Murray Melvin Obituary, Death – Murray Melvin, a British actor best known for his appearances in The Phantom of the Opera, A Taste of Honey, Torchwood, and Barry Lyndon, died on Friday at the age of 76. He was 90. Melvin died in St Thomas’ Hospital in London, according to his representative, Thomas Bowington. “He was one of my closest friends and will be missed by so many of us who had the privilege to know him,” Kerry Kyriacos Michael, a creative director and producer based in London, said on Twitter Saturday.
Melvin made his acting debut in 1957 with Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop Company in a production of Macbeth at the Theatre Royal Stratford. He was born on August 10, 1932, in London, England. After he made his film debut in 1960 in The Risk, he went on to land roles in The Phantom of the Opera, Torchwood and Barry Lyndon. But it was his role as gay textile design student Geoffrey Ingham in A Taste of Honey, where he starred opposite Rita Tushingham, that earned him the best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1962. He also was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award for most promising newcomer in a leading role for his performance in the Tony Richardson-director movie.
Then in 1964, he made his way to Broadway for Oh, What a Lovely War! and The Solider’s Tale. While theater continued to play a significant role in his life, he also made numerous film and television appearances over the course of his career. Some of these include Starhunter, Kaleidoscope, H.M.S. Defiant, Ghost Story, Smashing Time, Sparrows Can’t Sing, Joseph Andrews, The Fool, The Lost City of Z, The Devils, Ghost in the Noonday Sun, Christopher Columbus, and The Avengers TV series. According to Melvin’s agent, he finished shooting his most recent movie, The Undertaker, in November of last year and was getting ready to begin The Ghost of Harold Wilson in May.