Howard Lang

• Name — Howard Lang • Birth Name — Donald Yarranton • Born — 20 March 1911 • Birthplace — Marylebone, London, England • Died — 11 December 1989 (age 78) • Place of death — West Hampstead, London, England • Occupation — Actor • Years Active — 1946–1986

Lang was born in Marylebone, London, the son of Edward John Yarranton (1884–1954) and Clara Ann (née Malkin) (1888–1921). His father had left the family's bookbinding business to become a senior commercial traveller for Winsor & Newton, the manufacturer of artists' materials. Lang served for seven years in the Royal Navy including during World War II. In January 1941 he was appointed Temporary Sub-Lieutenant, and in January 1942 Temporary Lieutenant, a position he held until the end of the war. His younger brother from his father's second marriage was Sir Peter Yarranton (1924–2003), chairman of the United Kingdom Sports Council from 1989 to 1994, and a notable figure in the world of rugby union, both as a player and as an administrator, for more than 40 years.

For his role as seafaring Captain Baines in The Onedin Line (1971–1980) he gained international attention. In a 1977 interview in Radio Times Lang recalled a personal appearance in Norway: When the series was first shown in Norway I was asked to make a personal appearance in a small shipbuilding town. As I was brought into Grimstad by sea I caught sight of huge crowds – all of 3,000 townsfolk out on the quay to greet me. I learned afterwards that I had been received as family because almost every home had an ancient photograph of an uncle, cousin or grandfather dressed and sideburned precisely as I appear on The Onedin Line. Lang's other parts included roles in The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), Z-Cars, Softly, Softly, The Vise, and an appearance as caveman Horg in three of the four episodes of the first Doctor Who story, An Unearthly Child. He also played Winston Churchill in the 1983 TV miniseries The Winds of War. He also played the role of Bert Hudd in the first production of Harold Pinter's first play,The Room. In an early seafaring role, he had a cameo in Ben-Hur as the hortator aboard a Roman galley leading up to the epic battle with an enemy fleet. Howard Lang died in West Hampstead, London in 1989.

• Year — Title — Episode(s) — Role — Network — Archive status • 1952 — BBC Sunday-Night Theatre — Series 3, Episode 29: Arrow to the Heart Pt. 1 — Courier pilot — BBC Television Service — Missing • 1953 — BBC Sunday-Night Theatre — Series 4, Episode 32: Sounding Brass Pt. 1 — Sir John Lowther — BBC Television Service — Missing • Reggie Little at Large — Episode 1: All in a Day's Work — P.C. Fine — BBC Television Service — Missing • 1954 — The Vise — Series 1, Episodes 4 & 22: Dr. Damon's Experiment /Behind the Mask — Doctor at Congress / Police Inspector (uncredited) — ABC — Exists • 1955 — The Vise — Series 2, Episode 8: The Broken Link — Police Sergeant — ABC — Missing • The Hole in the Wall — TV Movie — 2nd policeman — BBC Television Service — Missing • BBC Sunday-Night Theatre — Series 6, Episode 44: The Makepeace Story #3: Family Business — Party guest — BBC Television Service — Missing • 1956 — ITV Play of the Week — Series 1, Episode 37: Come Read Me a Riddle — George Hutton — ITV — Missing • The Adventures of the Big Man — Episodes 9-11: Say Hello / Lady Killer / The Thief — Balford — BBC Television Service — Exists • The Crime of the Century — Episodes 1 & 4: The Death of a Canary / Major Trump — Mr. Barton — BBC Television Service — Partial (episode 1 survives) • The Adventures of Robin Hood — Series 2, Episodes 9 & 22: Isabella / Flight from France — Landlord / Inn patron (uncredited) — ITV (ATV) — Exists • 1957 — ITV Television Playhouse — Series 2, Episode 44: And So to Bed — Watchman — ITV — Missing • Overseas Press Club – Exclusive! — Episode 11: The Unknown Man — Polish bosun — ITV — Exists • O.S.S. — Episodes 2 & 3: Operation Tulip / Operation Powder Puff — Bruehl / Jean — ITV (ATV) — Exists • White Hunter — Episode 4: The No-Account — Burrows — ITV (ITC) — Exists • 1958 — O.S.S. — Episode 17: Operation Firefly — First farmer — ITV (ATV) — Exists • The Vise — Series 5, Episodes 20 & 32: Six Months to Talk / Black Pawn, White Pawn — Marshall / P. C. Price — NBC — Exists • Series 6, Episode 6: Background for Murder — Policeman • Black Furrow — TV Movie — Johnson — BBC Television Service — Missing • Drake's Progress — Series 2, Episodes 2 & 3 — Unknown — BBC Television Service — Missing • Sword of Freedom — Series 1, Episode 8: Caterina — Major Domo — ITV (ITC) — Exists • The Sky Larks — Episodes 2-3, 5 & 7 — P.O. Bastin — BBC Television Service — Missing • African Patrol — Series 1, Episodes 15 & 25: Tycoon / Black Ivory — Brad / Collins — ITV — Exists • The Adventures of William Tell — Episodes 3, 5 & 11: Secret Death / The Prisoner / The Cuckoo — Schmidt / blacksmith / armourer (ep. 5 & 11 uncredited) — ITV (ITC) — Exists • The Invisible Man — Series 1, Episode 5: Picnic With Death — Lord Brookesley (uncredited) — ITV (ITC) — Exists • 1959 — Dixon of Dock Green — Series 5, Episode 22: A Case for the Inland Revenue — 1st carter — BBC Television Service — Missing • The Vise — Series 6, Episode 17: Platinum Murder — Mr. Peters — NBC — Exists • Series 7, Episodes 1 & 8: Under Suspicion / Dead Before Arrival — Jim / Warehouseman • Murder Bag — Episode: Lockhart Makes a Tally — Unknown — ITV (Rediffusion) — Missing • Charlie Drake — Series 2, Episode 1: Charlie and the King of Siam — Unknown — BBC Television Service — Exists • Charlesworth — Episode 14: Open and Shut — Det. Sgt. Bates — BBC Television Service — Missing • Charlie Drake — Series 3, Episode 3: An Affair of the Heart — Ship's captain — BBC Television Service — Missing • Interpol Calling — Episode 13: Slave Ship — Commander Siddons — ITV — Exists • 1960 — International Detective — Series 1, Episodes 4 & 23: The Cumberland Case / The Santino Case — Albert Naseby / Murato — ITV — Exists • Interpol Calling — Episode 24: Finger of Guilt — Dutch policeman (uncredited) — ITV — Exists • Man from Interpol — Episode 8: Love by Extortion — Sergeant — NBC — Exists • The Vise — Series 7, Episodes 22 & 25: Scream in the Night / Lost and Found — First detective / Mansfield — NBC — Exists • The Strange World of Gurney Slade — Episode 3 — Farm human — ITV (ATV) — Exists • Knight Errant Limited — Episode 11: The Conspirators — Dr. O'Kelly — ITV (Granada) — Missing • The Charlie Drake Show — Series 1, Episodes 2 & 5: The Man Who Could Dream Winners / A Christmas Carol — Unknown / Bill Sikes — BBC Television — Missing • 1961 — A Life of Bliss — Series 2, Episode 5 — Policeman — BBC Television — Missing • The Charlie Drake Show — Series 2, Episode 3: The Man Who Blew Himself Up — Unknown — BBC Television — Missing • Golden Girl — Series 2, Episode 4: The Man in the Park — Norman Tilsley — BBC Television — Missing • Rendezvous — Series 1, Episode 29: The Executioner — Goddard — ITV (Rediffusion) — Exists • Sir Francis Drake — 19 episodes — Richard Grenville — ITV (ITC) — Exists • 1962 • The Cheaters — Series 2, Episode 18: The Dashing Major — Willie — ITV (ABC) — Exists • Dixon of Dock Green — Series 9, Episode 13: Cash and Carry — Paul Bennett — BBC Television Service — Missing • 1963 — Richard the Lionheart — Episode 28: Capture — First shepherd — ITV — Exists • Sergeant Cork — Series 1, Episode 1: Case of the Reluctant Widow — Drayman — ITV (ATV) — Exists • Doctor Who — Series 1: An Uneartly Child (3 episodes) — Horg — BBC Television Service — Exists • 1964 — Espionage — Episode 19: Snow on Mount Kama — Ted Newcombe — ITV (ATV) — Exists • HMS Paradise — Episode 3: An Officer and a Gentleman — Commander Bell — ITV (Rediffusion) — Missing • The Saint — Series 3, Episode 1: The Miracle Tea Party — Security guard (uncredited) — ITV (ITC) — Exists • Z-Cars — Series 4, Episode 6: Somebody Said… — Brown — BBC One — Exists • Merry-Go-Round — Series 3, Episodes 8-10 — Self — BBC One — Missing • Gideon's Way — Episode 6: The Lady-Killer — Sergeant Fowler — ITV (ITC) — Exists • 1965 — Theatre 625 — Series 3, Episode 9: The World of George Orwell: Coming Up for Air — Grimmett — BBC Two — Missing • Meet the Wife — Series 4, Episode 6: Journey Home — The countryman — BBC One — Exists • 1966 — The Wednesday Play — Series 4, Episode 10: A Walk in the Sea — Dart player — BBC One — Missing • Softly, Softly — Series 1, Episode 19: The Short Cut — Dobson — BBC One — Missing • King of the River — Episode 12: Flash Point — Captain Friar — BBC One — Missing • 1967 — Z-Cars — Series 6, Episode 66: A Handful of Dust Pt. 2 — Insp. Jackson — BBC One — Missing • Softly, Softly — Series 3, Episode 9: The Hunt — Mr. Forbes — BBC One — Exists • 1968 — Freewheelers — Series 1, Episodes 3-5 — Vice Admiral Nash — ITV (Southern) — Exists • The Saturday Special — Episode 8: Georgia Brown Sings Kurt Weill — Narrator — ITV — Exists • 1969 — W. Somerset Maugham — Episode 4: The Letter — Clark — BBC Two — Exists • Softly, Softly — Series 5, Episode 5: Dead Aboard — Captain Donaldson — BBC One — Exists • Detective — Series 3, Episode 7: Elimination Round — Packer — BBC One — Missing • Who-Dun-It — Episode 13: A High Class Death — Swinnerton — ITV (ATV) — Exists • Z-Cars — Series 6, Episodes 277-278: Quiet Day Pts. 1 & 2 — Tice — BBC One — Missing • 1970 — The Six Wives of Henry VIII — Episode 3: Jane Seymour — Sir John Seymour — BBC Two — Exists • Macbeth — Episode 5 — Siward — ITV (Thames) — Exists • Horizon — Series 17, Episode 15: The Gargantuan Triumph of Science — Mr. Rothery — BBC Two — Exists • 1971 — The Persuaders! — Series 1, Episode 6: The Time and Place — Coalition Club member (uncredited) — ITV (ITC) — Exists • 1971-1980 — The Onedin Line — 8 series, 91 episodes — Captain Baines — BBC One — Exists • 1972 — It's Murder. But Is It Art? — Episodes 1-2 & 5 — Chief Constable — BBC One — Missing • 1974 — Jackanory Playhouse — Episode: King Thrushbeard and the Proud Princess — King Geoffrey — BBC One — All programmes exist from this point • 1976 — The Basil Brush Show — Series 11, Episode 3 — Titus Anute — BBC One • 1983 — The Winds of War — Episodes 3-6 — Winston Churchill — ABC • 1984 — The Last Days of Pompeii — All 3 episodes — Medon — ABC • Jane — Series 2, Episode 5 — Winston Churchill — BBC Two • 1985 — The Pickwick Papers — Episodes 6, 9, 11-12 — Tony Weller — BBC One • 1986 — The Pyrates — TV Movie — Captain Yardley — BBC Two