- He was best known as the voice of Captain Scarlett and as Francis Durbridge's suave gentleman sleuth Paul Temple (1969) in the popular TV series of the 1960's and 70's.
- He did his National Service in the Royal Navy.
- In 1975 he was awarded a Silver goblet by Italy for being the country's 2nd most popular actor.
- He played Suzan Farmer's husband in Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) and her brother in Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966).
- He was on the shortlist for the Castellan (played by Paul Jerricho) in Arc of Infinity: Part One (1983) and he was considered for Russell (played by Terry Molloy) in Attack of the Cybermen: Part One (1985).
- He killed Christopher Lee in both Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) and Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966).
- Had a part in the opening montage sequence of the film The Wrong Box (1966) but his part was cut out.
- He made his West End debut as Martin in 'The Devil Was Sick' at the Fortune Theatre but the play only ran for 2 weeks.
- He made his theatrical debut as a young miner in The Corn is Green at the Princess Theatre, Bradford in July 1945.
- He began work in the theatre as an Assistant Stage Manager at the old Theatre Royal in Leeds when he was 17, and got his first role as a school boy in Emlyn Williams' "The Corn is Green".
- He was the father of actors Damien Matthews and Paul Rattigan and older brother of actor Paul Shelley. Both his son Paul and his brother had to change their names because there was already an actor called Paul Matthews.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content