Biographie
Stewart Bevan was born on 10 March 1948 and passed away at the age of 73 on 20 February 2022 after a brief illness.
He appeared in the long-running series Doctor Who, notably in the 1973 story The Green Death, remembered by fans as "the one with the giant maggots." The exit of popular companion Jo Grant (Katy Manning) required a compelling character to draw her away from the third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, leading to the creation of the charismatic Welsh eco-warrior Professor Clifford Jones.
Director Michael Briant initially hesitated to audition Bevan, as he was Manning’s fiancé at the time, but eventually did and found Bevan to be the perfect fit: attractive, passionate, and possessing the necessary charm and lightness.
Bevan’s natural chemistry with Manning helped make her departure one of the series' most emotionally memorable. Bevan himself was an empathetic anti-capitalist vegetarian, guitarist, and poet, all qualities that lent authenticity to the character of Jones.
Although he and Manning separated in 1976, they reunited to reprise Cliff in short films promoting the 2019 and 2020 Blu-ray releases of Pertwee’s Doctor Who episodes, and for the retrospective documentary Keeping Up With the Joneses (2019).
Born in St Pancras, central London, Stewart was the son of Gwen (née Snow), a canteen manager, and Ray Bevan, a truck driver who later became personal driver to celebrity hairdresser Raymond Bessone (Mr Teasy Weasy), with Gwen serving as Bessone’s housekeeper.
Raised in Southall, Middlesex, Stewart left school at 15 after being caned for defending a Sikh classmate. While working at Pierre Cardin’s London fashion store, he took amateur dramatics classes and, encouraged by winning an award for his role as Alec in Noël Coward’s Still Life at a 1964 drama festival at the Questors Theatre, he enrolled at Corona Theatre School.
On just his second day there, he auditioned for the role of a schoolboy in the landmark Sidney Poitier film To Sir, With Love (1966). By 1967, he was working as a dancer with Jayne Mansfield during her UK cabaret tour. His early film credits included Lock Up Your Daughters! (1969), horror films Burke & Hare and The Flesh and Blood Show (both 1972), Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973), The Ghoul (1975), and the John Wayne film Brannigan (1975).
Following Doctor Who, he appeared in numerous popular drama series such as Public Eye (1975), Shoestring (three episodes, 1979), Blake’s 7 (1980), The House of Elliot (1994), and Silent Witness (1997).
He had a role in the soap opera Emmerdale (then Emmerdale Farm) in 1977 as Ray Oswell, a man caught in a storm seeking help for his pregnant wife, played by Virginia Moore. Off-screen, he and Virginia fell in love and remained together until his death, settling in Suffolk.
His credits also include Douglas Camfield’s all-star TV adaptation of Ivanhoe (1982) and Noel’s House Party (1993-94), where his quick improvisational skills were essential for executing elaborate pranks. He was a familiar face in TV commercials during the 1980s for Fairy Liquid and in the 1990s for Kellogg’s Bran Flakes.
On stage, highlights included his West End debut in the original production of Conduct Unbecoming (Queen’s Theatre, 1969-70), taking the lead role on the UK tour in 1971, and touring with David Soul in Ira Levin’s Deathtrap in 2002. His final film role was in The Scouting Book for Boys (2009), scripted by Jack Thorne.
He is survived by Virginia and their daughters, Coral and Wendy Bevan. His three sisters predeceased him.
