Alan Scarfe

British-Canadian actor (1946–2024) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alan John Scarfe[1] (8 June 1946 – 28 April 2024) was a British–Canadian actor, stage director and author. He was an Associate Director of the Stratford Festival (1976–77) and the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool (1967–68).

Born
Alan John Scarfe

(1946-06-08)8 June 1946
Harpenden, England
Died28 April 2024(2024-04-28) (aged 77)
Longueuil, Quebec, Canada
Occupations
  • Actor
  • Stage Director
  • Author
Yearsactive1962–2007
Quick facts Born, Died ...
Alan Scarfe
Alan Scarfe, 2005
Born
Alan John Scarfe

(1946-06-08)8 June 1946
Harpenden, England
Died28 April 2024(2024-04-28) (aged 77)
Longueuil, Quebec, Canada
Occupations
  • Actor
  • Stage Director
  • Author
Years active1962–2007
Spouse
(m. 1979; died 2019)
ChildrenJonathan Scarfe
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Scarfe won the 1985 Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for his role in The Bay Boy and earned two other Genie best actor nominations for Deserters (1984)[2] and Overnight (1986) and a Gemini Award nomination for best actor in aka Albert Walker (2003).[3] He won a Jessie Award for best actor in 2005 for his performance in Trying at the Vancouver Playhouse. In 2006 he won the Jury Prize for best supporting actor at the Austin Fantastic Fest in The Hamster Cage and the Vancouver Film Critics Circle honorary award for lifetime achievement.[4]

Early life

Scarfe was born in Harpenden, England to Gladys Ellen (née Hunt) (190890) and Neville Vincent Scarfe (190885), both university professors.[1] Neville Scarfe was the Founding Dean of the Faculty of Education at UBC and served in that position from 1956 to 1973.[5]

Career

Scarfe trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (1964–66) and began his career as a classical stage actor. He has performed over 100 major roles in theatres across Europe (London, Liverpool, Coventry, Paris, Lille, Copenhagen, The Hague, Madrid, Warsaw, Kraków, Moscow and St. Petersburg), Canada (eight seasons at the Stratford Festival, 1972-3, 1976–9, 1985, 1992, two seasons at the Shaw Festival, 1970, 1974, as well as Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax) and the United States (New York, Boston, New Haven, Stamford, Philadelphia, Seattle, Dallas and Los Angeles), including King Lear, Othello, Hamlet, Iago, Brutus, Cassius, Petruchio, Prospero, Cyrano de Bergerac, Doctor Faustus, Luther, Uncle Vanya, Verlaine, John Barrymore in Sheldon Rosen's Ned and Jack and Harras in Zuckmayer's The Devil's General. He is also a stage director whose productions have ranged from the works of Shakespeare to Albee, Brecht, Beckett, Arthur Miller, Harold Pinter, Yevgeny Schwarz and Preston Jones.[4]

Scarfe played NSA member Dr. Bradley Talmadge, the director of the Backstep Project operations, on the UPN series Seven Days.[4] He also had guest roles as two separate Romulan characters in Star Trek: The Next Generation and as Magistrate Augris in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Resistance".[6] In 2003 he co-starred with his son Jonathan in Burn: The Robert Wraight Story.[7]

After returning to Canada from Los Angeles in 2002, he began writing novels under the pseudonym Clanash Farjeon (an anagram of his full name). The titles include A Handbook for Attendants on the Insane: the Autobiography of Jack the Ripper as Revealed to Clanash Farjeon (which has been called 'one of the finest books on historical crime ever published'),[8] The Vampires of Ciudad Juarez, about the hypocrisy of the War on Drugs and the tragedy of 'las desaparecidas', The Vampires of 9/11, a political satire about America's blindness and inability to accept who the real culprits are, and the third book of the trilogy Vampires of the Holy Spirit completes the story in Rome during April 2005, the beginning of the papacy of Joseph Ratzinger. The first three can also be found in Italian (originally published by Gargoyle Books in Rome which since the death of the editor Paolo de Crescenzo[9] in 2013 has closed its doors) under the titles Le Memorie di Jack lo Squartatore, I vampiri di Ciudad Juarez (both translated by Chiara Vatteroni) and I vampiri dell'11 settembre (translated by Stefania Sapuppo). In March 2014 Mosaic Press published The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper as revealed to Clanash Farjeon[4] but this is no longer an approved edition.[10] All four novels have now been republished, fully revised and without the pseudonym, by Smart House Books[11] and have been retitled as The Revelation of Jack the Ripper, and the 'Carnivore Trilogy' as The Vampires of Juarez, The Demons of 9/11, and The Mask of the Holy Spirit.

The Vampires of Juarez was awarded the 2018 BIBA Star.[12] The Revelation of Jack the Ripper won the 2019 BIBA (Best Indie Book Award).[13] The Mask of the Holy Spirit won the 2020 BIBA for Satire.[14]

Personal life and death

Scarfe has a son named Jonathan Scarfe who is also an actor and director. He was married to Barbara March from 1979 until her death from cancer in 2019. They had a daughter named Antonia (Tosia) Scarfe who is a musician and composer.[4] Jonathan and Tosia collaborated on the short film Speak, Jonathan as director, Tosia as composer and performer of the title song, which won the Grand Jury Prize in the Short Category at Dances with Films in Los Angeles in 2001.[15] He has two brothers; Colin Scarfe who was a professor of astronomy at the University of Victoria,[16] and Brian Scarfe, who was a professor of economics at the University of Manitoba, University of Alberta, University of Regina, a senior university administrator at Alberta and Regina, and an Economics Consultant.[17] Scarfe described himself as a lifelong atheist.[18]

Scarfe died from colon cancer at his home in Longueuil, Quebec, on 28 April 2024, at the age of 77.[19][20]

Filmography

Film

More information Year, Title ...
Alan Scarfe film credits
YearTitleRole Ref.
1963The Bitter AshDes
1977Cathy's CurseGeorge Gimble[21]
1982Murder by PhoneJohn Websole
1983 The WarsCapt. Leather[22]
DesertersSergeant Ulysses Hawley[22]
1984 The Bay BoySgt. Tom Coldwell[22]
WallsRon Simmons[22]
1985 Joshua Then and NowJack Trimble[22]
OvernightVladimir Jezda[22]
1986Keeping TrackRoyle Wishart[22]
1987Street JusticeEugene Powers
1988Iron Eagle IICol. Vardovsky[22]
1989KingsgateDaniel Kingsgate[22]
1990Divided LoyaltiesGeorge Washington
1991Double ImpactNigel Griffith [23]
1992Lethal Weapon 3Herman Walters[23]
1993The PortraitDavid Severn[22]
1997 Back in BusinessDavid Ashby
The Wrong GuyFarmer Brown
SilenceLawyer
1998SanctuaryWilliam Dyson[22]
2005The Hamster CagePhil
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Television

More information Year, Title ...
Alan Scarfe television credits
YearTitleRoleNotes Ref.
1983Will There Really Be a Morning?Doctor #3TV movie[22]
1984The Littlest HoboDr. Richard Kellerman2 episodes[24]
1985The Execution of Raymond GrahamThe GovernorTV movie[22]
1986, 1989The Ray Bradbury TheaterMr. Nesbitt / John Oatis Kendall2 episodes[24]
1987American PlayhouseDr. Jim BaylissEpisode: "All My Sons"[22]
1988C.A.T. Squad: Python WolfBekkerTV movie[22]
1989Day OneErnest LawrenceTV movie[22]
1989HunterMilo1 episode[24]
1989Alien NationDrevni1 episode[25]
1989–1990Tour of DutyCol. Stringer5 episodes[24]
1990Columbo Cries WolfSir Harry MatthewsTV movie[22]
1990Jake and the FatmanJackson1 episode[24]
1990MacGyverMajor Krik1 episode[24]
1991The OwlHutchinsTV movie[22]
1991Mimi & MeUnknownTV movie[22]
1991Quantum LeapDr. Mason Crane1 episode[24]
1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation Admiral Mendak Episode: "Data's Day" (S4.E11) [24]
1993 Star Trek: The Next Generation Tokath Episode: "Birthright, Part II" (S6.E17) [24]
1993 Counterstrike Lord Shefield Episode: "Bad Guys" [25]
1993NYPD BlueThomas Wagner2 episodes[24]
1993Jericho FeverKlaus BausenTV movie[22]
1994 Gunsmoke: One Man's Justice Sean Devlin TV movie [25]
1994Heart of DarknessCaptain FenardTV movie[22]
1994HighlanderCraig Webster1 episode[25]
1994Without WarningGeneral Lucian AlexanderTV movie[22]
1995Star Trek: VoyagerAugrisEpisode: "Resistance"[24]
1996GridlockMartin JossTV movie[22]
1996John Woo's Once a ThiefRobertson GravesTV movie[22]
1997The Burning ZoneThe Coordinator1 episode[24]
1997, 1998The Outer LimitsDr. Royce / Montgomery Bennett2 episodes[24]
1998Due SouthWilson Warfield1 episode[24]
1998–2001 Seven Days Dr. Bradley Talmadge Main cast [24][25]
2002The Many Lives of Albert WalkerPaul MorrowTV movie[22]
2004Kingdom HospitalHenry Havens8 episodes[24]
2004Stargate AtlantisChancellor Druhin1 episode[24]
2004EarthseaArch MagusTV miniseries[22]
2004–2005AndromedaFlavin3 episodes[24]
2007 Babylon 5: The Lost Tales Father Cassidy TV movie [21]
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References

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