Francis Matthews (actor)

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Francis Matthews as Charles Kent in Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966)

Francis Matthews (born 2 September 1927 in York) is an English film, TV and stage actor.

His most famous roles were for Hammer Studios in the 1950s and '60s, including as the Baron's assistant in The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), and as the dashing heroes of Dracula, Prince of Darkness and Rasputin, the Mad Monk, both filmed in 1965.

On television he came to fame playing Francis Durbridge's amateur sleuth Paul Temple in six very popular series in the 1960s. The programmes were largely based on the previous decades radio scripts and Matthews' portrayal found fame not just in the UK , but internationally. Indeed so popular was the series in West Germany that later series were eventually co-produced with German TV - making it one of the first 'international' co-productions.

A superb light comedian, Matthews not only appeared with Morecambe and Wise in The Intelligence Men (1965) - forging a close friendship with Morecambe - but also appeared throughout the '60s and '70s in a variety of comedy roles. He starred alongside George Cole in Charles Woods's highly regarded TV sitcom Dont Forget To Write (1977) as a successful writer. He has continued to appear on the small screen into the 21st century. On radio, he played Simon Brett's actor and detective Charles Paris in two adaptations in 1984-5.

Matthews provided the voice of Captain Scarlet in the Gerry Anderson television series and was the narrator and host in the BBC-produced English crash course "Follow me!".