25 Facts About Joss Ackland

Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland was an English actor who appeared in more than 130 film, radio and television roles.

Joss Ackland was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying Jock Delves Broughton in White Mischief.

Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Joss Ackland was born in a basement flat in "then insalubrious" North Kensington, London, on 29 February 1928, the son of Sydney Norman Joss Ackland, an Irish journalist who had been sent to England to live with an aunt by his parents for seducing their maid, but subsequently seduced his aunt's maid, Ruth Izod, whom he married.

Joss Ackland was trained by Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Drama, then based at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Joss Ackland was an actress and Ackland wooed her when they appeared on stage together in Pitlochry, Scotland.

The couple struggled initially as Joss Ackland's acting career was in its infancy.

In 1954 they moved to Lilongwe in what was then Nyasaland, now Malawi, where Joss Ackland managed a tea plantation for six months but, deciding it was too dangerous, they moved to Cape Town, South Africa.

Joss Ackland joined the Old Vic, appearing alongside other notable actors including Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and Tom Courtenay.

Joss Ackland worked steadily in television and film in the 1960s and 70s.

Joss Ackland worked opposite Alec Guinness in the 1979 television serial Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, playing sporting journalist and intermittent British espionage operative Jerry Westerby, and his career advanced through the 1980s with important parts in such films as The Sicilian, Lethal Weapon 2, The Hunt for Red October and White Mischief.

On television Joss Ackland appeared as Jephro Rucastle with Jeremy Brett and David Burke in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; the episode entitled "The Copper Beeches".

Joss Ackland's voice was heard reading quotations in several episodes of Jacob Bronowski's 1973 documentary series The Ascent of Man.

Joss Ackland's voice was a mainstay of many British television commercials including Yellow Pages, WK Kellogg Co and Homepride.

Joss Ackland starred in the London production of Stephen Sondheim's and Hugh Wheeler's A Little Night Music with Jean Simmons and Hermione Gingold, performing on the RCA Victor original London cast album.

Joss Ackland appeared in the Pet Shop Boys' 1988 film It Couldn't Happen Here, and in the video for their version of the song Always on My Mind, which was taken from the film.

Joss Ackland co-starred as Emilio Estevez's mentor and friend Hans in the 1992 Disney The Mighty Ducks.

Joss Ackland reprised the role four years later in 1996's D3: The Mighty Ducks.

Joss Ackland criticised former co-star Demi Moore as "not very bright or talented", though he worked with her again years later in Flawless.

Also in 2007, Joss Ackland appeared in the film How About You opposite Vanessa Redgrave, portraying a recovering alcoholic living in a residential home after being forced to retire and losing his wife to cancer.

In 2008, Joss Ackland returned to the small screen as Sir Freddy Butler, a much married baronet, in the ITV1 show Midsomer Murders.

Joss Ackland was told she would miscarry and never walk again, but she later gave birth and after 18 months in Stoke Mandeville Hospital, was able to walk again.

In 2020, Joss Ackland participated in the "Letters Live" project, and was recorded from his home in Clovelly, Devon.

Joss Ackland's letter reflected on the COVID-19 crisis and his hopes for how the country could draw "strength from adversity".

Joss Ackland died at home in Clovelly, on 19 November 2023, aged 95.

Joss Ackland was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Civil Division for Services to Drama in the 2001 New Years Honours List.