Clive Mantle

Clive Andrew Mantle (born 3 June 1957) is an English actor.

Mantle was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, in 1957.

He was the cousin of John Hallam and was a keen supporter of Chelsea Football Club from a young age.

Mantle was educated at Kimbolton School, Cambridgeshire between 1970 and 1975 and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) between 1978 and 1980.

Mantle studied at the boarding school Kimbolton School in Kimbolton, Huntingdonshire between 1970 and 1975, and was a chorister in the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge for four years.

He first worked on a farm in Cambridgeshire during his studies and soon became interested in theatre.

He appeared in 11 productions of the National Youth Theatre in five seasons between 1974 and 1978, and began carving a successful career as a stage actor in the 1980s, alongside various television roles.

He appeared in 11 productions of the National Youth Theatre in five seasons between 1974 and 1978.

As a student, Mantle lived in a basement flat in Islington.

He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) between 1978 and 1980, where he initially found his towering height of 6' 5½" (1.97 m) to be a hindrance to the sort of roles he could convincingly perform in his acting. He said that he was discouraged early on by people who said, "You'll never work, you're too tall to be an actor."

He later said about his height:

"Height is a very strange thing. If you're literally playing the milkman or the butler or something like that, they'll all think, 'Now why is the butler so big? There must be a reason – ah, he's gonna come back later and kill somebody.' Then, you don't. It worries an audience in a strange way if someone my height is playing a small part. I was an actor who needed drama school. I used to be so excited about being on stage that I would just run down to the front and shout; they had to knock that out of me. Physically, just being six-foot-five-and-a-half, I'm not one of life's gazelles. But having said that, I was made aware that I can be gazelle-like if I so choose. If I hadn't been to drama school, I would have just slouched around and bent over double and apologised for my height."

In 1980, Mantle debuted on the screen with a small role as Ewen in Christian Marnham's short thriller feature The Orchard End Murder.

In 1981, he appeared in the national tours of The Ideal Gnome Expedition for David Wood's Whirligig Theatre and Deborah Warner's play, Woyzeck, which showed at the University Theatre during the Edinburgh Festival.

In 1982, he appeared in an episode of the TV series Minder, before taking on the voice of Private Smith in the animated military comedy series Jane.

From 3 November 1982, Mantle portrayed Jurgen opposite Eamon Boland, C. J. Allen, Philip Donaghy and Ian McCurrach in David Hayman's award-winning stage production of Coming Clean at the Bush Theatre in London.

In 1983, Mantle was cast in the fantasy series Robin of Sherwood as "Little John", a legendary fellow outlaw of Robin Hood, who was said to be Robin's chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men, in a cast which included Michael Praed as "Robin Hood", Peter Llewellyn Williams as "Much", Ray Winstone as "Will Scarlet", and Judi Trott as "Maid Marian".

Footage for the series was shot in rural Somerset and Wiltshire, with the Saxon Tithe Barn in Bradford-on Avon functioning as the great hall of Nottingham Castle, Great Chalfield Manor near Melksham doubling as Maid Marion's family home, and numerous battles were shot at Leaford Grange and Nettleton Mill near Castle Combe, locations which Mantle considered to be "wonderfully realised and breathtaking".

The waterfall scene for the quarterstaff battle between Robin and Little John in the first episode "Robin Hood and the Sorcerer" was shot at Bowood House.

Helen Phillips said of his performance as Little John, "excellently played by Clive Mantle, the series' John at first appears to conform to a, by then, well-established stereotype."

Mantle has said of his role: "It is the job I've enjoyed doing more than anything else on TV. I have the greatest memories of beautiful, halcyon days-out filming on location and we had such a great, fun crew working on the show. We still get together once a year. Not just the cast but also the directors, producer, props guys, it's like a family! I think the key to part of the series' success was that this great camaraderie came across on screen."

In 1984 he was nominated for an Olivier Award and was joint Best Newcomer in the Plays and Players Awards for his performance as Lennie in Of Mice and Men.

That year he was cast as Little John in Robin of Sherwood, a role which he considers the most enjoyable of his career and which has remained one of his best-known roles.

In 1984, he was nominated for an Olivier Award and was joint Best Newcomer in the Plays and Players Awards for his performance as Lennie in Of Mice and Men.

Following the success of the play, it was transferred from the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton to the Mermaid Theatre in London.

He went on to tour extensively as Lennie in Of Mice and Men, and has appeared in six different productions of the play.

He also played Little John in the theatrical production of Robin Hood at the Young Vic Theatre; and Mitch in Tim Albery's production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

Other theatrical credits include The Relapse; The Red Devil Battery Sign; King John; Johnny Johnson; The Ideal Gnome Expedition; East; Blood on the Neck of the Cat and Bedroom Farce.

He has also appeared as the guest star at the Wyndham's Theatre and Theatre Royal Bath, in the award-winning production of The Play What I Wrote.

Also in 1984, Mantle was one of four in the live BBC radio comedy show In One Ear.

with Nick Wilton, Helen Lederer and Steve Brown.

He was to appear as the first Nuclear Man in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace in 1987, but his scenes were cut from the film; they were later included with other deleted scenes when the film was released on DVD.

He played general surgeon Mike Barratt in the BBC hospital drama series Casualty and Holby City in the 1990s, and Little John in the 1980s fantasy series Robin of Sherwood.

After playing several minor roles in other Hollywood films such as White Hunter Black Heart (1990) and Alien 3 (1992), Mantle was cast as consultant Dr Mike Barratt in Casualty, becoming one of its most popular characters.

He left Casualty in 1996 after appearing in 85 episodes between October 1992 and November 1996 (and then briefly returning for 2 episodes in 1998), but after struggling with his acting career, he returned to the role in 1999 in Holby City, and appeared in another 32 episodes until 2001.

On stage, Mantle has appeared in plays such as Coming Clean, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Educating Rita, and has continued his successful stage career since departing from Holby City.

In 2003 he appeared in Rattle of a Simple Man; in 2006 he played the part of The Narrator in The Rocky Horror Show; and over the Christmas and New Year period of 2007–2008, he portrayed the villain Abanazer in a pantomime production of Aladdin at the Theatre Royal in Bath.

In 2010 he portrayed comedian Tommy Cooper in the stage entertainment show Jus' Like That! A Night Out with Tommy Cooper; it was one of his most challenging roles, due to the various skills the performance required.

More recently, Mantle has become known for his roles on television as Lord Greatjon Umber in HBO's Game of Thrones and as Tony Curry, Ollie's (Will Mellor's) father, in the BBC's White Van Man.

He returned to Casualty in 2016 as Mike Barratt for the show's 30th anniversary.