Bruce Alexander Montague (24 March 1939 – 16 August 2022) was a British actor, best known for his role as Leonard Dunn in the television sitcom Butterflies. He also acted in over 300 television productions – one of his earliest being in the 1965 sci-fi drama Undermind. In 2000, he guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio adventure The Genocide Machine and, in the following year, he starred alongside Paul McGann in the Doctor Who story Sword of Orion. In 2015, he appeared as a guest role in Hollyoaks as Derek Clough.

Bruce Montague
Born(1939-03-24)24 March 1939
Deal, Kent, England
Died16 August 2022(2022-08-16) (aged 83)
OccupationActor
Years active1963–2019
Spouse
Barbara Latham
(m. 1962)
Children3
Websitebrucemontague.com

Life and career

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Montague played Mr. Brownlow in Oliver! directed by Sam Mendes at the London Palladium for 3 years. He played in Phantom of the Opera directed by Hal Prince at Her Majesty's Theatre for 2 years. He starred as Abner Dillon in a UK tour of 42nd Street. He would later reprise his role in the 2017 West End revival.[1] He guest-starred in "Wild Justice", a 2013 episode of New Tricks. In that episode was Nicholas Lyndhurst, one of his fellow cast members from Butterflies.[2]

In 2015, he starred in Casa Valentina by Harvey Fierstein. In October 2019, he appeared in an episode of Doctors alongside former Butterflies co-star Wendy Craig.[3]

Personal life

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Montague lived in Hove with his wife, actress and novelist, Barbara Latham.[4] They were married from 1962 until her death in April 2022, and had three children.[1]

Between 1969 and 1971, he and his wife spent time in New Zealand and Australia, where he costarred in a couple of short-lived local productions and did voice acting for animated children's films of classic tales.

Montague died from cancer on 16 August 2022, at the age of 83.[1]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1963 80,000 Suspects Brooks Uncredited
1976 Sextet Jonathan
1980 George and Mildred Spanish Businessman
1988 Olympus Force: The Key Captain of the Yacht
1995 Keeping Up Appearances Lord of the Stately House

References

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  1. ^ a b c Hayward, Anthony (22 August 2022). "Bruce Montague obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  2. ^ Webber, Richard (11 January 2014). "Butterflies star Bruce Montague: 'I became an actor because I couldn't do anything else'". Daily Express. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  3. ^ Selwood, Sarah (8 October 2019). "Butterflies stars Wendy Craig and Bruce Montague: 'We're playing naughty seniors in Doctors!'". What's on TV. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  4. ^ Thompson, Flora (23 April 2016). "Fascinating trivia for lovers of Shakespeare". The Argus (Brighton). Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
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