great himself, the barrel-chested figure with the oft-sprouting whiskers, who knew applause in Liverpool, and passed an audition in front of the imperious gaze of Laurence Olivier – then gaining a mass audience when he was cast as the pirate captain of a spaceship, which went around destroying mineral-rich planets.

Bruce Purchase was born and raised near Auckland, New Zealand, where his enthusiasm for acting developed.

His mellow and full voice suited his physique, giving him a commanding presence on stage. In 1960, he was awarded a New Zealand Government Bursary to study at Rada and he graduated with honours.

From there he gained experience on radio, TV and the theatre at Ipswich and in Guildford, as well as the Ludlow Festival.

This led to him auditioning for Olivier’s first National Theatre Company at the Old Vic, appearing in eight productions, including Franco Zeffirelli’s Much Ado About Nothing and Noel Coward’s own production of Hay Fever.

After that, he had a spell at the Bristol Old Vic, while doing more TV.

He is perhaps best known for his memorable performance as the villainous captain in 1978’s four-part story, The Pirate Planet, for Doctor Who. Purchase starred opposite Tom Baker and Mary Tamm in a script by the young Douglas Adams.

A man of many talents, Purchase also wrote books on film-making and musical theatre. His paintings were exhibited in London, Oxford, Tokyo, New York, Denver and Los Angeles.

In 2003, he gave the first performance of Johnson is Leaving, John Wain's biography of Dr Samuel Johnson, at The Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Wain wrote the drama especially for Purchase after the two men met in Oxford. Purchase subsequently performed the play around the world.

Last year, he was taken seriously ill while touring in a production of The Last Confession, a drama about Papal intrigue, also starring David Suchet.

Purchase's autobiography Changing Skies was published shortly before he died, and delighted readers with anecdotes about a parade of celebrities, ranging from Roman Polanski and Franco Zeffirelli to Princess Alexandra, Noel Coward, and Sir Ian McKellen.

For 15 years, he was married to Elspeth Sandys, the writer, and for the past five years he had been living with Sara Hebblethwaite, an arts consultant.

Bruce Purchase, actor; born October 2, 1938, died June 5, 2008.