Francis Michael Gough

 Francis Michael Gough ( November 23, 1916 – March 17, 2011)

Gough made over 150 film and television appearances. He became known for his appearances in horror films; following his performance as Arthur Holmwood in Hammer’s original Dracula (1958), his horror roles mainly saw him feature as slimy villains, notably in Horrors of the Black Museum (1959), Konga (1961), The Phantom of the Opera (1962), Black Zoo (1963), Trog (1970), The Corpse (1971), Horror Hospital (1973) and Norman J. Warren's cheaply-made Satanism shocker Satan's Slave (1976). He also spoofed his horror persona in What a Carve Up! as a sinister butler. Gough guest-starred in Doctor Who, as the titular villain in The Celestial Toymaker (1966) and also as Councillor Hedin in Arc of Infinity (1983). He also played the automation-obsessed, wheelchair-bound Dr. Armstrong in "The Cybernauts", one of the best remembered episodes of The Avengers (1965). Gough also appeared in The Citadel (1983) as Sir Jenner Halliday, in 1985's Out of Africa as Lord Delamere and as the fictional deposed KGB spymaster Andrei Zorin in Sleepers. His later roles included Alfred Pennyworth for Tim Burton, including Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). He also reprised his role as Alfred in the 1994 BBC radio adaptation of Batman: Knightfall and in Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997) for Joel Schumacher. He also briefly reprised his Alfred role in six 2001 television commercials for the OnStar automobile tracking system, informing Batman of the system's installation in the Batmobile. Other commercial appearances famously included Gough as Alfred in a 1989 advertisement for Diet Coke. Gough retired in 1999 after appearing in Burton's Sleepy Hollow .

Gough was married four times, and had three children. Gough died from pneumonia aged 94 on 17 March 2011 at his home in Salisbury, Wiltshire. His body was cremated, and the ashes scattered.