Michael John Edward Culver (16 June 1938 – 27 February 2024) was a British actor. He played Captain Needa in The Empire Strikes Back.

Personal life

Michael John Edward Culver was born on 16 June 1938 in Hampstead, London, England, UK. He was the son of actor Roland Culver and casting director Daphne Rye. He was educated at Gresham's School and trained at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. His birth name was Michael John Edward Culver. Culver was twice married. In 1962, he married actress Lucinda Curtis and divorced in 1986. He married sculptor Amanda Ward in 2004. With Lucinda Curtis he had 3 children. Culver died on 27 February 2024, at the age of 85.

Actor

Culver's aunt, father, mother and brother all had theatrical careers. Culver gained experience at the Old Vic, Dundee Rep (performing in 35 plays in 2 years) and London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Culver appeared in several television series in recurring roles, as Squire Armstrong in The Adventures of Black Beauty (1972–74), Major Erwin Brandt in the BBC drama Secret Army (1977–78), crooked banker Ralph Saroyan in the second series of The House of Eliott (1992) and the strict Prior Robert ('Brother Prior') in Cadfael (1994–98). His guest roles included an episode of The Sweeney as Dave Leeford (episode Money, Money, Money; 1978), The Professionals (1982) as Lawson, Minder as DS Chisholm's temporary replacement DS Soames (episode Poetic Justice, Innit?; 1982), Miss Marple "The Moving Finger" (1985) as Edward Symmington and as Sir Reginald Musgrave, in the episode "The Musgrave Ritual" (1986) in the Granada Television series The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Culver appeared in two uncredited roles in James Bond films. In From Russia With Love (1963), he played a man in a punt which was followed as the co-pilot of Avro Vulcan, (Callsign Ramjet MBX-79), in Thunderball (1965). Other film roles are Captain Needa in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and also a major part in A Passage to India (1984) as a bigoted police inspector. In 2008, he appeared in a guest role in Sidetracked, the first episode of Wallander. Culver was in the first ever episode of New Tricks in 2003 as a corrupt dinosaur detective. Culver performed in three of Tricycle Theatre’s Tribunal Plays: Nuremberg (A distillation of the 1945–46 Nuremberg trials – of leading Nazi war criminals); Half the Picture (From transcripts from the Scott Inquiry into Arms-to-Iraq – the first play to be performed in the Palace of Westminster.) and The Colour of Justice (The dramatisation of the evidence given during Sir William Macpherson’s inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, his family's search for justice and endemic racism in the police force). They were directed by Nicolas Kent. The Colour of Justice and Half the Picture and were broadcast by the BBC Television.

Theatre

With Dundee Repertory Theatre 1959–1961

Shakespeare At the Old Vic

Directed by Michael Benthall

London and West End

Tricycle Theatre

Touring productions

Other

Radio and voice work

"Breizh has a problem. The World Cup looms and all eyes are on FRANCE. Down on the estate, something stirs." Others in the cast: Philip Madoc and Frances Jeater. BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play 30 May 1998 repeated 20 March 1990 Michael Culver voiced Rachmaninoff. Other contributions from Vladimir Ashkenazy (speaker and piano), Jonathan Kydd (Yermakov voice over), Boris Berezovskii (piano), Shura Cherkassky (piano), Mikhail Falkov (tenor), Alexander Fedin (tenor), Joan Rodgers (soprano). With Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia Chorus. Cast included Anton Lesser (Xavier March), Graham Padden (Krause), Robert Portal (Jost), Peter Ellis (Max Jarger), Thomas Copeland (Pili), Andrew Sachs, Amanda Walker, Patrick Godfrey, Michael Byrne, Ian Gelder, Angeline Ball, William Scott Masson, Stratford Johns, Eleanor Bron, Dan Fineman, Alice Arnold and Trevor Nichols, with Ned Sherrin, Jonathan Coleman and Alan Dedicoat. Goldhawk Radio production. Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9 June 1997 Cast included: Rosalind Shanks and David Neal. The play deals with human love and how it is so often impossible for one person to really know another. In 2018, Michael was the primary contributor to an audio monument to the peace campaigner Brian Haw. Still sited in Parliament Square in London, the monument - 'And There Was Brian' - gives Michael's account of how he supported Haw throughout his ten-year campaign against the Iraq War and other military conflicts. The work was created by Michael, alongside Guy Atkins, Nina Garthwaite, James Bulley, and Amanda Ward. The monument can be accessed via the project's website, www.andtherewasbrian.uk.

Filmography

Film

Television

1961–1970

1971–1980

1981–1990

1991–2000

2001–2013

Documentary