British actor
Edward de Souza |
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| Born | Edward James de Souza
(1932-09-04) 4 September 1932 (age 91)
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| Occupation | Actor |
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| Years active | 1957–2014 |
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Edward James de Souza (born 4 September 1932)[2] is a British character actor and graduate of RADA, who is of Portuguese-Indian and English descent.[3]
Early life
De Souza was the only child of Annie Adeline Swift (née Calvert) and Edward Valentine De Souza Jr. (Rangoon 1881–1947), a graduate of the University of Cambridge who was of Portuguese-Indian descent (his father was born in Goa). De Souza was brought up primarily by his mother because his father died when De Souza was 14.
Career
From 1961 to 1966, he starred in the sitcom Marriage Lines with Richard Briers and Prunella Scales. De Souza had roles in the Hammer films The Phantom of the Opera and The Kiss of the Vampire (both 1962). In the same year, he appeared in "Six Hands Across the Table", an episode of the British television series The Avengers.
De Souza appeared as the lead character, space security agent Marc Cory, in the Doctor Who story "Mission to the Unknown" (1965) – the only story ever broadcast in the series not to feature the Doctor in any capacity.[4] In 1977, he played Sheik Hosein in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.[5] He was solicitor Bonny Bernard in the first series of Rumpole of the Bailey (1978). In the same year, he appeared in "Hearts and Minds", the last episode of The Sweeney to be filmed, which featured the popular comedians Morecambe and Wise. In 1982, he appeared in the final Sapphire & Steel adventure as "The Man". He appeared in Edward the Seventh (1975), After Henry (1989–1990), and Farrington. He had a cameo in the 2007 fantasy film The Golden Compass. In succession to Valentine Dyall, the originator of the role, he was The Man in Black on BBC Radio 4 between 1988 and 1992. In 1993, De Souza played the role of Afonso in the One Foot in the Grave special One Foot in the Algarve.
He joined the British soap opera Coronation Street as Colin Grimshaw, making his first appearance on 12 December 2008.[6] His character died in May 2009.[7]
