Born Patrick Carl Cheeseman in Cleethorpes Lincolnshire England He was brought up in neighbouring Grimsby and frequently revisited the area during the height of his career He attended University College London before training at the Old Vic Theatre School and making his first stage appearance in a walkon part in Othello in 1951 He toured South Africa the following year and then directed plays for the drama department at Stanford University California Moving to the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre StratforduponAvon Wymark played a wide range of traditional roles including Dogberry in Much Ado about Nothing and Stephano in The Tempest He also played the parts of Marullus in Julius Caesar and Bottom in A Midsummer Nights Dream Other stage parts included the title role in Dantons Death and with the Royal Shakespeare Company Ephihodov in The Cherry Orchard His theatre roles also included playing the part of Bosola in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of John Websters The Duchess of Malfi in 1960 His film roles included Children of the Damned 1964 Operation Crossbow 1965 Battle of Britain 1969 Where Eagles Dare 1968 Blood on Satans Claw 1971 and Cromwell 1970 On television where at one point he was considered as a replacement for William Hartnell on Doctor Who he was best known for his role as the machiavellian businessman John Wilder in the drama series The Plane MakersThe Power Game a role which led to offers of company directorships Wymark however was a gentle man in real life selfconfessedly ignorant of business matters who considered the Wilder character to be a bastard and was described by his wife as the most inefficient dreamy muddler in the world
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