Milton Johns

Milton Johns was born in Bristol as John Robert Milton. He grew up in the working class district of Bedminster. His father was a qualified engineer who could only find work as a tram driver, due to the economic circumstances that existed at the time. His son, however, was captivated by the theatre from childhood and soon got his grounding in amateur dramatics having joined the now defunct Theatre Curtain Club in his home town. Johns went on to study at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating in 1962. He then spent several seasons with the Old Vic, followed by subsequent spells at the Royal Court Theatre, London's West End and with repertory companies in Coventry, Sheffield and Farnham. Johns made his debut on television in 1960 but did not return to the medium until five years later. Since then, he has enjoyed a five decade-long career as a prolific and versatile supporting actor. Though his range of parts has been wide across all genres, he often found himself cast on the screen as shifty, villainous or unctuous characters.

He may have had just two brief scenes, but Johns is perhaps best known to wider audiences for his role as tactical officer Bewil in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). He also appeared three times in Doctor Who (1963) serials: as a henchman of the main antagonist in Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World (1967); an ill-fated British astronaut in The Android Invasion (1975) and as a high-ranking Time Lord in The Deadly Assassin (1978). His Lucien Grimaud in The Three Musketeers (1966) was the right hand man of the chief villain and a mortal foe of Athos. His other notable roles have included the status-conscious John Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility (1971), the disreputable Matthew Sanson in the original series of Poldark (1975) and high-ranking Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann in the miniseries War and Remembrance (1988). On a lighter note, Johns also played Pickwick's lawyer Mr. Perker in The Pickwick Papers (1985), Union General Secretary Ron Watson in an episode of Yes Minister (1980) and pawnshop owner Mr. Meiklejohn in The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (1996). In the biographical miniseries Oppenheimer (1980), starring Sam Waterston in the title role, he portrayed the Ukrainian-American Harvard physicist George Kistiakowsky. From 1991, until his character's demise from a heart attack in 1993, Johns had a recurring role on Coronation Street (1960) as supermarket retail manager Brendan Scott.

In his private life, Johns has maintained a lifelong interest in horse racing and cricket.