Mark Dignam

Mark Dignam (20 March 1909 – 29 September 1989) was a prolific English actor.

Born in London, the son of a salesman in the steel industry, Dignam grew up in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and was educated at the Jesuit College, where he appeared in numerous Shakespearean plays.

He learned his craft touring Britain and America with Ben Greet's Shakespeare company. His range extended from the Louis Macneice radio play, The Dark Tower in the 1940s to the TV thriller, The XYY Man in the late 1970s.

Along with Philip Guard and John Bryning, Dignam can be heard on the fade-out of The Beatles' song I Am The Walrus, during which is played a 1967 BBC radio broadcast of King Lear, with Dignam in the role of the Duke of Gloucester.

Dignam was married three times, divorced twice (his character in The XYY Man frequently complains about the expense of maintaining multiple ex-wives).

Family

His brother Basil was also a well-known character actor and his sister-in-law was the actress Mona Washbourne.

Dollis Hill

Mark Dignam lived in Dollis Hill, north-west London, from 1967 until his death in 1989.

Selected filmography

• The Maggie (1954)
• Doctor in the House (1954)
• Beau Brummell (1954)
• Carrington V.C. (1955)
• Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
• The Pure Hell of St Trinian's (1960)
• Lancelot and Guinevere (1963)
• Siege of the Saxons (1963)
• Tom Jones (1963)
• Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow (1963)
• Clash by Night (1963)
• The Eyes of Annie Jones (1964)
• Frozen Flashes (1967)
• Hamlet (1969)
• Memoirs of a Survivor (1981)

External links

• Mark Dignam at the Internet Movie Database