Spotlight: Alan Dudley (Mr Gibson in During Barty's Party)

Actor Alan Dudley, who voiced the character of Mr Gibson in “During Barty’s Party”, was born as Alan John George Dudley in Greeenwhich, London in 1925. He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was active on the stage from the late 1940s as a member of the Saga Repertory Company. By the 1950s he was appearing in West End plays and musicals. It was during this period that he made his television debut as a supporting artist when the BBC broadcast excerpts from the Piccadilly Theatre production of the musical The Two Bouquets (31^st August 1953).

His TV career, often in small supporting roles, was secondary to his theatre career. During the 1960s Dudley established himself as a reliable player, especially in musical theatre productions and operettas. His singing ability also lent itself to radio productions with Dudley gracing such productions as The Duenna (24^th December 1964), a comic operetta which also featured Denis Quilley and Peter Pratt. During 1966 he also featured in a series of radio productions adapting the work of Gilbert and Sullivan presented as complete performances. Of note is his appearance as Sir Despard Murgatroyd in Ruddigore (15th May 1966) opposite Dame Patricia Routledge and Peter Pratt. The clip below demonstrates his skill in such productions. Around this time he began to be a regular presence in radio plays and productions and become a member of the BBC Repertory Company[1]. He would become a familiar voice on radio and remain so until the twilight of his career. During 1970 Anvil Records issued a series of audio adaptations of Sherlock Holmes stories which starred Robert Hardy as Holmes and Nigel Stock as Watson. Dudley was one member of a stock cast which featured as different characters across several productions including “The Blue Carbuncle”, “The Norwood Builder” and “The Speckled Band”. 

Dudley became a National Theatre player in the early 1970s and would remain part of the company for several years. Examples of work during this period included playing Leonardo under director Jonathan Miller in The Merchant of Venice (1970). 

Dudley’s casting as Mr Gibson in Beasts would have helped ground the production in the everyday. He was an extremely familiar voice on the radio and his output in the medium during 1976 was indicative of this with several productions playing directly prior or directly after “During Barty’s Party” broadcast; Radio 3 Drama Now instalment “Bandstand” (27^th April 1976), an episode of Radio 4 anthology drama series The Escapers entitled “The Spiritualists” (17^th June 1976) and a lead role as Inspector Harvey in The Rippers Apprentice (22^nd July 1976).

After his final television appearance in 1980 he continued to feature heavily in radio productions throughout the decade and until the end of his career. In 1981 he had small roles in two films - Chariots of Fire (1981) and Riding High (1981). Dudley died, aged 88, in Campbeltown, Scotland on 7^th January 2013.

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[1] Now known as the Radio Drama Company (RDC) and founded in 1939 to act as a casting resource for radio productions.