Gordon Jackson - More than a Butler Quiz

Answer: Blind army officer; prisoner of war

The main storyline of "The Captive Heart" involved a Czech officer (Michael Redgrave), posing as a British officer prisoner of war (POW) to avoid worse punishment from the Germans. One of his fellow prisoners was a young Scotsman, Lieutenant David Lennox (Jackson) who had suffered an injury to his eyes at the time of his capture. When Lennox discovered that he was permanently blind, he removed the bandages he had been wearing saying he wouldn't need them any more.

Gordon Cameron Jackson was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1923 and was recognisable by his shock of blond hair, Scottish accent and a slightly quizzical look that he often utilised. Some of his earliest movies were made during World War II, and included "One of Our Aircraft Is Missing" (1942) and "Millions Like Us" (1943).

Answer: Newspaper reporter

"Stop Press Girl" was a bit of a whimsical fantasy, about a girl (Sally Ann Howes) who, like all the women in her family, had the ability to stop any engine from working. This didn't matter much while she lived in the country, but led to huge complications when she moved to the city. It was in the city that she met Jock Melville (Jackson), a reporter who was looking for a story, but inevitably fell in love with the girl at the centre of it. Kenneth More had a small role as a police constable.

It was not that often that Gordon played the romantic lead in a movie, so this was a pleasant change of pace for his fans.

Answer: BBC television producer

"The Quatermass Xperiment" (also known as "The Creeping Unknown") was about an experiment in space travel gone horribly wrong, with the one surviving astronaut gradually transforming into a blood-sucking blob of a creature. The unnamed BBC producer played by Jackson helped to track down the monster by getting it on camera inside Westminster Abbey. Thereafter, the scientist responsible for the experiment, Bernard Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) was able to destroy his creation.

In the intervening years Gordon had played sailors and soldiers, a Scotsman deprived of whisky ("Whisky Galore!" or "Tight Little Island" (1949)) and a television director in the TV series "The Quatermass Experiment" (1953).

Answer: Officer in Scots regiment

"Tunes of Glory" concerned itself with a power struggle between the rough and ready, up through the ranks, Major Sinclair (Alec Guinness) and the by the book regular officer Lieutenant Colonel Barrow (John Mills) who was brought in to replace Sinclair who had been acting as commanding officer. The adjutant, Captain Jimmy Cairns MC (Jackson) was caught between them, and in the end proved to be the new colonel's only friend in the regiment.

Throughout the 1950s, Jackson played more sailors, more soldiers, the same whisky-starved Scotsman in "Rockets Galore!" ("Mad Little Island") (1958) and at least one police constable.

Answer: Disloyal seaman

This version of "Mutiny on the Bounty" starred Trevor Howard as the disciplinarian Captain Bligh, and Marlon Brando as Fletcher Christian, leader of the mutineers against him. Gordon Jackson played Seaman Thomas Birkett, one of the mutineers. (It seemed too much of a giveaway to describe him as such in the answer.)

In 1961, Gordon had played a farmer in the Disney movie "Greyfriars Bobby" about a loyal little dog famous for sleeping on his owner's grave, to whom a statue was erected in Edinburgh.

Answer: Royal Air Force officer; prisoner of war

Gordon Jackson's character, Flight Lieutenant Sandy "Mac" MacDonald was the intelligence officer for X Organisation, that planned "The Great Escape" from Stalag Luft III. He was effectively the right hand man of "Big X" Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett (Richard Attenborough), and they travelled together after the escape. Mac's officer's insignia and navigator's half wing brevet could be clearly seen in several scenes.

The year 1963 was a busy one for Gordon, with appearances in several television series as well as the quite juicy role in "The Great Escape".

Answer: British agent

In "The Ipcress File", Jock Carswell (Jackson) worked alongside counterespionage agent Harry Palmer (Michael Caine), in trying to ferret out a double agent and work out what had happened to some very important scientists. This proved to be rather unlucky for Carswell, who was caught in an ambush meant for Palmer.

Also in 1965, Jackson appeared in "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines", as one of the pilots taking part in a London to Paris race in the earliest days of aviation.

Answer: Garrison commander; villain

"The Fighting Prince of Donegal", Hugh O'Donnell (Peter McEnery), had been prophesied to lead Ireland to freedom from British rule, during the reign of Elizabeth I . Captured by trickery, the young prince came under the thumb of evil Captain Leeds (Jackson), until the prince eventually made good his escape. Leeds then went against orders and took the prince's mother and girlfriend hostage, resulting in a rescue attempt which included a sword fight between the prince and Leeds.

The mid-sixties saw Gordon playing some more soldiers (one of them German, in "The Night of the Generals") and making several more television appearances.

Answer: Schoolmaster

"The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" produced an Oscar-winning performance from Maggie Smith in the title role, of a teacher at a girls' school in Scotland in the 1930s. The two men in Miss Jean Brodie's life were art teacher Teddy Lloyd, a married man (Robert Stephens) and music teacher and choirmaster Gordon Lowther (Jackson) who wanted to marry her. Her girls were more important to her than either man, though, and she exerted a very strong influence on her chosen set. Jackson's character wanted to make their relationship legal, but Miss Brodie pushed him away.

Also released in 1969 was "Run Wild, Run Free" in which Gordon Jackson played the father of a young lad who had been mute for years, who was brought out of his shell by some friendships both human and animal. Mark Lester ("Oliver!") played the boy.

Answer: Nobleman

This was the version of Shakespeare's tale of the melancholy Prince of Denmark that was directed by Tony Richardson, with Nicol Williamson in the title role. Gordon Jackson played Hamlet's good friend Horatio, who was there during the scene in the churchyard when Hamlet addressed the skull of "poor Yorick" and was known to have attended university with the prince. It was Horatio who, upon the death of Hamlet, spoke the lines:

"Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!... "

Gordon Jackson continued to work in both movies and television until shortly before his death in 1990, of bone cancer. A television documentary titled "The Unforgettable Gordon Jackson" was aired in 2012.