Roddy Maude-Roxby Explained

Roddy Maude-Roxby
Birth Name:Roderick A. Maude-Roxby
Birth Date:2 April 1930
Birth Place:London, England, U.K.
Occupation:Actor
Years Active:1961–2013

Roderick A. Maude-Roxby (born 2 April 1930) is an English actor.[1] He has appeared in numerous films, such as Walt Disney's The Aristocats, where he voiced the greedy butler Edgar Balthazar (his only voice role); Unconditional Love; and Clint Eastwood's White Hunter Black Heart, playing Thompson.

An early innovator at the Royal College of Art, RCA, alongside David Hockney and Peter Blake, he was one of the UK's first performance artists, before it was a recognized art form. At the RCA he edited ARK magazine in 1958 and was president of the college's Theatre Group.[1] He had a joint exhibition with Blake at the Portal Gallery in 1960.[1] He also collaborated in a pre-Monty Python series with Michael Palin and Terry Jones, called The Complete and Utter History of Britain. He also made theatrical and television appearances in, among other shows, The Goodies, Rowan and Martin's Laugh In, Not Only... But Also and The Establishment. He won the Theatre of the Year Award for Best Comic New York in 1968 for his work as a stand-up comedian.

Maude-Roxby has also worked with masks and improvisation for over 40 years and was a co-creator of improvisational games developed at the Royal Court Theatre, and then as "Theatre Machine" with Keith Johnstone. In 1992 Maude-Roxby starred as imprisoned alien Mercator in the experimental BBC1 Saturday morning children's magazine show Parallel 9. In 2012 Maude-Roxby appeared in Ibsen’s St John’s Night at London’s Jermyn Street Theatre.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1961Dangerous Afternoon Pug
1962The Wild and the Willing Man Uncredited
1965The Party's Over Hector
1966Doctor in Clover Tristram
1970The Aristocats Edgar Balthazar, the Butler Voice
1984 Olivestone
1985Plenty Committee Chairman
1987Playing Away Vicar
1989How to Get Ahead in Advertising Dr. Gatty
1990White Hunter Black Heart Thompson, British Partner
1993Shadowlands Arnold Dopliss
2002Unconditional Love Minister Final role

Notes and References

  1. Book: David Buckman. Art Dictionaries Ltd. 2006. Artists in Britain Since 1945 Vol 2, M to Z . 0-953260-95-X.