TUBULAR KNELLS: ANTON RODGERS

This morning I read of the death of British actor Anton Rodgers at the age of 74. Perhaps he's better known in the UK for the sitcoms 'Fresh Fields' and 'May To December', but for me there are two roles which always come to mind when I think of him.

Of course - to anyone who knows me - the first would be that of Number Two of "The Village" in "Schizoid Man", one of my favorite episodes of 'The Prisoner'. There's that veneer of urbanity, civility, in his ever so polite line readings that unnerves me. And it could be said that he was one of the few Number Twos who was able to defeat Number Six based on his own intelligence and not on dumb luck.

The other role is that of Jule Bernard in the original version of "The Day Of The Jackal". His is a pivotal role in that last forty minutes of the movie, one of the many people used by the Jackal in his quest to assassinate Charles DeGaulle.

And in one of those quirks of TV-related chance which I call "serendipiteevee", "The Day Of The Jackal" played on the Sundance Channel tonight. Mr. Rodgers is only in the film at best for ten minutes, but it served for the chance to say goodbye to the actor.

BCnU.....
Toby OB