John Alderton is a renowned English actor and comedian, born to Gordon John Alderton and Ivy Handley in 1938. He initially pursued a career as an architect, but later decided to take up acting instead. Alderton graduated from RADA in 1961 and began his theatrical career with the Theatre Royal Repertory Company in York.
He gained prominence on screen as Dr. Richard Moone in the medical soap Emergency-Ward 10, starring alongside his first wife Jill Browne. After 1963, Alderton appeared in various supporting roles in films and television shows, but it wasn't until the late 1960s that he made his breakthrough in the sitcom Please Sir!, playing the role of Bernard 'Privet' Hedges.
Alderton's subsequent roles included appearances in the BBC sitcom My Wife Next Door, ITV's cult period drama Upstairs, Downstairs, and the sitcoms No, Honestly and Thomas and Sarah. He also co-starred with his second wife Pauline Collins in a number of TV shows, including Wodehouse Playhouse, Forever Green, and Thomas and Sarah.
Alderton's notable film roles include It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet, in which he played the lead role of James Herriot, and Calendar Girls, for which he received a nomination for 'upporting actor of the year' at the 25th London Film Critics Circle Awards.
Throughout his career, Alderton has appeared in a wide range of roles, from the timid curate Augustus Mulliner in Wodehouse Playhouse to the overbearing landlord Christopher Casby in the BBC adaptation of Little Dorrit. He has also narrated and voiced characters for the children's animated series Fireman Sam.
Alderton's final screen credit was in 2010, bringing an end to a long and distinguished career in the entertainment industry.
