Bearded, stocky Italian-born character actor in British films and television. An effective dialectician, he tended to relish playing villainous roles, often as Eastern European spooks or shady Middle Eastern grifters. Much of his television work was designed to fund his more serious theatrical ventures as actor/manager, having acquired a Victorian church in an unfashionable area of London. Accomodating 450 patrons, it opened as the St. George Theatre in 1973. Murcell spent much of the 1970's and 80's performing or directing plays, often in tandem with his actress wife, Elvi Hale.
