A distinguished stage actor, Ernest Clark was best known to British
television viewers for his role as the crusty "Sir Geoffrey Loftus" in
the long running "Doctor" comedy series during the 1970s.
Born in Maida Vale, Clark was the son of a master builder and was
educated at Marylebone Grammar School. His first job was as a reporter
on a local newspaper and he was also a keen amateur actor.
He made his first professional appearance at the Festival Theatre,
Cambridge in 1937 and, throughout the 1930s and 40s, was rarely off the
West End stage. In New York in 1950, he garnered rave reviews for his
appearance in T.S. Eliot's "The Cocktail
Party".
A prolific screen character actor, he was usually cast in cold,
tight-lipped roles in British war films.
He was vice-president of Equity, the British actor's union, from
1964-69 and president from 1970-73. An articulate, outspoken and often
witty commentator for the acting profession, he always argued on the
side of regulated entry into what he described as "an overcrowded
industry".
Clark's first two marriages were dissolved. His third wife was
'Julia
Lockwood', the daughter of the
British film star Margaret Lockwood.
