John Quarmby
John Quarmby (born 18 June 1929), is a plain-voiced English actor who had a career spanning over 50 years, was best known for the role of Mr Carnegie, the Health Inspector in the Fawlty Towers episode "Basil the Rat" and Henry Tobias (the newspaper editor) in K-9 and Company.
Quarmby played a variety of roles from the 1960s to the 1990s appearing in many long-running drama series such as Z-Cars, Softly, Softly, Juliet Bravo and Howards' Way. He also appeared in the 1982 television film The Scarlet Pimpernel. He appeared as a prison officer in Porridge in an episode entitled "The Hustler". He fondly recounts being paid £50 for the day's work.
Quarmby was born in Liverpool and after two years' national service in the RAF joined RADA in 1949. Repertory work dominated the first twenty years of his career, although he began appearing in television in 1956.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Scotland Yard | Plain Clothes Man | 1 Episode ("Night Beat") |
| 1967 | Z-Cars | Station Sergeant | 1 Episode ("I Don't Want Evidence") |
| 1974 | Fall of Eagles | Lamsdorf | 1 Episode ("Dearest Nicky) |
| Porridge | Prison Officer | 1 Episode ("The Hustler") | |
| 1979 | Fawlty Towers | Mr. Carnegie | 1 Episode ("Basil the Rat") |
| 1981 | K-9 and Company | Henry Tobias | Film |
| 1982 | The Scarlet Pimpernel | Ponceau | Film |
| 1983 | Juliet Bravo | Solicitor | 1 Episode ("Mates") |
| 1984 | A Christmas Carol | Mr. Hacking | Film |
| 1985 | Thirteen at Dinner | Sir Montague's Butler | Film |