Joss Ackland: Famed as a character actor
Famed as a character actor, especially for his villainous roles, the film and stage veteran of nearly 50 years is to made a CBE.
The 72-year-old began his career after graduating from London's Central School of Speech and Drama.
During the next 10 years, he honed his skills by working for a variety of regional theatre troupes, making a brief film debut in 1949's Seven Days to Noon.
Although he left acting in 1955 to manage a Central African tea plantation, he still found time to write plays and work as a radio disc jockey.
From 1962 to 1964, he was associate director of the Mermaid Theatre, and later established himself on the West End musical stage, playing such showcase roles as Captain Hook in Peter Pan and Juan Peron in Evita.
He finally made his name on the big screen in 1969, but attracted attention from America since the late 1980s.
It was his 1987 role as a decadent aristocrat in White Mischief and then as a corrupt South African official in 1989's Lethal Weapon 2 that made his name with filmgoers.
He also won great acclaim for his portrayal of author CS Lewis in the film Shadowlands.
Family man
Although he appeared in both Shakespeare plays and film comedies, he is revered as a villain, complemented by his stature and throaty voice.
Ackland married Rosemary Kirkcaldy when he was just 23, and the couple had two sons and five daughters. One of his sons died several years ago.
Born in 1928 in London's Ladbroke Grove area, Ackland grew up in Kilburn, north London, with his brother Paddy and sister Barbara.
The couple's marital home was burnt down in the early 1960s with a pregnant Rosemary breaking her spine, but she defied doctors by walking again.