Basil Moss

[[File:Basil Moss.jpg|thumb|Moss in a guest role in the TV series ''UFO'', 1971]]

'''Basil David Moss'''<ref name="Guardian obit">{{cite news |title=Basil Moss obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/dec/28/basil-moss-obituary |access-date=29 December 2020 |work=the Guardian |date=28 December 2020 }}</ref> (25 May 1935 – 28 November 2020) was a British character actor, who featured regularly on television in the 1960s and on radio in the 1970s.

==Early life== He was educated at St Paul's School, which he followed with actor's training. Despite leaving St Paul's in 1953, Moss's connections with the school remained strong throughout his life, both through his involvement in the Pauline Meetings and his work for the Old Pauline Club.

==Acting career== In the early 1960s, he had a long-running screen role as Alan Drew in the BBC TV series ''Compact''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/compact.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080110172437/http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/compact.htm|url-status=dead|title=Compact A Television Heaven Review|archivedate=10 January 2008|accessdate=29 December 2020}}</ref> He later had an even longer-lasting part in the radio soap, ''Waggoners' Walk'', which ran for more than a decade and achieved ratings of four million listeners on Radio Two in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.irdp.co.uk/britrad4.htm|title=British Radio Drama - 4|website=www.irdp.co.uk|accessdate=29 December 2020}}</ref> This grew so popular that it nearly caused the cancellation of ''The Archers''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1853969.stm|title=Archers episodes on the web|date=4 March 2002|access-date=29 December 2020 |work=BBC News}}</ref> His credited film roles include appearances in ''One Brief Summer'' (1970) and ''Clinic Exclusive'' (1971).

As he grew older, Moss did less acting in order to concentrate on other interests, although he continued to appear in comic roles,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.coogans-run.co.uk/drterrible/drterrible-episode-guide.php |title=Dr Terrible - Steve Coogan - www.coogans-run.co.uk - The Man who Thinks He's It |access-date=2008-01-27 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120730170405/http://www.coogans-run.co.uk/drterrible/drterrible-episode-guide.php |archive-date=2012-07-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref> including ''The Gigolos''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Gigolos |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lv80c |website=www.bbc.co.uk |access-date=29 December 2020}}</ref>

He died on 28 November 2020, at the age of 85.<ref name="Guardian obit"/>

== Music == Basil played the piano and jazz trumpet and his band, Basil Moss and His Chicago Jazzmen, continued performing until 2014.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hayward|first=Anthony|date=2020-12-28|title=Basil Moss obituary|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/dec/28/basil-moss-obituary|access-date=2021-03-10|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==Filmography== *''I Was Happy Here'' (1966) *''You Only Live Twice'' (1967) – British Navy Officer on Submarine (uncredited) *''Doppelgänger'' (1969) – Monitoring Station Technician (uncredited) *''One Brief Summer'' (1971) – John Robertson *''Clinic Exclusive'' (1972) – Philip Eveleigh *''The Gigolos'' (2006) – Basil

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDB name|0608914}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Basil}} Category:1935 births Category:2020 deaths Category:English male film actors Category:English male radio actors Category:English male television actors Category:Male actors from London Category:People educated at St Paul's School, London