LONDON, ENGLAND – 1981: British actor John Woodvine in costume as Ralph Nickleby during a dress rehearsal for an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby”, in London, England circa 1981. (Photo by Terry Fincher/The Fincher Files/Popperfoto via Getty Images)Credit: GettyDOCTOR Who and The Crown star John Woodvine left his family massive gifts in his estate, documents show.
The versatile screen and stage legend, , passed £850,795 to his actress widow Lynn Farleigh, his children and a hospice.
John Woodvine as Chief Superintendent John Kingdom in the television series New Scotland Yard in 1972Credit: Getty
Woodvine’s fortune will mostly go to his wife and his childrenCredit: ITV
The star’s will has revealed that the money will mostly go to Lynn, 83, whom he married in 1996.
There were also £100,000 gifts for each of his children – actress Mary Woodvine and Emma Harter – as well as a £5,000 donation to the Katherine House Hospice in Oxfordshire.
The remainder of the estate and “any royalties attributed to me in my lifetime” for reruns of classic shows were handed to Lynn for “her own use and benefit”.
John also requested an “environmentally friendly burial” in .
The will, written in 2014, was signed off last week by the High Court.
John was born in South Shields, Tyneside, in 1929, and trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
He went on to work at the Old Vic and enjoyed a long career with the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in Macbeth with Sir Ian McKellen and Dame in 1976.
Pivoting to appear on TV, he was Detective Inspector Witty in the late 1960s drama Z-Cars.
He also appeared in and as Alan Hoyle in in 2010, and then as the Archbishop of York in four episodes of hit The Crown in 2016.
Woodvine first married actress Hazel Wright in 1960, and the pair had two children, including TV star Mary. After they split, he married actress Lynn in 1996.
He starred alongside his daughter in his final role in 2022’s Enys Men.
John’s agent, Phil Belfield, led tributes after his death, writing: “John was an extraordinary actor and had a fabulous and varied career in all areas of the industry.
“John was greatly admired by all and will be sadly missed and fondly remembered by all those who met, knew and worked with him.
“We are all the richer to have known him.”
The Royal Shakespeare Company called the star a “consummate Shakespearean and much-loved company member.”
Woodvine in an episode Doctor Who
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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