Richard Wattis

Richard Cameron Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor. After leaving the family business, Wattis became an actor. His debut was with Croydon Repertory Theatre, and he made many stage appearances in the West End in London. His first appearance in a film was A Yank at Oxford (1938), but war service interrupted his career as an actor. He served as a second lieutenant in the Small Arms Section of Special Operations Executive at Station VI during World War II (James Bond author, Ian Fleming worked in the same section). He is best known for his appearances, wearing his thick-rimmed round spectacles, in British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s, often as a "Man from the Ministry" or similar character. He was also involved as the secretary to Lord Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Such appearances included the St Trinian's films (The Belles of St Trinian's, Blue Murder at St Trinian's, and The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery) as Manton Bassett, a civil servant who was the Deputy Director of Schools in the Ministry of Education, where he was often seen frowning and expressing indignation at the outrageous behaviour of other characters. To American audiences, Wattis is probably best known for his performance as the British civil servant Northbrook in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957). He broke from this typecasting in his later films, such as his starring role in Games That Lovers Play. Wattis's other films included Hobson's Choice, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Carry On Spying, The Colditz Story, Dentist on the Job, Very Important Person, The Happiest Days of Your Life, and The Longest Day. He also appeared on television, including a long-running role in Sykes, and appearances in Danger Man, The Prisoner, The Goodies, Hancock's Half Hour, and Father, Dear Father. From 1957 to 1958, he appeared as Peter Jamison in three episodes of the American sitcom Dick and the Duchess.

Known For: Acting

Born: Wednesbury, Staffordshire, England, UK, 1912-02-25

Died: 1975-02-01

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1938	A Yank at Oxford	Latin Speaker at Dinner (uncredited)	67
2	1949	Helter Skelter	Compere of Nick Nack Show	62
3	1949	Marry Me	Minor Role (uncredited)	43
4	1949	Kind Hearts and Coronets	Defence Counsel (uncredited)	76
5	1949	The Chiltern Hundreds	Vicar (uncredited)	50
6	1950	The Happiest Days of Your Life	Arnold Billings: Staff of Nutbourne	65
7	1950	The Clouded Yellow	Employment Agent	62
8	1951	Appointment with Venus	Carruthers - Higher Executive	51
9	1951	Lady Godiva Rides Again	Casting Director	58
10	1952	Song of Paris	Carter	55
11	1952	Penny Princess	Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)	64
12	1952	The Importance of Being Earnest	Seton	72
13	1952	Derby Day	Editor	65
14	1952	Mother Riley Meets the Vampire	P.C. Freddie	42
15	1952	Made in Heaven	The vicar	40
16	1952	Top Secret	Barnes	60
17	1953	Top of the Form		50
18	1953	Appointment in London	Pascal	62
19	1953	The Final Test	Cricket Fan	67
20	1953	Colonel March Investigates	Cabot	60
21	1953	Innocents in Paris	Wilkinson	51
22	1953	Park Plaza 605	Theodore Feather	52
23	1953	Blood Orange	Detective Inspector MacLeod	53
24	1953	The Intruder	School Master	72
25	1953	Background	David Wallace	60
26	1953	Small Town Story	Marsh	52
27	1954	Doctor in the House	Medical Book Salesman (uncredited)	65
28	1954	Hobson's Choice	Albert Prosser	73
29	1954	The Belles of St. Trinian's	Manton Bassett	63
30	1954	The Crowded Day	Mr. Christopher	54
31	1954	Lease of Life	Solicitor	74
32	1955	The Time of His Life	Edgar	65
33	1955	A Yank in Ermine	Boone	40
34	1955	The Colditz Story	Richard Gordon	67
35	1955	As Long as They're Happy	Hippodrome Stage Manager	77
36	1955	I Am a Camera	Bespectacled Man at Book Launch (uncredited)	60
37	1955	Simon and Laura	Controller of Television Drama	56
38	1955	An Alligator Named Daisy	Hoskins	62
39	1956	Jumping for Joy	Carruthers	65
40	1956	The Man Who Never Was	Shop Assistant	70
41	1956	The Man Who Knew Too Much	Assistant Manager	75
42	1956	Eyewitness	Anaesthetist	67
43	1956	It's a Wonderful World	Harold	53
44	1956	The Iron Petticoat	Lingerie Clerk	58
45	1956	A Touch of the Sun	Purchase	56
46	1956	The Silken Affair	Worthington	10
47	1956	The Green Man	Doctor	70
48	1957	Second Fiddle	Bill Turner	56
49	1957	The Prince and the Showgirl	Northbrook	64
50	1957	The Abominable Snowman	Dr. Peter Fox	62
51	1957	High Flight	Wilson	58
52	1957	Blue Murder at St. Trinian's	Manton Bassett	64
53	1957	Barnacle Bill	Registrar of Shipping	64
54	1958	The Inn of the Sixth Happiness	Mr. Murfin	67
55	1959	Follow a Star	Dr. W. Chatterway	61
56	1959	The Captain's Table	Prittlewell	58
57	1959	Ten Seconds to Hell	Major Haven	61
58	1959	Left Right and Centre	Harding-Pratt	60
59	1959	The Ugly Duckling	Barclay	58
60	1959	Libel	The Judge	69
61	1960	Your Money or Your Wife	Hubert Fry	40
62	1960	Follow That Horse!		0
63	1961	Very Important Person	Woodcock, Entertainments Officer	52
64	1961	Nearly a Nasty Accident	Wagstaffe	70
65	1961	Dentist on the Job	Macreedy	62
66	1962	Play It Cool	Nervous Man	59
67	1962	Bon Voyage!	Party Guest	53
68	1962	I Thank a Fool	Ebblington	55
69	1962	The Longest Day	British Paratrooper	76
70	1962	Venus fra Vestø		56
71	1963	Come Fly with Me	Oliver Garson	44
72	1963	The V.I.P.s	Sanders	61
73	1964	Carry On Spying	Cobley	65
74	1965	The Bargain	Narrator	0
75	1965	Operation Crossbow	Sir Charles Sims	68
76	1965	The Battle of the Villa Fiorita	Travel Agent	48
77	1965	You Must Be Joking	Parkins	51
78	1965	Bunny Lake Is Missing	Shipping Clerk	72
79	1965	The Liquidator	Flying Instructor	62
80	1965	Up Jumped a Swagman	Lever, Music Publisher	40
81	1965	The Alphabet Murders	Wolf	57
82	1966	The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery	Manton Bassett	59
83	1967	The Troublesome Double	Mr. Wentworth	0
84	1967	Casino Royale	British Army Officer	52
85	1968	Wonderwall	Perkins	52
86	1968	Chitty Chitty Bang Bang	Secretary at Sweet Factory (uncredited)	68
87	1968	Chitty Chitty Bang Bang	Secretary at Sweet Factory (Uncredited)	68
88	1970	Egghead's Robot		30
89	1970	The Ballad of Tam Lin	Elroy	51
90	1971	Too Close for Comfort	Narrator	0
91	1971	Games That Lovers Play	Mr. Lothran	37
92	1972	That's Your Funeral	Simmonds	15
93	1972	Sex and the Other Woman	Presenter	54
94	1973	Diamonds on Wheels	Sir Hilary Stanton	80
95	1973	Take Me High	Sir Charles Furness	46
96	1974	Confessions of a Window Cleaner	Carole's Father	49
97	1974	Aladdin	Emperor Nanki	0
98	1981	Eric Sykes: One of the Great Troupers	Self (archive material)	0

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1952	The Liberace Show		0
2	1956	Colonel March of Scotland Yard	Arthur Cabot	73
3	1956	Hancock's Half Hour		75
4	1960	Sykes and a...		60
5	1960	The Dickie Henderson Show		0
6	1961	The Avengers	Clarke	77
7	1967	The Prisoner	Fotheringay	77
8	1970	The Goodies	TV Show Host	75
9	1971	Coppers End		0
10	1972	Sykes	Charles Brown	64

Richard Wattis

Film

Television