Michael Ripper

In both The Pirates of Blood River (1962) and The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964), he played a member of a pirate crew under the command of Christopher Lee.

He appeared in two unrelated films about a werewolf written by Anthony Hinds: The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) and Legend of the Werewolf (1975).

He made nine films with Christopher Lee: The Mummy (1959), The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959), The Pirates of Blood River (1962), The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964), Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966), Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), Scars of Dracula (1970) and The Creeping Flesh (1973).

He made seven films with Peter Cushing: The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), The Mummy (1959), The Brides of Dracula (1960), Torture Garden (1967), The Creeping Flesh (1973) and Legend of the Werewolf (1975) and.Night Creatures.

Along with George Cole, he is one of only two actors to appear in all four of the original "St. Trinian's" films: The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954), Blue Murder at St. Trinian's (1957), The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's (1960) and The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery (1966).

He made nine films with George Woodbridge: Gilbert and Sullivan (1953), Marriage a la Mode (1955), Richard III (1955), The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), The Mummy (1959), The Curse of the Werewolf (1961), Fog for a Killer (1962), The Crimson Blade (1963) and The Reptile (1966).

His stage career continued until 1952, when an operation for a thyroid condition left him unable to project his voice sufficiently for the stage, after which he concentrated on his film career.

He appeared in a total of 33 films made by Hammer Film Productions, more than any other actor: The Adventures of P.C. 49: Investigating the Case of the Guardian Angel (1949), A Case for PC 49 (1951), Three Stops to Murder (1953), A Man on the Beach (1956), X the Unknown (1956), The Steel Bayonet (1957), Quatermass 2 (1957), The Camp on Blood Island (1958), Up the Creek (1958), The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), Further Up the Creek (1958), I Only Arsked! (1958), 'The Man Who Could Cheat Death' (1959) The Mummy (1959), The Ugly Duckling (1959), The Brides of Dracula (1960), The Curse of the Werewolf (1961), The Pirates of Blood River (1962), Night Creatures (1962), The Phantom of the Opera (1962), The Crimson Blade (1963), The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964), The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964), The Plague of the Zombies (1966), The Reptile (1966), Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966), The Mummy's Shroud (1967), The Lost Continent (1968), Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), Moon Zero Two (1969), Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), Scars of Dracula (1970) and That's Your Funeral (1972).

During this 25-year association, which began with a role in There Is No Escape (1948) and ended with That's Your Funeral (1972), Ripper made a total of 35 appearances in Hammer films, playing an assortment of innkeepers, coachmen, gravediggers, poachers, and, occasionally, authority figures, usually with a comic twist.

In the late 1940s, Ripper began a long association with Hammer Film Productions, which resulted in his face becoming well known not only in Britain, but also worldwide.

Ripper started his film career in numerous quota quickies, debuting in Twice Branded (1936). At one point in his early career, he also worked as an assistant director for a production company at Walton Studios.

The British character actor Michael Ripper was born in 1913 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. His father was a speech therapist and encouraged him to participate in diction and public speaking competitions. From this, the young Michael gained an interest in acting and got his first taste of the stage through his father's amateur dramatics company. At age 16, Ripper won a scholarship to drama school and began to appear in theater professionally.