Pat Roach

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For the Canadian actor, see Patrick Roach.

Pat Roach
Roach in an undated publicity shot
Born
Francis Patrick Roach

(1937-05-19)19 May 1937
Birmingham, Warwickshire, U.K.
Died17 July 2004(2004-07-17) (aged 67)
Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, U.K.
Occupation(s)Actor, wrestler, author, businessman
Years active1960–2004
Spouse
Doreen Harris
​
(m. 1957)​
Children2
Ring name(s)
  • Judo Pat Roach
  • Bomber Pat Roach
  • Big Pat Roach
Billed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[1][2]
Billed weight275 lb (125 kg)
Trained byAlf Kent
Debut1960
Retired1998

Francis Patrick Roach (19 May 1937 – 17 July 2004) was an English professional wrestler, martial artist and actor. During an acting career between the 1970s and the 1990s, he appeared in multiple films, usually as a henchman. He appeared in the Indiana Jones film series, as the West Country bricklayer Brian "Bomber" Busbridge in the 1980s British television series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, and in the role of Petty Officer Edgar Evans in the television production The Last Place on Earth.

Early life[edit]

Roach was born and brought up in Birmingham, West Midlands, the son of Francis "Frank" Roach (born 1905).[citation needed] He was National Judo Champion in 1960, and Midland Area Black Belt Champion in 1962.[3]

Sports career[edit]

Roach during his wrestling career

Roach boxed as an amateur[4] before becoming professional as a protege of Jack Solomons.[5]

He began his professional wrestling career under the name of "Judo" Pat Roach.[6] After his acting career had begun, he continued to wrestle under the name of "Bomber" Pat Roach, having previously been billed as "Big" Pat Roach before receiving affectionate cheering from the audience. Trained by Alf Kent, his first official wrestling match was against George Selko in 1960. Roach held both the British and European heavyweight championships at one time.[7]

Acting career[edit]

Roach made his acting debut as the red-bearded bouncer in the Korova Milkbar in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. He worked on another Kubrick film, Barry Lyndon, where he played a hand-to-hand brawler named Toole who engages Ryan O'Neal in a fistfight. Roach went on to play a number of strong-man supporting character roles in films in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, including the nonspeaking role of Hephaestus in Clash of the Titans.

Pat cameoed as a SPECTRE assassin in the 'unofficial' James Bond film Never Say Never Again, and as bandit-warlord Lord Brytag in the sword-and-sorcery film Red Sonja. He appeared as the skull-helmeted General Kael in the film Willow; the evil wizard Thoth-Amon in Conan the Destroyer and as the Celtic chieftain in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

In 1985, he played Petty Officer Edgar Evans in the Central TV serial The Last Place on Earth about Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole. Roach was turned down as Darth Vader in Star Wars;[8] however, its director, George Lucas, subsequently cast him as several burly villains in the Indiana Jones film series in the 1980s. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, he played two roles: the first being a giant Sherpa who fights Jones in the bar in Nepal, the second being a German Luftwaffe mechanic who fistfights with Jones before being killed by an aircraft's propeller blades on the airstrip in Egypt. In the next film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Roach played the Thuggee guard overseer in a mine who fights with Jones before being killed in a rock crusher. His final appearance in the series was as a Gestapo officer in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where he appears only briefly due to the character's fight with Jones having been cut — director Steven Spielberg considered the scene "too long", and served as a subplot.[9]

On television Roach played the down-to-earth and easy going Brian "Bomber" Busbridge in the long running comedy-drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. He appeared in all four series, but was absent from the final two-part Christmas special.

He appeared as a guest on Central’s Bullseye TV show in 1984.

Personal life[edit]

Roach's grave in Bromsgrove

Roach married Doreen Harris in 1957. They had a son and a daughter.[10]

In the 1990s, Roach owned and co-managed a scrapyard in Saltley, Birmingham.[11] He also ran a gym on Gravelly Hill North, Erdington, in North-East Birmingham.

Roach died on 17 July 2004 of esophageal cancer.[12] His body was buried in extension section B at Bromsgrove Cemetery, Worcestershire.[13]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1971 A Clockwork Orange Milkbar Bouncer Uncredited
1975 Barry Lyndon Corporal Toole
1979 Unidentified Flying Oddball Oaf
1980 Rising Damp Rugby Player
1981 The Monster Club Great Uncle Uncredited
Raiders of the Lost Ark Giant Sherpa / 1st Mechanic
Clash of the Titans Hephaestus
1983 Never Say Never Again Lippe
1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Chief Guard
Conan the Destroyer Man Ape / Thoth-Amon
1985 Red Sonja Brytag
1988 Willow General Kael
1989 The Return of the Musketeers French Executioner
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Gestapo
1990 Wings of Fame
The Big Man Billy
1991 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Celtic Chieftain
1996 The Portrait of a Lady Strongman
1997 Kull the Conqueror Zulcki
2003 Crust The Bull

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1983–86, 2002–04 Auf Wiedersehen, Pet Brian "Bomber" Busbridge Main role
1985 Minder Painter Episode: Return Of The Invincible Man
The Last Place on Earth Edgar Evans Miniseries
1989 Casualty Len Episode: Chain Reaction
1991 The Storyteller: Greek Myths Atlas Miniseries
1995 The Bill Reg Warren Episode: Swan Song
1996 Heartbeat The Masked Marvel Episode: Thanks to Alfred
2001 Starhunter Goran Episode: Cell Game
1995 The Detectives Police Constable Episode: Twitchers

Championships and accomplishments[edit]

  • Premier Promotions|Premier Wrestling Federation
  • Ken Joyce Trophy (1992)

Publications[edit]

  • If, Brewin Books (co-written childhood autobiography)
  • Pat Roach's Birmingham, Brewin Books (2004)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "In Remembrance: Pat Roach". The Guardian. London. 19 July 2004.
  2. ^ "Pat Roach". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 31 October 2009.
  3. ^ "Judo at Kyrle Hall". Sports Argus. 11 November 1967. p. 8. Retrieved 1 June 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ Davies, Rod (28 December 1965). "Boxing". Sports Argus. p. 2. Retrieved 1 June 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ Arnold, Charles (1970). McManus, Mick (ed.). The Mick McManus Wrestling Book. Pelham Books. ISBN 978-0-7207-0334-4.
  6. ^ "World-Wide Wrestling". Sports Argus. 2 January 1965. p. 2. Retrieved 1 June 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ Garfield, Simon (1997). The Wrestling. London: Faber & Faber. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-5711-9066-9. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Obituary: Pat Roach". The Guardian. London. 19 July 2004.
  9. ^ The Stunts of Indiana Jones (2003; DVD). Paramount Pictures.
  10. ^ "Pat Roach". The Daily Telegraph. London. 19 July 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Pat Roach Biography". Okieshadow. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  12. ^ "Cancer claims life of actor Pat Roach". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 18 July 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  13. ^ Bentley, David (17 July 2014). "Nostalgia: Birmingham's Pat Roach and Auf Wiedersehen Pet". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 25 May 2019.

External links[edit]

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