1943-09-30 ( 81 years old ) in Woking, Surrey, England, UK
Ian Raymond Ogilvy (born 30 September 1943) is an English film and television actor. He is best known as the star of the TV series Return of the Saint (1978–79), in which he assumed the role of Simon Templar from Roger Moore (1962–69).
The role led to his being considered a leading contender for the role of James Bond in the early 1980s, when Moore announced his intention to leave the role. He never played the part (in part due to Moore reconsidering his resignation on several occasions), although he did play a Bond-like character in a series of North American TV commercials broadcast in the early 1990s. At least once, in an episode of Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, "Dragon's Wing II", he played a Bond-like British agent, complete with white dinner jacket.
He was a friend of film-maker Michael Reeves and starred in all three of Reeves's films: Revenge of the Blood Beast (1966), The Sorcerers (1967), and Witchfinder General (also known as The Conqueror Worm, 1968). He guest-starred in The Avengers in the 1968 episode "They Keep Killing Steed" as Baron Von Curt, and on the BBC in Somerset Maugham's The Door of Opportunity, opposite Marianne Faithfull.
He appeared in the films Stranger in the House (1967), and The Day the Fish Came Out (1967), and had a major role in the epic film Waterloo (1970).
In 1976, he featured in the pilot episode of the television comedy series Ripping Yarns. He also appeared in I, Claudius (1976, as Drusus), and guest-starred in 6 episodes of Murder, She Wrote and 4 episodes of Diagnosis Murder. He appeared as Edgar Linton in a film version of Wuthering Heights (1970) and as Owen Gereth in BBC dramatization of The Spoils of Poynton (also 1970).
In the 1990s, he guest-starred in the TV series Babylon 5 (1998). The series' star, Bruce Boxleitner, is the former husband of Ogilvy's second wife, actress Kathryn Holcomb. He also had a role in the short-lived 1990s American soap opera, Malibu Shores. He appeared as Lawrence Kirbridge in the series Upstairs, Downstairs. He's had roles in over 100 TV shows, often appearing as a guest star. He then co-starred with Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn in Death Becomes Her (1992); and with Richard Dreyfuss and Nia Vardalos in My Life in Ruins (2009), among others.
He has had an extensive career in the theatre playing leading roles in many London West End productions, including Design for Living, Happy Family, Three Sisters, Rookery Nook by Ben Travers, Run for Your Wife, The Millionaires by Shaw, The Waltz of the Toreadors, and others. He has also worked widely in the American theatre.
He is a playwright and novelist, currently working on a series of children's books: Measle and the Wrathmonk, Measle and the Dragodon, Measle and the Mallockee, Measle and the Slitherghoul, and Measle and the Doompit. He has written and published two novels – Loose Chippings and The Polkerton Giant – and two plays: A Slight Hangover and Swap!. His memoir, Once a Saint, was published in May 2016. His book of film reviews 'Withering Slights', based on his Facebook page, was published in 2020.
Movies
Knightfall
2025-02-24
Renegades
2022-12-02
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster
2021-09-17
The Magnificent Obsession of Michael Reeves
2019-08-25
Mistrust
2018-06-01
The Saint
2017-07-11
We Still Steal the Old Way
2017-01-09
We Still Kill the Old Way
2014-12-12
My Life in Ruins
2009-06-05
The Saint Steps In... To Television
2008-12-01
Tigon Tales of Terror
2005-02-21
The Blood Beast: The Films of Michael Reeves
1999-12-19
Horse Sense
1999-11-20
Fugitive Mind
1999-09-14
The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson
1997-07-25
Puppet Master 5
1994-09-21
Eddie Presley
1993-05-20
Invasion of Privacy
1992-12-07
Carol Leifer: Gaudy, Bawdy & Blue
1992-12-05
Death Becomes Her
1992-07-30
Maigret
1988-02-22
Anna Karenina
1985-01-01
The Saint and the Brave Goose
1979-01-07
Tomkinson's Schooldays
1976-01-07
The Little Minister
1975-11-02
The Gathering Storm
1974-11-29
From Beyond the Grave
1974-02-21
No Sex Please: We're British
1973-07-25
And Now the Screaming Starts!
1973-04-27
Waterloo
1970-10-26
The Invincible Six
1970-06-10
Wuthering Heights
1970-06-09
Wine of India
1970-04-15
Witchfinder General
1968-05-17
The Day the Fish Came Out
1967-09-27
The Sorcerers
1967-06-25
Cop-Out
1967-05-23
The Connoisseur
1966-05-24
The She Beast
1966-05-02
Intrusion
1961-12-29
Powered by Powerxsoft Ltd using the TMDB API