Tim Woodward

Timothy Oliver Woodward (24 April 1953 – 9 November 2023) was an English actor. His credits included Galileo (1975), Piece of Cake (1988), Families, Heartbeat, The Europeans (1979), Tales of the Unexpected (1982), Salomè (1986), Personal Services (1987) The Scarlet Letter (1995), Prime Suspect (1995), Wide-Eye (2003–2022), Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman (2005), Space Race (2005), Agatha Christie's Poirot (2006), Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial (2006), The Fattest Man in Britain (2009), Mad Dogs (2011–2013), Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond (2014), Houdini (2014), London Has Fallen (2016), Criminal (2016), Genius (2017), Beast (2017), The Marine 6: Close Quarters (2018), Peaky Blinders (2019), and Radioactive (2019).

Timothy Oliver Woodward, was born in Kensington, London, on 24 April 1953, the son of actors Edward Woodward and Venetia Collett (who used the stage name Barrett). His siblings included Peter Woodward and Sarah Woodward, both also actors.

He was educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College, Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire, then studied acting at RADA, graduating in 1974 with an Acting (RADA Diploma).

Woodward's career started in 1975, playing Ludovico Marsili in the Joseph Losey film Galileo (1975). His breakthrough role came in 1977 as Royal Flying Corps pilot Sergeant Alan Farmer in the BBC drama Wings (1977). This was followed by his starring as the by-the-book Royal Air Force pilot Squadron Leader Rex in Piece of Cake (1988).

During the 1990s Woodward made an appearance in the Granada Television soap opera Families, as well as taking the role of gamekeeper Walter Gillies in Yorkshire Television's long-running 1960s drama Heartbeat. A further appearance in Heartbeat came in the 2008 episode Out of the Long, Dark Night, in which he played James Knight, a former army officer.

Woodward appeared in the 2000s ITV police drama Murder City, and also portrayed Leonard "Nipper" Read of Scotland Yard in the 2008 ITV adaptation of Jake Arnott's crime novel He Kills Coppers. He guest-starred with his father Edward and son Sam as a London gangster family in a special storyline for The Bill in 2008. Also, he appeared with his father Edward in the American television series The Equalizer, in the season four episode "Prisoners of Conscience" in which he played Robert McCall's father in a flashback scene.

Woodward was also known by younger audiences for his audio narration in the children's television show Wide-Eye.

Woodward married Amanda Smith in 1997. They had two sons and a daughter. He also had a son from an earlier relationship with the actress Jan Chappell, and a daughter with Kate Barnwell.

Tim Woodward died of cancer on 9 November 2023, at the age of 70. He was survived by his wife and five children.