{{Short description|English actor}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Ronald Magill | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1920|4|21|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]], England | death_date = {{death date and age|2007|9|6|1920|4|21|df=yes}} | death_place = London, England | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1961-1995 | partner = David Soar (1965–1997; Soar's death) | birth_name = | other_names = | website = }}
'''Ronald Edmund Magill''' (21 April 1920 – 6 September 2007) was an [[England|English]] actor. He is best remembered for playing [[Amos Brearly]] in the [[British television|British]] [[soap opera]] ''[[Emmerdale]]'' from the first episode in 1972 to 1991, and appeared again in this role in 1994 and 1995.
==Early life== Magill was born in 1920 in [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]], [[East Riding of Yorkshire]].<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news |title=Ronald Magill – Obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/08/db0803.xml |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=8 September 2007}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref name="Independent">{{cite news |last=Hayward |first=Anthony |title=Ronald Magill – Obituary |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2941922.ece |url-status=dead |work=[[The Independent]] |date=8 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001125100/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2941922.ece |archive-date=1 October 2007}}</ref> the child of two teachers. His father died when he was aged nine, and he then grew up in an orphanage in [[Birmingham]], visiting his mother in Ireland during the holidays.<ref name="Telegraph"/><ref name="Times"/> After leaving school he became a tyre salesman.<ref name="Independent"/> During the [[Second World War]], Magill served in the [[Royal Corps of Signals]] and was a member of "[[Stars in Battledress]]".<ref name="Times"/><ref name="Independent"/> In Egypt he helped build a theatre where the company staged plays.<ref name="Telegraph"/>
==Stage career== Following the war, Magill worked with the Arena Theatre Company and [[Repertory|rep]]. In 1961, he spent a year at the [[Belgrade Theatre]] in [[Coventry]].<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/obituaries/story/0,,2165688,00.html|title=Ronald Magill – Obituary|first=Simon|last=Farquhar|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=10 September 2007}}</ref> In 1963, he acted at the [[Nottingham Playhouse|Playhouse]], [[Nottingham]], where he was later made artistic director and remained there until 1968.<ref name="Times"/><ref name="Stage">{{cite news|url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/18163/emmerdales-amos-brearly-dies|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930165115/http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/18163/emmerdales-amos-brearly-dies|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 September 2007|title=Emmerdale's Amos Brearly dies|first=Patrick|last=Newley|work=[[The Stage]]|date=7 September 2007}}</ref> Magill directed many productions, and also wrote plays and translated others into [[English language|English]].<ref name="Telegraph"/> He starred in the [[West End theatre|West End]] production of ''[[The Ruling Class (play)|The Ruling Class]]'' and appeared at the [[Bristol Old Vic]] in ''[[Death of a Salesman]]'' and ''[[The Browning Version (play)|The Browning Version]]''.<ref name="Telegraph"/><ref name="Times"/> His first television appearances were in 1969, in the programmes ''[[Special Branch (TV series)|Special Branch]]'' and ''[[Parkin's Patch]]'', and the following year appeared in the film ''[[Julius Caesar (1970 film)|Julius Caesar]]''.<ref name="Telegraph"/><ref name="Independent"/>
==''Emmerdale Farm''== Ronald Magill joined the cast of ''[[Emmerdale|Emmerdale Farm]]'' when the [[soap opera]] launched on 16 October 1972. He played [[Amos Brearly]], a character who co-ran The Woolpack pub with [[Henry Wilks]], and they became a double act for the next nineteen years.<ref name="Independent"/> The bushy [[sideburns]] for which he became known were the result of having come to the audition from playing an [[Edwardian period|Edwardian]] in a stage play; he was told they were perfect for the part.<ref name="Independent"/> After his departure from ''Emmerdale'', as it is now titled, in January 1991, Magill had his sideburns shaved off on ''[[Wogan]]''. He reappeared as Amos for short-lived appearances in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995, the latter when the character accompanied [[Annie Sugden]] to her son Joe's funeral. The two characters later married off-screen in Spain.<ref name="Telegraph"/> His final appearance was on 6 July 1995.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |title=Emmerdale's Amos actor dies at 87 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6983016.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=7 September 2007}}</ref>
==Later years== After landing the part of Amos, he rarely appeared on the stage.<ref name="Times"/> Magill's partner of 32 years, David Soar, died in 1997.<ref name="Times">{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2409566.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523234405/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2409566.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 May 2011|title=Ronald Magill – Obituary|work=[[The Times]]|date=8 September 2007}}</ref> Ten years later in 2007, Magill died aged 87.<ref name="Telegraph"/>
Magill had been suffering from [[Bell's palsy]] in the years leading up to his death.
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1970|| ''[[Julius Caesar (1970 film)|Julius Caesar]]'' || Servant to Caesar #2 || |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0536083|Ronald Magill}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magill, Ronald}} [[Category:1920 births]] [[Category:2007 deaths]] [[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]] [[Category:English male film actors]] [[Category:English male soap opera actors]] [[Category:English theatre directors]] [[Category:English gay actors]] [[Category:British LGBTQ military personnel]] [[Category:LGBTQ people from Yorkshire]] [[Category:Male actors from Birmingham, West Midlands]] [[Category:Male actors from Kingston upon Hull]] [[Category:Military personnel from Kingston upon Hull]] [[Category:Royal Corps of Signals soldiers]] [[Category:20th-century English LGBTQ people]]