Spotlight: Denis Clearly (James Dodge in During Barty's Party)

 

Denis John Cleary, sometimes credited as Dennis, was born in Willesden, London on 21st February 1927 and was active on screen from the late 1950s. One of his earliest credits was a small role in ‘To Win or Lose All’ (15th November 1958), an episode of the BBC period drama The Rebel Heiress, which starred Patrick Troughton. Clearly would go on to have a nearly twenty year career in small supporting roles or voice actor.

His only film role followed a few years later in the Hammer production The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll (1960) with an uncredited bit-part as a waiter. This appears to have been his only big screen appearance with the rest of his eighty or so credits in television. After appearing in several episodes of Maigret during 1960 as an extra Clearly was regularly called upon to play an array of careers; a policeman in the ITV play Johnny Dark (25th May 1961) and the Echo Four Two instalment ‘Hot Money’ (20th September 1961), a Roundhead trooper in episodes of the BBC historical drama Gamble For A Throne (1961) and an ambulance man for The Avengers adventure ‘Dead on Course’ (29th December 1962).

The 1960s would provide Clearly with several roles in cult and genre programmes. Of note is the Doctor Who adventure The Reign of Terror (1964) as a French peasant, ‘Unwelcome Visitor’ (13th July 1965) for the now lost BBC series R3 and several episodes of King of the River (1966) as a radio operator opposite Murrain’s Bernard Lee. He could also be spotted in two episodes of Adam Adamant Lives! – ‘Sing A Song of Murder’ (25th August 1966) and ‘Tunnel of Death’ (25th February 1967) – both for director Moira Armstrong. He continued for the rest of the decade in small roles in a variety of jobs; barmen, porters, bus conductors and fairground attendants. He can very briefly be seen as an uncredited model agency staff member in the movie Darling (1965).

For the Counterstrike story ‘The Lemming Syndrome’ (20th October 1969) he had a rare character name, Everett, but it was soon back to roles defined by their employment with an appearance as a scrap yard dealer for ‘The Old Banger’ (11th December 1970) in the eerie anthology series Tales of Unease. The remainder of his career saw Clearly play more named character roles such as Jim Sadler in episodes of the business drama The Brothers (1974), Smithers in the Churchill’s People episode ‘Death of Liberty’ (23rd June 1975) and Joe Symes in the Softly Softly: Task Force plot ‘There’s Always Tomorrow’ (15th September 1976). His voice only role as James Dodge in the Beasts episode ‘During Barty’s Party’ seems to have actually been his last credited on screen role.

Denis was also an author. One of his books was a comedy western entitled Shameless published in 1971. The book was optioned for a film adaptation by the director Peter Collinson who had made The Italian Job. The film version never materialised, though the book did sell over 10,000 copies. Demand for a reprint led to the book being reprinted in 2016. His other books include The Rattler and with Frank Maher Sahara Strike, Capricorn Run and Wipe-out!

Cleary passed away on 21st November 1984 in Fulham, London.