{{Short description|British actor (1938–2010)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = | image = Ian Trigger actor 1938-2010.jpg | caption = Trigger {{circa|1974}} | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1938|9|30|df=y}} | birth_place = Plymouth, Devon, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|2010|01|6|1938|9|30}} | death_place = King's College Hospital, London, England | occupation = Actor | education = Devonport High School for Boys, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art | movement = | parents = | spouse = | children = }} '''Ian Trigger''' (30 September 1938 – 6 January 2010) was a British actor who had a successful career in the United States. A diminutive actor, Trigger worked in London's West End, on Broadway in New York, and across America. He first appeared in the United States with the Young Vic company following which he lived there for many years.<ref name=Stage>[https://www.thestage.co.uk/obituaries--archive/obituaries/ian-trigger/ Obituary for Ian Trigger] in ''The Stage'' - 16 February 2010</ref>{{dead link|date=May 2025}}
==Early career== Ian J. Trigger was born in Plymouth, Devon<ref name=Birth>[https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60630&h=1362326&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=djv2777&_phstart=successSource Mr Ian Trigger in the England and Wales, Death Index, 1989-2018 - Ancestry.com {{subscription required}}]</ref> in 1938 where he attended Devonport High School for Boys. After his death Trigger's twin brother Allan said: “When we were young, Ian would say, I want to be an actor – nothing else will do. Shakespeare was the love of his life and if he could have spent his entire career playing Shakespeare then that would have been total fulfilment for him.”<ref name=Stage/> He received a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 1955 making him at that time the youngest student to have trained there. He graduated from RADA in 1959 due to his training being interrupted by two years national service in the army, which he served in Scotland.<ref name=Stage/><ref>[https://www.rada.ac.uk/profiles/ian-trigger/ Ian Trigger] - Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) website</ref> On leaving RADA Trigger did repertory including ''Henry IV, Part 2'' with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre (1960), the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, The Gateway in Edinburgh and the Bristol Old Vic. He then went to the newly formed Traverse Theatre before moving to the West End.<ref name=Playbill>[http://www.playbill.com/person/ian-trigger-vault-0000042455 Ian Trigger] - ''Playbill'' (1974)</ref><ref name=Theatricalia>[https://theatricalia.com/person/ykh/ian-trigger Ian Trigger - Theatricalia website]</ref>
==Film and television== His television roles included: Raguideau in ''Napoleon and Love'' (1974); Gnat in the TV film ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' (1973); Joseph's Brother in the TV version of ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (1972); Gideon in ''It's Awfully Bad for Your Eyes, Darling'' (1971); Luko in ''Ace of Wands'' (1971); Eddie in ''Bright's Boffins'' (1971); Imaginary Man in ''Six Dates with Barker'' (1971); Wee Georgie in ''That's Your Funeral'' (1971); Dennis in ''Tales of Unease'' (1970); in ''Ken Dodd & the Diddy Men'' (1969); Goblin in ''Knock Three Times'' (1968) with Hattie Jacques; Bobin in ''Ooh La La!'' (1968); various roles in ''The Stanley Baxter Show'' (1967); Hobgoblin in ''Kenilworth'' (1967); Greenwater in ''The Forsyte Saga'' (1967);<ref>[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1071033/credits.html Credits] for ''The Forsyte Saga'' (1967) - British Film Institute Screenonline</ref> Bank Teller in ''Beggar My Neighbour'' (1967); Nonesuch in ''The Corridor People'' (1966); Morris Todd in ''The Wednesday Play'' (1966); in ''Frankie Howerd'' (1966); Operator in ''Theatre 625'' (1965); Opium in ''A Slight Case of...'' (1965); in ''Hugh and I'' (1965); in ''Going, Going, Gone!'' (1965); in ''The Critics'' (1965); Rev. Wadmore in ''The Big Noise'' (1964); in ''World of His Own'' (1964); R. Sammy in ''Story Parade'' (1964); Sandy McKinley in ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'' (1964); Ship Tailor in ''Dixon of Dock Green'' (1964), and Attendant in ''The Dark Island'' (1962).<ref>[https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/ian_trigger/ Ian Trigger - The British Comedy Guide]</ref>
Film appearances include; The Jeweler in ''The Fantastic Four'' (1994); Joe Hartford in ''All I Want Is You... and You... and You...'' (1974);<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200213113232/https://filmography.bfi.org.uk/film/150113740 ''All I Want Is You... and You... and You...'' (1974)] - British Film Institute Filmography</ref> Frog Footman in ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1972);<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200213113818/https://filmography.bfi.org.uk/film/150022593 Filmography] information ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1972) - British Film Institute</ref> Lucky Charm Seller in ''Up the Chastity Belt'' (1972);<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200213113233/https://filmography.bfi.org.uk/film/150047725 ''Up the Chastity Belt'' (1972)] - British Film Institute Filmography</ref> Odius in ''Up Pompeii'' (1971);<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200213114030/https://filmography.bfi.org.uk/film/150047716 Filmography] information ''Up Pompeii'' (1971) - British Film Institute</ref> Clown in ''Countess Dracula'' (1971); Wee Georgie in ''Winning the Ashes'' (1971);<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200213113614/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8cea0238 ''Winning the Ashes'' (1971)] - British Film Institute website</ref> Dr Ponti in ''Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You'' (1970); Nathaniel Winkle in ''Pickwick'' (1969); Popov's assistant in ''Diamonds for Breakfast'' (1968),<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200213113234/https://filmography.bfi.org.uk/film/150017434 Filmography] information ''Diamonds for Breakfast'' (1968) - British Film Institute</ref> and in ''Up Jumped a Swagman'' (1965).
==Stage career== At the Traverse Theatre as part of the Edinburgh International Festival Trigger played comedy leads in such productions as ''Ubu Roi'' and ''Fairy Tales of New York''<ref name=Oxford/> before moving to London to appear as Humphrey in ''See How They Run'' (1964) at the Vaudeville Theatre in London. His other appearances include ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and ''Doctor Faustus'' at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury;<ref name=Oxford>Biography for Ian Trigger - Programme for ''The Tempest'' at the Oxford Playhouse (1969)</ref> Thomas in Molière's ''The Imaginary Invalid'' at the Vaudeville Theatre (1968), and for which he was nominated for Best Actor of the Year in the London Critics' Awards; Piglet in ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' (1964); Ariel in ''The Tempest'' at the Oxford Playhouse (1969);<ref name=Oxford/> Nana/Smee in ''Peter Pan'' at the London Coliseum (1971); Balthazar/Dr Finch in ''The Comedy of Errors'' at the National Theatre and the Young Vic (1971);<ref name=Theatricalia/> in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (1972) with the Young Vic at the Roundhouse in London (and in 1973 at the Albery Theatre) with Gary Bond as Joseph; in Richard Harris' ''Outside Edge'' at the Queen's Theatre (1979) in London with Julia McKenzie, Maureen Lipman and Julian Curry. On Broadway he played the Police Inspector in ''13 Rue de l'Amour'' (1978); Sir Henry Shorter in ''Habeas Corpus'' (1976); Argante in ''Scapino'' (1974-1975) at the Ambassador Theatre,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BukCAAAAMBAJ&dq=ian+trigger+taming+of+the+shrew&pg=PA74 'You Don't Have to Be Shrewish'] - ''New York Magazine'' 1 Apr 1974 - Google Books pg. 74</ref> and appeared in ''Blondel'' at the Theatre Royal, Bath (1983).<ref name=Playbill/><ref>[https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/ian-trigger-71991 Ian Trigger] - Internet Broadway Database</ref>
Among the many young actors mentored by Trigger was the American Lenny Von Dohlen, who later was to appear in ''Twin Peaks''; the two had first met in Oregon during a production of ''Loot'' by Joe Orton. Recalling that time, Von Dohlen said: “He was my theatrical father. The first real, working professional to believe in me out loud. He was my greatest influence. The news of his death was a huge shock, like a library burning down.”<ref name=Stage/>
His hobbies included collecting 18th-century English theatre portrait figures and 19th-century Staffordshire pottery.<ref name=Playbill/>
Ian Trigger died aged 71 in January 2010<ref name=Birth/> in King's College Hospital in London after a long illness. He never married.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0872752/ Ian Trigger] - Internet Movie Database *[https://collections.mcny.org/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=&PN=2409&IID=24UAKVNNU0P6 Photograph of Ian Trigger as Argante and Jim Dale as the title role in ''Scapino'' (1974)] - Museum of the City of New York
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trigger, Ian}} Category:1938 births Category:2010 deaths Category:Male actors from Plymouth, Devon Category:People educated at Devonport High School for Boys Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Category:English emigrants to the United States Category:English male film actors Category:English male singers Category:English male musical theatre actors Category:English male stage actors Category:English male television actors Category:English male voice actors Category:English twins