Stratford Johns, born Alan Edgar Stratford-Johns, (22 September 1925 - 29 January 2002 ) was a popular British stage, film and television actor who is best remembered for his starring role as Detective Inspector Charlie Barlow in the innovative and long-running BBC police series Z-Cars, created by Troy Kennedy-Martin.
Johns was born in Pietermaritzburg and grew up in South Africa, where his parents had emigrated. After serving in the South Africa...
more
Stratford Johns, born Alan Edgar Stratford-Johns, (22 September 1925 - 29 January 2002 ) was a popular British stage, film and television actor who is best remembered for his starring role as Detective Inspector Charlie Barlow in the innovative and long-running BBC police series Z-Cars, created by Troy Kennedy-Martin.
Johns was born in Pietermaritzburg and grew up in South Africa, where his parents had emigrated. After serving in the South African navy during World War II, Johns worked for a time in accountancy, but soon became involved in amateur theatre. He was not the younger brother of the actor Mervyn Johns nor uncle to actress Glynis Johns as verified by his daughter.
In 1948, he bought a one-way ticket to Britain and learned his craft working in repertory theatre at Southend-on-Sea for almost five years. He began to appear in British films from the mid-1950s, including a role in the classic Ealing comedy The Ladykillers (1955). He ran a small hotel in London during the 1950s,...
less
