Willoughby Goddard

Who was Willoughby Goddard?

Willoughby Wittenham Rees Goddard was an English actor whose trademark rotund figure was well known on television and in films for more than 40 years.

Goddard was born in Bicester, Oxfordshire. He played Mr. Bumble in two versions of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist – a 1962 television adaptation, and the original Broadway production of the musical Oliver!. He originated the role of Cardinal Wolsey in the West End production of Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons. He appeared in the television series The Adventures of William Tell in 1958 and 1959 as the villain Landburger Gessler; and as Reeder's boss, Sir Jason Toovey in The Mind of Mr. J. G. Reeder, a TV series of 16 hour-long episodes with first season 1969 and second season 1971; also as Sir Geoffrey in The Man in Room 17, which ran two series of 13 hour-long black-and-white episodes in 1965 and 1966.