# Redmond Phillips

Redmond Bernard Phillips (5 June 1912 – 3 November 1993) was a New Zealand actor and writer, particularly of theatre and television, who worked in his native country, as well as in England and Australia.

## Early life

Phillips was born in Reefton, New Zealand and began acting in the theatre while a student at Victoria University of Wellington. After moving to Sydney, Australia in the late 1930s he performed with Doris Fitton's pioneering Independent Theatre group and wrote material for radio star Jack Davey. During the Second World War he served as a staff sergeant with the Entertainment Unit of the Australian Army for which he also wrote material.

## Career

He moved to Britain in 1948 where he became a successful character actor in the theatre, working with the Nottingham Playhouse, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. From 1957 he started acting for television and appeared in many series such as Maigret, Danger Man, The Saint and The Avengers and in several plays produced by the BBC.
In 1968 he returned to Sydney and continued performing on stage with the Old Tote Theatre Company. He remained active in television playing roles in many series and was part of the regular cast of Spyforce playing the ruthless Colonel Cato.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1958 | The Golden Disc | 1st Recording Manager | Feature film |
| 1958 | A Night to Remember | Mr. Hoyle | Feature film |
| 1959 | Naked Fury | Inspector Stevens | Feature film |
| 1959 | Left Right and Centre | Mr. Smithson | Feature film |
| 1959 | Blind Date | Police Doctor | Feature film |
| 1960 | The Angry Silence | Ambulance Driver | Feature film |
| 1960 | There Was a Crooked Man | Padre | Feature film |
| 1960 | The Criminal | Prison Doctor | Feature film |
| 1963 | Love Is a Ball | Starcy | Feature film |
| 1963 | Tom Jones | Lawyer Dowling | Feature film |
| 1964 | The Gorgon | Hans | Feature film |
| 1971 | Demonstrator | Sir David Crawford | Feature film |
| 1978 | Little Boy Lost | Canon Pritchard | Feature film |
| 1980 | The Earthling | Bobby Burns | Feature film |
| 1983 | With Prejudice | Judge Nagle | Feature film |
| 1983 | Hostage | Priest | Feature film |
| 1983 | Now and Forever | Judge | Feature film |
| 1983 | Phar Lap | Sir Samuel Hordern | Feature film |
| 1984 | Razorback | Magistrate | Feature film |
| 1985 | Burke & Wills | Commissioner May | Feature film |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| | Maigret | | TV series |
| | Danger Man | | TV series |
| | The Saint | | TV series |
| | The Avengers | | TV series |
| | Spyforce | Colonel Cato | TV series |
| 1972 | Snake Gully with Dad and Dave | Mayor | TV series |
| 1975 | Scattergood: Friend of All | | TV series |

## Theatre
### As actor

| Year | Title | Role | Venue / Theatre Co. |
| 1940 | The Importance of Being Earnest | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1941 | The Life of the Insects | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1947 | The Country Wife | Dorilant | Metropolitan Theatre, Sydney |
| 1947 | As You Like It | Le Bleu | Metropolitan Theatre, Sydney |
| 1947 | Lady Windermere's Fan | Lord Augustus Norton | Metropolitan Theatre, Sydney |
| 1947 | No Room at the Inn | | Minerva Theatre, Sydney |
| | Henry VI, Part 1 | Vernon / Clerk of Chatham / Louis XI / Keeper | The Old Vic, London and Birmingham Repertory Theatre with Birmingham Repertory Company |
| 1949 | The Rivals | | Nottingham Playhouse |
| 1951 | Thieves’ Carnival | Sergeant / Town Crier | Birmingham Repertory Theatre with Birmingham Repertory Company |
| 1951 | Princess of Pandemonia | Mandelbaum, Jeweller | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1951 | The Rent Day | Hyssop | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1951 | The Wild Duck | Balding gentleman | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1951 | Oliver Twist | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1951-53 | Henry VI, Part 2 | Clerk of Chatham / Simcox | Birmingham Repertory Theatre & The Old Vic, London |
| 1951-53 | Henry VI, Part 3 | Keeper / Louis XI | The Old Vic, London & Birmingham Repertory Theatre with Birmingham Repertory Company |
| 1952 | Sherlock Holmes | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1952 | A Penny for a Song | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1952 | Point of Departure | The Manager | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1952 | South Wind | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1952 | Abraham Lincoln | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1952 | A Month in the Country | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1952 | Emmy | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1952-53 | The Tinder Box | Kufuffle | Birmingham Repertory Theatre with Birmingham Repertory Company |
| 1953 | Miser | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1953 | The Boy David | Jesse | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1953 | The Critic | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1953 | Henry IV, Part 1 | Shepherd, father to Joan / Vernon of the White-Rose or York faction | Birmingham Repertory Theatre & The Old Vic, London |
| 1954 | The Private Life of Helen Eteoneus | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1954 | The Moon in the Yellow River | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1954 | Tartuffe | Tartuffe | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1954 | Pericles | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1954 | Carrington, V.C. | Bombardier Owen | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1954 | Murder Will Speak | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1955 | The Silver Curlew | King Nollekens of Norfolk | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1955 | Noah | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1955 | You Never Can Tell | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1955 | The Enchanted | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1955 | Richard II | Edmund of Langley | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1955 | The Long Sunset | Portius | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1955 | Beauty in the Wood | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1955 | Caste | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1954 | Yellow Sands | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1956 | Salad Days | | His Majesty's Theatre, Auckland |
| 1956 | The Queen and the Rebels | | His Majesty's Theatre, Auckland |
| 1957 | Slave of Truth | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1957 | Sganarelle | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1957 | The Beaux' Stratagem | Scrub | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1957 | Lizard on the Rock | Arthur Canbery | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1958 | The Potting Shed | Father William Callifer | Globe Theatre & Theatre Royal, Brighton |
| 1960 | Anna Christie | Chris Christoferson | Oxford Playhouse with Meadow Players Ltd |
| 1961-62 | Much Ado About Nothing | Leonato | Royal Shakespeare Theatre with Royal Shakespeare Company |
| 1961-62 | Hamlet | Polonius | Royal Shakespeare Theatre with Royal Shakespeare Company |
| 1961-62 | Richard III | Lord Stanley | Royal Shakespeare Theatre with Royal Shakespeare Company |
| 1961-62 | As You Like It | Duke | Royal Shakespeare Theatre with Royal Shakespeare Company |
| 1964 | The Successor | | Bristol Old Vic – Theatre Royal |
| 1966 | Crack in the Ice | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1966 | The Life of Galileo | | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1968 | Breath of Spring | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1969 | Hadrian VII | | Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne |
| 1969 | Halfway Up the Tree | Vicar | Theatre Royal, Sydney |
| 1973 | The Dragon, The Donkey and The Nightingale | The Emperor | Bailey Hall, Sydney |
| 1975 | The Male of the Species | | Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide, Elizabethan Theatre |
| 1976 | Saturday Sunday Monday | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1976 | The Shoemaker's Holiday | Sir Roger Otley | Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre |
| 1977 | The Magistrate | Mr Bullamy | Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre |
| 1977 | The Alchemist | Tribulation Wholesome | UNSW Parade Theatre |
| 1977 | The Ultimate Obscenity | | UNSW Parade Theatre |
| 1977 | The Time Is Not Yet Ripe | An English Butler | Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre |
| 1978 | What Every Woman Knows | Charles Venables | Marian Street Theatre |
| 1980 | The Merry Wives of Windsor | Robert Shallow | Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre |
| 1981 | You Never Can Tell | William | Marian Street Theatre |
| 1982 | The Importance of Being Earnest | Lane | Marian Street Theatre |

### As crew

| Year | Title | Role | Venue / Theatre Co. |
| 1957-58 | School | Adaptation / lyrics | Birmingham Repertory Theatre & Princes Theatre, London with Birmingham Repertory Company |

## Radio

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1987 | The Man Who Wanted to Murder Sherlock Holmes | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |