Jack May

Who was Jack May?

Jack May was an English actor. Born in Henley-on-Thames, he was educated at Forest School in Walthamstow and, after war service with the Royal Indian Navy in British India, was offered a place at RADA, but he instead went to Merton College, Oxford. Here, with the OUDS, he played parts, which included John of Gaunt in Richard II and Polonius in Hamlet.

On television he became familiar as the butler William E. Simms in two series of the BBC 1 fantasy/adventure television series Adam Adamant Lives! from 1966–67.

He provided the voice for Igor, long-suffering butler to Count Duckula in the cartoon series of the same name. He also appeared as the waiter Garkbit in the television version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Théoden in the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, as General Hermack in the 1969 Doctor Who serial The Space Pirates, and in Bachelor Father. The long-running BBC Radio 4 series, The Archers also featured the voice of May as Nelson Gabriel, son of Walter Gabriel. He played the voice of Muzzy in Muzzy in Gondoland.

His other credits in film and television included Dr. Denny in the 1960 serial The Citadel, and the District Commissioner in The Man Who Would Be King.