Lionel Jeffries(1926-2010)

Actor
Writer
Director

Witnessing an assassination, a boy claims the assassins are hunting him. With his older sister, the pair escape numerous attacks and are aided by their grandfather and a resourceful young bystander even under the spectre of martial law.

Play trailer3:11

Sudden Terror (1970)

With his bald head, firm jawline and bristling moustache, Lionel Jeffries played a nice line of English eccentrics. This belied his RADA training. Following military service in WWII, he played his major roles - everything from Grandpa Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) to the Marquis of Queensberry in The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) - in the 1960s.

His surprisingly brief career as a director included the highly popular family films The Railway Children (1970) and The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972).

IMDbProStarmeter See rank

Awards
- 1 nomination total

Photos29

+ 24

Known for

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

7.0

Grandpa Potts

1968

First Men in the Moon

6.5

Joseph Cavor

1964

Camelot

6.6

King Pellinore

1967

The Spy with a Cold Nose

5.5

Stanley Farquhar

1966

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

Lexx
7.3
TV Series
- Father Borscht
- 2001
The Canterbury Tales
6.5
TV Series
- The Reeve (voice)
- 2000
Holby City
5.7
TV Series
- Harry
- 1999
Heaven on Earth
6.4
TV Movie
- Isaac Muller
- 1998
Performance
6.1
TV Series
- Captain
- 1995
The Mixer
6.6
TV Series
- Charles Ryder
- 1993
Woof!
7.1
TV Series
- Grandad
- 1993
Lovejoy
7.8
TV Series
- Percy Broderick
- 1993
Look at It This Way
8.2
TV Mini Series
- Bernie Koppel
- 1992
Casualty
6.0
TV Series
- Bill Tongue
- 1992
Rich Tea and Sympathy
7.2
TV Series
- Grandpa Rudge
- 1991
Boon
6.4
TV Series
- Sir Alan Bolton
- 1990
Inspector Morse
8.2
TV Series
- Charles Radford
- 1990
Jekyll and Hyde
6.1
TV Movie
- Jekyll's Father
- 1990
Ending Up
7.1
TV Movie
- Shorty
- 1989

Writer

Director

Videos6

The Notorious Landlady

First Men in the Moon

Personal details

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Alternative name
- Lionel Jefferies
Height
- 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
Born
- June 10, 1926
- Forest Hill, London, England, UK
Died
- February 19, 2010
- Poole, Dorset, England, UK(vascular dementia)
Spouse
- Eileen WalshJune 30, 1951 - February 19, 2010 (his death, 3 children)
Children
Other works
Stage: Appeared in Philip King's play, "See How They Run," at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, England, with Royce Mills, Maureen Lipman CBE, Simon William, John Alderton, Bill Pertwee, directed by Ray Cooney OBE.
Publicity listings

Did you know

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Trivia
Although he played Dick Van Dyke's father in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), he was six months his junior in real life.

Quotes
I was constantly rewriting the words of the comedy characters I was given to bring them a comic humanity. Most of the people I played were caught in desperation. In their hearts they knew that they were failures - but they would never admit it, even to themselves.