Charles Kay

Charles Kay (born Charles Piff, 31 August 1930) is an English actor. Kay was born in Coventry, West Midlands, the son of Frances (née Petty) and Charles Beckingham Piff. Originally educated at Warwick School, Kay went on to study medicine, then decided to train for the stage. He went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and after graduation, joined the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre. He created the roles of Jimmy in Arnold Wesker's Roots (1959) and Charles V in John Osborne's Luther (1961). He was also in Wesker's The Kitchen, The Changeling (1961), and Twelfth Night (1962). He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963 and appeared in Stratford and at the Aldwych, London. He remained until 1966, during which time he played a wide variety of roles, including Octavius Caesar in Julius Caesar, Clarence in The Wars of the Roses, Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice, Antipholus of Ephesus in The Comedy of Errors, Osric in the David Warner Hamlet, Dobchinsky...