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Aubrey Harold Woods (9 April 1928 – 7 May 2013)[1][2] was an English actor. He is best remembered for playing Bill in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, where he sang "The Candy Man".
Aubrey Woods | |
|---|---|
 Woods as Bill, the owner of Bill's Candy Shop Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) | |
| Born | Aubrey Harold Woods 9 April 1928 |
| Died | 7 May 2013 (aged 85) Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, singer |
| Years active | 1946–1995 |
| Spouse |
Gaynor Woods (m. 1952) |
Biography and career
editWoods was born on 9 April 1928 in Edmonton, Middlesex and grew up in nearby Palmers Green. He was educated at the Latymer School. His first film role was at the age of 17 as Smike in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947). On stage he played the role of Fagin in Lionel Bart's production of Oliver! at the New Theatre, St Martin's Lane in the 1960s alongside Nicolette Roeg and Robert Bridges. Woods played Alfred Jingle in the TV musical Pickwick for the BBC in 1969.[2]
His best remembered film role is in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, where he played the character of Bill, the owner of Bill's Candy Shop, singing "The Candy Man" near the beginning of the film; the single was later a hit for entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. During the early 1970s Woods collaborated on the musical Trelawny with his friend Julian Slade.[2]
Television work
editHis television credits include Z-Cars, Up Pompeii!, Doctor Who', Blake's 7, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Ever Decreasing Circles.
Theatre work
editHe also appeared as Jacob and Potiphar in the 1991 production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium, the soundtrack of which topped the British albums chart in August 1991.
Radio work
editHis radio credits include the original radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, appearing in Fit the Sixth. He dramatised E. F. Benson's 1932 comic novel "Secret Lives" in three parts for BBC radio, and was also the narrator.
Personal life and death
editWoods met his future wife Gaynor at RADA. They married in 1952.[2]
Woods died of natural causes aged 85, on 7 May 2013, at his home in Barrow-in-Furness.[3]
Filmography
editReferences
edit- ^ "Aubrey Woods". The Times. 14 May 2013.
- ^ a b c d Michael Coveney Obituary: Aubrey Woods, The Guardian, 14 May 2013
- ^ BBC obituary, published 14 May 2013, retrieved 28 August 2024
External links
edit- Aubrey Woods at IMDb
- Aubrey Woods in Candida at Vienna's English Theatre, 1977, Arbeiter-Zeitung. (German).
- Aubrey Woods; Aveleyman.com