Reginald Tate Reginald Tate ( 13 December 1896 – 23 August 1955 ) was an English actor , veteran of many roles on stage , in films and on television . He is remembered best as the first actor to play the television science - fiction character Professor Bernard Quatermass , in the 1953 BBC Television serial " The Quatermass Experiment " . Early life . Reginald Tate was born in Garforth , near Leeds in the West Riding of Yorkshire , and went to school in York . During World War I he served with the Northamptonshire Regiment and later with the Royal Flying Corps . He left the armed forces after the end of the war and studied acting at Leeds College of Music and Drama . He made his first professional acting appearance at Leeds Art Theatre in 1922 , and for the next four years was a resident performer both there and at the city ' s Little Theatre . In 1926 , he moved to London , with his first major role being in a production of " Romeo and Juliet " at the Strand Theatre . He had particular success with the lead role of Stanhope in R . C . Sherriff ' s play " Journey ' s End " , playing the part in a 1929 tour of Australia and New Zealand and again for a 1934 revival production at the Criterion Theatre in London . Film and television career . He made his film debut in 1934 in " Whispering Tongues " , and later in the decade also began to appear in the newer medium of television . On 11 November 1937 , Tate appeared as Stanhope again in a production of " Journey ' s End " made by the BBC ' s fledgling television service , one of its earliest major drama productions . His performance was praised by the television critic of " The Times " newspaper , who wrote that : " his performance [ was ] brilliantly full of fiery disillusionment . It successfully dominated the stage — no easy matter when Osborne is played as well as Mr . Basil Gill played him . " At the beginning of the Second World War he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve . He was given the rank of Pilot Officer , and by the time his service came to an end in 1944 he had been promoted to Squadron Leader . He also continued to act during the war , and performed small roles in the well - known films " The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp " ( 1943 ) and " The Way Ahead " ( 1944 ) . After the end of the war he continued to perform for theatre and increasingly for television . He met the Austrian television director Rudolph Cartier when Cartier cast him in his BBC production of " It Is Midnight , Dr Schweitzer " in February 1953 . Cartier was impressed with Tate ' s performance , and later that year offered him the lead role in " The Quatermass Experiment " , a science - fiction serial he was directing , written by BBC staff scriptwriter Nigel Kneale . Tate was the second choice for the part of Professor Bernard Quatermass ; Cartier had previously offered it to his co - star " It Is Midnight , Dr Schweitzer " , André Morell , who declined the role . Morell would later play Quatermass for the third instalment of the series , " Quatermass and the Pit " . Tate however was a success in the part , and in a 1986 interview Nigel Kneale named him as his favourite of all the actors to have played the character . The serial itself was also a success , with the British Film Institute later describing it as " one of the most influential series of the 1950s . " Tate took an increased interest in television , and later in 1953 enrolled on the BBC ' s staff training course to become a television producer . He also began to spend much of his spare time teaching acting classes at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art ( RADA ) , feeling that he had experience which might be useful to younger actors . Death . When the BBC commissioned a second " Quatermass " serial in 1955 , Tate was eager to participate and play the Professor again . Production was due to begin in September , and on 7 August 1955 he produced his first television play , " Night Was Our Friend " . Only sixteen days after this , late at night on 23 August , he collapsed outside of his home in London . He had suffered a heart attack , and despite being rushed to hospital in Putney he died soon afterwards .