Biographie
Born George Victor Bishop in 1932, he changed his name to Edward upon becoming a professional actor due to another actor already named George Bishop. Raised in Peekskill, New York, he completed high school there. Between 1952 and 1954, he served in the US Army and worked as a disc jockey on Armed Forces Radio in St. Johns, Newfoundland. Initially planning a career in Business Administration, he returned to school at Boston University but soon switched to the Theater Division in 1956, graduating in 1960 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. That same year, he earned a scholarship to study drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. His professional acting career began in July 1961. In 1962, he married his second wife, economist Hilary Preen, at Caxton Hall after meeting her in Trafalgar Square while exploring London. They had four children: Daniel (born 1964, later died in a car crash), Georgina (1967), Jessica (1968), and Serina (1971). The family settled in Napton on the Hill, Warwickshire, where he purchased a large old house in 1980 and founded the Napton Open Air Theatre and Napton Little Theatre, both known for high-quality village productions. Later, he lived with his third wife, Jane Skinner, in East Molesey. He became a grandfather in 1994. A passionate anti-war activist, he spoke at meetings in Manchester and participated in protests at arms fairs. Notably, he once disrupted such a fair dressed as General Pinochet, accompanied by four others portraying dictators Britain had armed who later became notorious: General Galtieri, Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler, and Ivan the Terrible, an event that received national media coverage.
