British actor Michael Gough has passed away at the age of 94.
The screen star appeared in more than 150 film and TV roles, including the first four Batman movies as Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred Pennyworth and as The Celestial Toymaker in Doctor Who in 1966.
Born in Kuala Lumpur, Gough started his career in the 1947 movie Blanche Fury and gained a cult following for his parts in Hammer Films productions such as 1958’s Dracula and 1962’s Phantom Of The Opera.
He was cast by Tim Burton in the big screen relaunch of Batman in 1989 before Michael Caine took over the role in 2005’s Batman Begins. Gough continued to work with Burton late into his career, featuring in Sleepy Hollow and taking on voice acting jobs in Corpse Bride and Alice In Wonderland.
Earlier this year he provided the voice of villain Parasite in the animated film All-Star Superman.
Gough’s first wife Anneke Wills starred as the companion to William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton’s Doctors in the the ’60s incarnation of Doctor Who. The couple had two children together – one of whom died in 1982 – and divorced in 1979. He previously had a child with second wife Anne Leon.
Gough is survived by his fourth wife Henrietta Gough.