John Warnaby
Acting
Biography
John Warnaby (6 November 1960 – 13 April 2024) was a British actor on stage, television and in films. In later life he became a Catholic priest. John Michael Warnaby was born on 6 November 1960. He attended St Teresa’s Primary School in the Birmingham suburb of Handsworth Wood, before going to St Philip’s College in Edgbaston from 1971 to 1979. Between 1979 and 1982 he read theology at Oriel College, Oxford. After university Warnaby worked for the Corporation of Lloyd’s as a regulator in the area of solvency and financial reporting. He set up an office in Atlanta, Georgia in the USA, where he worked with investors for two years. He continued to work in this field until 2000. While still working for Lloyd's, Warnaby embarked on a career as an actor. His breakthrough came in 1988 in a stage adaptation of Tom Stoppard's radio play Artist Descending a Staircase, directed by Tim Luscombe, in which Warnaby played the young version of the character Donner (the older version being played by Frank Middlemass). It was first performed at the Kings Head, Islington, London, later transferring to the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End. Warnaby joined the RSC for the 1990/91 season in The Swan in Stratford and the Pit at the Barbican in London. He played Paris in Sam Mendes' production of Troilus and Cressida (played by Ralph Fiennes and Amanda Root) and doubled as the Earl of Lancaster and the Abbot of Neath in Gerard Murphy's production of Edward II (played by Simon Russell Beale). He also appeared in Richard Nelson's Two Shakespearean Actors, directed by Roger Michell, and The Shakespeare Revue, devised by Chris Luscombe. In 1996 Warnaby appeared at the National Theatre, playing Napoleon Bonaparte and Boris Dubretskoy in Helen Edmundson's adaptation of Tolstoy's War and Peace, directed by Nancy Meckler. In 2001 Warnaby played Freddie in Laurence Boswell's revival of Peter Nichols’ play A Day in the Death of Joe Egg at the Comedy Theatre in a cast which included Eddie Izzard, Victoria Hamilton and Prunella Scales. In 2006 he appeared in the television adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst’s novel The Line of Beauty. In Nicholas de Jongh's 2009 stage hit in London Plague Over England, Warnaby played both 1950s Home Secretary David Maxwell Fyfe and an acerbic theatre critic. In later life, Warnaby retired from acting and trained as a Catholic priest. In 2013 he was sent to the Pontifical Beda College in Rome. On his ordination in 2017, his first appointment was as Assistant Priest at St Monica’s, Palmers Green. In 2019 he moved to St George’s, Sudbury as Assistant Priest. The following year he moved to St Joseph’s, Carpenders Park, initially as Assistant Priest and, from 2022, as Parish Priest. Warnaby died after a short illness on 13 April 2024, at the age of 63. His funeral took place in his own parish of St Joseph's. Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, presided over the Requiem Mass
Known For
The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.
Midsomer Murders
From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule Poirot pits his wits against a collection of first class deceptions.
Agatha Christie's Poirot
A team of exceptional forensic pathologists and scientists investigate heinous crimes and use their skills to catch the people responsible.
Silent Witness
Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time. It originally starred Kevin Whately as Dr Jack Kerruish, Amanda Burton as Dr Beth Glover and Simon Shepherd as Dr Will Preston, though the roster of doctors would change many times over the course of the series. Cardale was based on the Staffordshire village of Longnor for the final series, but was previously based in the Derbyshire village of Crich, although certain scenes were filmed at other nearby Derbyshire towns and villages, most notably Matlock, Belper and Ashover.
Peak Practice
New Tricks is a British comedy-drama that follows the work of the fictional Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad of the Metropolitan Police Service. Originally led by Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, it is made up of retired police officers who have been recruited to reinvestigate unsolved crimes.
New Tricks
Jack Frost is a gritty, dogged and unconventional detective with sympathy for the underdog and an instinct for moral justice who attracts trouble like a magnet. Despite some animosity with his superintendent, Norman “Horn-rimmed Harry” Mullett, Frost and his ever-changing roster of assistants manage to solve cases via his clever mind, good heart, and cool touch.
A Touch of Frost
Series of single made-for-television dramas.
Screen Two
The daily lives of a group of soldiers in 'B' Company, 1st Battalion The King's Fusiliers.
Soldier Soldier
The Ruth Rendell mysteries is a British television series made by TVS and Meridian Television for ITV between 2 August 1987 and 11 October 2000.
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries
Set in 17th century Paris, musketeers Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan are members of an elite band of soldiers who fight for what is just. They are heroes in the truest and most abiding sense – men that can be trusted and believed in to do the right thing, regardless of personal risk.
The Musketeers
The adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a likeable but roguish antiques dealer based in East Anglia. Within the trade, he has a reputation as a “divvie”, a person with an almost supernatural powers for recognising exceptional items as well as distinguishing genuine antique from clever fakes or forgeries.
Lovejoy
A team of undercover teenage spies working for the fictional British secret intelligence agency MI9 who have to balance their school life with their jobs as secret agents.
M.I. High
Detective Superintendent Tony Clark is an ambitious member of the Complaints Investigation Bureau, an internal organisation that investigates claims of corruption inside the police in England and Wales. Along the way Clark overcomes strong influence from his superiors and problems in his private life, most notably the break-up of his marriage following an affair with WPC Jenny Dean.
Between the Lines
It's her business doing pleasure with you. A witty and provocative series based on the real-life adventures of a high-class escort. Juggling her own reality with her clients' fantasies can be difficult, but this savvy sweetheart knows every trick in the book, and she's doing it in style.
Secret Diary of a Call Girl
An adaptation of the successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France. Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.
Les Misérables
The New Statesman is a British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time.
The New Statesman
The King's Speech tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stutter and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country into war.
The King's Speech
An NYPD officer transfers his family to a space station.
Space Precinct
The absurd adventures of two defective detectives, who - despite unbelievable incompetence - somehow manage to solve their cases (or be nearby when the cases are solved) and retain their jobs.
The Detectives
Hamish Macbeth is a comedy-drama series made by BBC Scotland and first aired in 1995. It is loosely based on a series of mystery novels by M. C. Beaton. The series concerns a local police officer, Constable Hamish Macbeth in the fictitious town of Lochdubh on the west coast of Scotland. The titular character was played by Robert Carlyle. It ran for three series from 1995 to 1997, with the first two series having six episodes and the third having eight.