Don Henderson
Born Donald Francis Henderson in Leystonstone, 1931, Don Henderson was an English actor of stage, television and screen. He was best known for playing both "tough guy" roles and authority figures, and is remembered for his portrayal of detective George Bulman between 1976 and 1987 in a trilogy of popular Granada Television police drama series; The XYY Man, Strangers, and Bulman. Following the end of Bulman, Henderson starred as the priest Frank Kane in the BBC drama series The Paradise Club, penned by Bulman creator Murray Smith. Henderson starred in several cult and sci fi serials and films, most notably in the first Star Wars movie in which he played General Tagge, and Doctor Who and Red Dwarf. Prior to acting, Henderson was a dental technician in the army and a detective sergeant in the Essex constabulary, but he resigned when he found he had sympathy for the criminals he was obliged to arrest. He was married twice, firstly to Hilary who died in 1977, and then to the actress Shirley Stelfox, whom he met filming The XYY Man. The pair set up home in Stratford-Upon-Avon and appeared together professionally many times until his death from throat cancer in 1997.
90 acting credits
Acting · 90
Doctor Who
1963
Casualty
1986
Play for Today
1970
Minder
1979
Star Wars
1977
BBC Play of the Month
1965
Red Dwarf
1988
Screen Two
1985
Theatre 625
1964
Thriller
1973
The Protectors
1972
Cracker
1993
Van der Valk
1972
Angels
1975
Dempsey and Makepeace
1985
Poldark
1975
The New Statesman
1987
The Paradise Club
1989
Dramarama
1983
2Point4 Children
1991
Strangers
1978
The Detectives
1993
Dick Turpin
1979
Warship
1973
Brazil
1985
New Scotland Yard
1972
Making Out
1989
The Enigma Files
1980
Bulman
1985
Ripping Yarns
1976
No Escape
1994
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
1988
Scorpion Tales
1978
The XYY Man
1976
The Prince and the Pauper
1977
Annika
1984
Bottle Boys
1984
Dandelion Dead
1994
The Baby of Mâcon
1993
Dead Head
1986
Liberation
1994
The Big Sleep
1978
Voyage of the Damned
1976
Brannigan
1975
The Island
1980
The Wind in the Willows
1996
The BFG
1990
Jo Brand Through the Cakehole
1994
Carry On Columbus
1992
Preaching to the Perverted
1997
Danielle Steel's Zoya
1997
Merlin of the Crystal Cave
1991
The Fool
1990
The Trial
1993
Tank Malling
1989
Squaring the Circle
1984
Maigret
1988
The War That Never Ends
1991
Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire
1985
Regan
1974
The Ghoul
1975
The Master of Ballantrae
1984
The Littlest Horse Thieves
1976
The Doctors: 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond
1995
Callan
1974
A Killer in Every Corner
1974
The Kamikaze Ground Staff Reunion Dinner
1981
My Friend Walter
1992
Black and Blue
1992
Danton's Death
1978
Gotcha / Campion's Interview
1977
Pat and Margaret
1994
As You Like It
1992
The Finishing Line
1977
Take the Stage
1981
Doctor Who: Delta and the Bannermen
1987
Murder Elite
1985
Across the Andes by Frog
1977
Tomorrow Calling
1993
Footsteps
1974
One Day at a Time
1977
Atlantis
1983
White Angel
1994
A Crack in the Ice
1985
The Secret World of Polly Flint
1987
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends: The Tale of Mr. Tod
1998
Miss Queencake
1991
The Boy Who Won the Pools
1983
How's Business
1991
Blanc de Chine
1988