Ed Bishop
Acting • Born 1932-06-11 – Died 2005-06-08
Biography
George Victor Bishop (11 June 1932 – 8 June 2005), known professionally as Ed Bishop or sometimes Edward Bishop, was an American actor. He was known for playing Commander Ed Straker in UFO, Captain Blue in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and for voicing Philip Marlowe in a series of BBC Radio adaptations of the Marlowe novels by Raymond Chandler. Bishop made his film acting debut as an ambulance driver in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 movie Lolita. He played an American astronaut going to the Moon in the film The Mouse on the Moon (1963) and also appeared in The Bedford Incident (1965) and Battle Beneath the Earth (1967). He had small speaking roles in the James Bond films You Only Live Twice (1967) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971), but was not included in the film credits for either. He appeared in a second Kubrick film, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), in which he played the Captain of the Aries 1B Moon shuttle. The role initially featured dialogue but this was later cut from his scenes. Bishop appeared in various film and television projects created by producer Gerry Anderson. He provided narration, in addition to the voice of Captain Blue, for Anderson's Supermarionation puppet series, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967), and appeared in Anderson's science-fiction film Doppelgänger (1969). Perhaps his most prominent screen role was that of Commander Ed Straker in Anderson's science-fiction series UFO (1970–71). Bishop's dark hair was initially dyed blond for the role, though he eventually wore a blond wig instead. In later years, he appeared in films such as Twilight's Last Gleaming, Saturn 3, Silver Dream Racer, and The Lords of Discipline. He provided vocal work for the 1974 animated TV series of Star Trek, and appeared as Lieutenant Colonel Harrity in the final episode of the British World War II prisoner-of-war drama Colditz. In the 1980s, he made several appearances on The Kenny Everett Television Show, Whoops Apocalypse (he also appeared in the subsequent film), and had a role in the children's television series Chocky's Children. He continued to act on film, TV and radio, usually in British and European productions, and was a frequent guest at science fiction conventions. He and fellow Anderson actor Shane Rimmer (a Canadian actor who often worked in the UK) joked about how frequently their professional paths crossed and termed themselves "Rent-a-yank". They appeared together as NASA operatives in the opening of You Only Live Twice and as United States Navy sailors in The Bedford Incident, as well as the 1983 film of the Harold Robbins novel The Lonely Lady. In 1989, Bishop was reunited with Rimmer and another Anderson actor, Matt Zimmerman, in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet. He and Rimmer also toured together in theatre shows, including Death of a Salesman in the 1990s, and they both appeared in the BBC drama-documentary Hiroshima (2005), one of Bishop's last TV projects.
Filmography
111 credits
2001: A Space Odyssey
Movie • 1968
Aries-1B Lunar Shuttle Captain
Into Infinity
Movie • 1975
TV Announcer
Doppelgänger
Movie • 1969
David Poulson
Calliope
Movie • 1994
Lewis Belvedere
The Candy Show
Movie • 1989
Geoffrey
The Lonely Lady
Movie • 1983
Dr. Baker
The Fifth Missile
Movie • 1986
Adm. Stewart Cullinane
2001: The Making of a Myth
Movie • 2001
Self
Pets
Movie • 1973
Victor Stackman
Chocky's Children
Movie • 1985
Dr. Deacon
Dylan: The Life and Death of a Poet
Movie • 1978
Prof. Goonmeyer
Saturn 3
Movie • 1980
Harding (uncredited)
Nutcracker
Movie • 1982
Sam Dozier
Diamonds Are Forever
Movie • 1971
Klaus Hergersheimer (uncredited)
Stainless Steel and the Star Spies
Movie • 1981
Stainless Steel (voice)
Gerry Anderson: A Life Uncharted
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
The Master of Ballantrae
Movie • 1984
Pinkerton
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
Movie • 1999
Carstairs
The Desperados
Movie • 1969
Army Captain (voice)
Testimony
Movie • 1988
American Commentator
Captain Scarlet vs. The Mysterons
Movie • 1980
Captain Blue (voice)
Invasion: UFO
Movie • 1980
Cmdr. Ed Straker
Rise and Fall of Idi Amin
Movie • 1981
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Madame Claude
Movie • 1977
Smith
Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars
Movie • 1981
Captain Blue (voice)
UFO: Annihilate S.H.A.D.O. Kill Straker...Stop
Movie • 1972
Com.te Ed Straker
UFO: Destroy Luna Base!
Movie • 1971
Comandante Edward Straker
UFO: Radar contact... They're landing!
Movie • 1974
The Bedford Incident
Movie • 1965
Lieutenant Hacker U.S.N. - Communications
UFO: Red alert... Attack on Earth!
Movie • 1971
Comandante Ed Straker
Three Wishes for Jamie
Movie • 1987
Proddy
Big City
Movie • 1963
Narrator (as Edward Bishop)
Twilight's Last Gleaming
Movie • 1977
Maj. Fox
The War Lover
Movie • 1962
Vogt
Man in the Middle
Movie • 1964
Wynne and Penkovsky
Movie • 1985
Alexander
UFO: Take them Alive
Movie • 1972
Comandante Edward Straker
The Lonely Lady
Movie • 1983
Nudism: The Inside Story
Movie • 1992
Narrator (voice)
S.O.S. Titanic
Movie • 1980
Henry Harris
Children of the Gods
Movie • 1979
Brother Bethlehem
500!
Movie • 2001
Padre Jones
Automania 2000
Movie • 1964
Narrator
Restless Natives
Movie • 1985
Reporter
Silver Dream Racer
Movie • 1980
Al Peterson
Broken Glass
Movie • 1996
Stanton Case
Born to Ride
Movie • 1991
Dr. Tate
Nurse Will Make It Better
Movie • 1975
Carson
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Spring Break Adventure
Movie • 1999
Sentry
Threads
Movie • 1985
US President (voice) (uncredited)
Funny Man
Movie • 1994
Card Player
Brass Target
Movie • 1978
Col. Stewart
You Only Live Twice
Movie • 1967
Hawaii CapCom (uncredited)
The Serpent of Death
Movie • 1990
Grant
London Is Drowning
Movie • 1981
American reporter
Turnaround
Movie • 1987
Gerald
White Christmas
Movie • 1995
This Is Supermarionation
Movie • 2014
Captain Blue (voice)
Battle Beneath the Earth
Movie • 1967
Lt. Cmdr. Vance Cassidy (as Edward Bishop)
Death in Deep Water
Movie • 1975
Gang Boss (voice)
Whoops Apocalypse
Movie • 1986
Wink Persiman (TV interviewer)
Going for the Gold: The Bill Johnson Story
Movie • 1985
The Baron: Mystery Island
Movie • 1972
Operations Officer
Captain Scarlet and the Return of the Mysterons
Movie • 1999
Captain Blue (voice)
Butch Minds the Baby
Movie • 1979
Damon Runyon (voice)
Beach Head
Movie • 1969
Commandant Tom Decker
Lolita
Movie • 1962
Ambulance Attendant (uncredited)
Hiroshima
Movie • 2005
Stimson
Judgment in Berlin
Movie • 1988
Dyson Wilde
The Mouse on the Moon
Movie • 1963
American Astronaut (as Edward Bishop)
Paul Starr
Movie • 1964
Paul Starr (voice)
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
TV • 1967
Narrator / Captain Blue (voice)
Out of the Unknown
TV • 1965
Commandant Tom Decker
Colditz
TV • 1972
Lt. Col. Harrity
Star Trek
TV • 1973
Asmodeus (voice) (uncredited)
Whoops Apocalypse
TV • 1982
Jay Garrick
The Protectors
TV • 1972
Colonel John Hunter
The Saint
TV • 1962
George Felson
Waking the Dead
TV • 2001
Tyler
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Pinkerton
Space Cadets
TV • 1997
Self
1990
TV • 1977
Warship
TV • 1973
Man in a Suitcase
TV • 1967
Sherlock Holmes
TV • 1964
Quiller
TV • 1975
Frank Ilroy
The Kenny Everett Television Show
TV • 1982
Various
Philip Marlowe, Private Eye
TV • 1983
District Attorney
Thriller
TV • 1973
Carson
The Adventurer
TV • 1972
Wayne
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
TV • 1987
Strasser
2Point4 Children
TV • 1991
Chet
Two's Company
TV • 1975
Jack
Kelly Monteith
TV • 1979
Highlander: The Series
TV • 1992
Edward Banner
The Saint
TV • 1962
Tony Allard
The Saint
TV • 1962
Cy Imberline
UFO
TV • 1970
Ed Straker
The Professionals
TV • 1977
Dr. Ernest Harbinger
The Professionals
TV • 1977
Braddock
Strange Report
TV • 1969
Moran
The Demon Headmaster
TV • 1996
TV Supremo
Performance
TV • 1991
Stanton Case
Wilde Alliance
TV • 1978
Wingman
Breakaway
TV • 1980
Scott Douglas
Thriller
TV • 1973
Gang Boss (voice)
Just Good Friends
TV • 1983
Vernon
Theatre 625
TV • 1964
Padfield
The Mad Death
TV • 1983
Tom Siegler
Take a Letter, Mr Jones
TV • 1981
Joe Bradley
Worlds Beyond
TV • 1986
Mr Hitchcock