Joss Ackland obituary

There was something grand, grand and encompassing about the actor Joss Ackland, who has died at the age of 95. He was a fixture in British films for decades and a stalwart of the Old Vic, the Royal Shakespeare Company - playing Falstaff in the opening RSC production of Henry IV, parts one and two, at the new Barbican Center in 1982 - and on the West End stage.

He appeared in more than 100 films and numerous TV plays and series, usually, in later years, with white hair and a beard, but always with energy and vigor, whether as ...