The Avengers Dossier, Page Twenty

Some of the greatest British dramatic and comedic actors of the 1960s showed up on "The Avengers" television series. Here's a brief look at one of them.

DOUGLAS WILMER
In "The Danger Makers", Douglas Wilmer is Dr. Long, a government psychiatrist that joins the Avengers in their investigation of the mysterious and reckless behaviors that are claiming the lives of decorated British military officers.

Born in 1920 in London, Douglas Wilmer was a classically trained actor who spent his early career in the theatre and Shakespearean roles, with his appearances in "MacBeth", "Romeo and Juliet" and "Merry Wives of Windsor" being reportedly among the most noteworthy. During the early 1950s, he transitioned to television where, over the next 30 years, he made his mark with portrayals of numerous historical figures and famous literary characters, with reprisals of his portrayal of MacBeth and, one of his favorite rules of his career, Sherlock Holmes. In fact, throughout his career, Wilmer returned to roles relating to Conan Doyle's famous detective, sometimes playing Holmes himself, sometimes playing villains. His final role before he passed away was a small part in an episode of "Sherlock", a series that transposed Holmes into the modern day.

Beginning in the early 1960s and continuing into the 1980s, Wilmer balanced his television work with roles in celebrated big screen genre pictures such as "El Cid" (1961), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), "Fearless Vampire Killers" (1971), "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother" (1975... which SHOULD be a celebrated picture in my opinion), and the James Bond film "Octopussy" (1983). He also played Sir Nayland Smith in the Christopher Lee-starring "Fu Manchu" movies during the 1960s--although those are not necessarily anything one would want to celebrate.

As the 1980s drew to a close, Wilmer retired from acting. Within short order, however, he turned what had been a hobby into a late-life second career and found great success creating and selling paintings.

Douglas Wilmer passed away in 2016 at the age of 96.