His first taste of acting came with the Theatre Players, an amateur group which he joined while at the bank and took part in their performances at Oxford's St Mary and St John Church Hall.

BBC: Ronnie Barker

She attended Hunter College, leaving for a secretarial stint before embarking on acting studies with the American Theatre Wing and others.

WSJ: Jean Stapleton, Who Played Edith Bunker, Dies

But his acting developed and he went to work at Stoke- on-Trent theatre and later with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.

BBC: Kingsley: The craft of acting