Reginald Tate

Reginald Tate played the part of Hugh Fitzooth, gamekeeper to the Earl of Huntingdon, in this movie. He was born on December 13th 1896 in Garforth near Leeds in Yorkshire, England. His grandfather had been manager at the local colliery in Garforth and his father worked on the North Eastern Railway.

After attending various private schools, young Reginald Tate eventually became a pupil at St. Martin’s School in York. At the end of his schooling, he joined his father on the local railway, but soon, with the outbreak of the First World War he joined the army

With the end of the WWI, he began acting in mainly theatrical performances, but soon offers of major film parts started to appear.

1934

Tangled Evidence

1934

Whispering Tongues

1935

The Riverside Murder

1935

The Phantom Light

1936

The Man Behind The Mask

1937

Dark Journey

1937

For Valor

1939

Poison Pen

1939

Too Dangerous to Live

1941

It Happened to One Man

1942

Next of Kin

1943

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

1944

The Way Ahead

1945

Madonna of the Seven Moons

1946

Journey Together

1946

The Man from Morocco

1947

So Well Remembered

1947

The Inheritance

1948

The Silk Noose

1949

Diamond City

1951

Midnight Episode

1952

Secret People

1952

The Story of Robin Hood

1953

The Malta Story

1953

I'll Get You

1955

King's Rhapsody

Reginald Tate was a regular actor on BBC Television, including a notable performance as Stanhope in ‘Journey’s End’ in 1937.

When television production resumed after the Second World War he continued his work in this relatively new media, which led to him taking a BBC Production Coarse and producing a play, ‘Night Was Out Friend’ , broadcast only sixteen days before his death.

His pinnacle role was in the groundbreaking science fiction series of 1953, The Quatermass Experiment.

As Professor Bernard Quatermass, Tate was a big success and two years later he was asked to reprise this role in Quatermass II, but sadly, shortly before transmission on 23rd August 1955, he died of a heart attack, aged only fifty nine.

© Clement of the Glen 2006-2007