Editing John Thaw (section)

==Career==
In 1960, Thaw made his stage début in ''A Shred of Evidence'' at the [[Liverpool Playhouse]] and was awarded a contract with the theatre. His first film role was a bit part in ''[[The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (film)|The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner]]'' (1962) starring [[Tom Courtenay]] and he also acted on stage opposite [[Laurence Olivier]] in ''[[Semi-Detached (play)|Semi-Detached]]'' (1962). In 1963/64, he appeared in several episodes of the [[BBC]] series ''[[Z-Cars]]'' as a detective constable. Between 1964 and 1966, he starred in two series of the [[ABC Weekend Television]]/[[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] production ''[[Redcap (TV series)|Redcap]]'', playing the hard-nosed military policeman Sergeant John Mann. He was also a guest star in an early episode of ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]''. In 1967 he appeared in ''[[Bat Out of Hell (TV series)|Bat Out of Hell]]'' and in the [[Granada TV]]/ITV series, ''[[Inheritance (TV series)|Inheritance]]'', alongside [[James Bolam]] and [[Michael Goodliffe]]; TV plays including ''The Talking Head,'' and episodes of series such as ''[[Budgie (TV series)|Budgie]]'', where he played against type as an effeminate failed playwright with a full beard and a Welsh accent.{{cn|date=March 2025}}
<!--  Commented out: [[File:John Thaw as Jack Regan.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Thaw as DI Jack Regan in episode one, series one of ''The Sweeney'']] -->

Thaw was cast in the police drama series ''[[The Sweeney]]'' (1975–1978) alongside [[Dennis Waterman]] and [[Garfield Morgan]], playing the hard-bitten, tough-talking [[Flying Squad]] detective Jack Regan. It established him as a major star in the United Kingdom. He followed this with the sitcom ''[[Home to Roost]]'' (1985–1990), which co-starred [[Reece Dinsdale]], about a divorced father whose teenage son moves back in with him after choosing as a child to live with his mother. The show ran for four series.

Thaw's role as [[Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse]] in ''[[Inspector Morse (TV series)|Inspector Morse]]'' (1987–93, with later specials until 2000), cemented his fame. Alongside his put-upon [[Inspector Lewis|Detective Sergeant Robert "Robbie" Lewis]] ([[Kevin Whately]]), Morse became a high-profile character—"a cognitive curmudgeon with his love of classical music, his drinking, his classic Jaguar and spates of melancholy".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1399178.stm|title=John Thaw: Forever Morse|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=21 February 2002|access-date=7 May 2021}}</ref> According to ''[[The Guardian]]'', "Thaw was the definitive Morse, grumpy, crossword-fixated, drunk, slightly anti-feminist, and pedantic about grammar."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2014/mar/25/no-one-else-play-inspector-morse-colin-dexter-john-thaw |title=No one else should play Inspector Morse, says his creator Colin Dexter|work=[[The Guardian]] |date=25 March 2014 |access-date=7 May 2021}}</ref> ''Inspector Morse'' became one of the UK's most popular TV series; at its peak in the mid-'90s, ratings hit 18 million people, about one third of the British population.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCann |first=Jaymi |date=2017-10-22 |title=Inspector Morse's legacy: John Thaw's daughter makes Endeavour appearance |url=https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/869548/inspector-morse-legacy-john-thaw-daughter-makes-appearance-endeavour |access-date=2022-07-11 |website=Express.co.uk |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Great Britain population mid-year estimate – Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/timeseries/gbpop/pop |access-date=2022-07-11 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}}</ref> He won "Most Popular Actor" at the 1999 [[National Television Awards]] and won two [[BAFTA]] awards for his role as Morse.

He subsequently played liberal working-class [[Lancashire|Lancastrian]] [[barrister]] James Kavanagh in ''[[Kavanagh QC]]'' (1995–99, and a special in 2001). Thaw also appeared in two sitcoms—''[[Thick as Thieves (TV series)|Thick as Thieves]]'' ([[London Weekend Television|London Weekend/ITV]], 1974) with [[Bob Hoskins]] and ''[[Home to Roost]]'' ([[ITV Yorkshire|Yorkshire/ITV]], 1985–90). Thaw is mainly known in America for the Morse series, as well as the BBC series ''[[A Year in Provence]]'' (1993) with [[Lindsay Duncan]].

He appeared in a number of films for director [[Richard Attenborough]], including ''[[Cry Freedom]]'', where he portrayed the conservative South African justice minister [[Jimmy Kruger]] (for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor), and ''[[Chaplin (film)|Chaplin]]'' where he played the English [[music hall]] impresario [[Fred Karno]] alongside [[Robert Downey Jr.]] (Chaplin).<ref>{{cite news |last1=McCarthy |first1=Todd |title=Chaplin |url=https://variety.com/1992/film/reviews/chaplin-2-1200431060/ |access-date=20 February 2025 |work=Variety}}</ref>

Thaw also appeared in the TV adaptation of the [[Michelle Magorian]] book ''[[Goodnight Mister Tom]]'' ([[Carlton Television]]/ITV). It won "Most Popular Drama" at the [[National Television Awards]], 1999.<ref name=GMT-ITV>[http://www.itv.com/ClassicTVshows/familydrama/GoodnightMrTom/default.html Goodnight Mister Tom synopsis] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124032940/http://www.itv.com/ClassicTVshows/familydrama/GoodnightMrTom/default.html |date=24 November 2010 }}. ITV. Retrieved 20 February 2010.</ref>

During the 1970s and 1980s, Thaw appeared in productions with the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] and <!-- Only 'Royal' from 1988. -->[[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]].<ref>{{cite web | url = https://bbashakespeare.warwick.ac.uk/productions/twelfth-night-1983-royal-shakespeare-company-royal-shakespeare-theatre | title = Twelfth Night (1983) | year = 2016 | website = [[University of Warwick]] | access-date = 2025-03-15 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201030181825/https://bbashakespeare.warwick.ac.uk/productions/twelfth-night-1983-royal-shakespeare-company-royal-shakespeare-theatre | archive-date = 2020-10-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/feb/16/hugo-young-the-lethargy-of-labour-in-the-absence-of-war | title = Hugo Young: the lethargy of Labour in the absence of war | last = Young | first = Hugo | author-link = Hugo Young |date = 1993-09-28 | website = [[The Guardian]] | access-date = 2025-03-15 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150719150734/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/feb/16/hugo-young-the-lethargy-of-labour-in-the-absence-of-war | archive-date = 2015-07-19}}</ref>

He was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' in 1981 when he was surprised by [[Eamonn Andrews]] in the foyer of the National Theatre in London.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}