Alexander Gauge

Alexander Gauge (29 July 1914 - 28 August 1960) was a British actor best known for playing Friar Tuck in The Adventures of Robin Hood from 1955 to 1959.

Born in a Methodist Mission station in Wenzhou in China, Gauge was a well-known English character actor. Gauge attended school in California before moving to England. He served in the British Army in India during World War II, where he became acquainted with John Masters. He first appeared on the New York stage in 1945. He acted in many of Shakespeare's plays, and usually played villains in British films, but many considered his forte to be comedy. He was a great hit in the London stage production of The Seven Year Itch.

Gauge appeared in the films The Interrupted Journey in 1949, and, all in 1952, Murder in the Cathedral, Mother Riley Meets the Vampire, with Old Mother Riley and Béla Lugosi, and The Pickwick Papers. He also appeared in the films Martin Luther (1953), Beau Brummell (1954), The Green Man (1956) and The Iron Petticoat (1956) starring Bob Hope. In 1955 he joined the cast of both The Scarlet Pimpernel (as George, the Prince Regent) and The Adventures of Robin Hood, as Friar Tuck, a role he played until 1960. In 1959 Gauge starred as Brigadier Wellington-Bull in the series The Adventures of Brigadier Wellington-Bull alongside Valerie Singleton.

In 1960, just weeks before his death, he played the Duke of Norfolk in the original West End production of A Man for All Seasons at the Globe Theatre. His last performance was a posthumous appearance in the 1961 film Nothing Barred starring Brian Rix.

Gauge married Phyllis Anne Young in Penzance in 1957. He died aged 46 from an overdose in Woking in Surrey in 1960. His death certificate, issued by the General Register Office for England and Wales, lists the cause of death as a malignant brain tumour.

Selected filmography

 * The Interrupted Journey (1949)
 * Murder in the Cathedral (1951)
 * The Pickwick Papers (1952)
 * The Square Ring (1953)
 * Will Any Gentleman...? (1953)
 * Counterspy (1953)
 * Fast and Loose (1954)
 * Dance, Little Lady (1954)
 * The Golden Link (1954)
 * Double Exposure (1954)
 * Scotland Yard episode: 'The Blazing Caravan' (1954)
 * Tiger by the Tail (1955)
 * No Smoking (1955)
 * Breakaway (1955)
 * Port of Escape (1956)
 * Nothing Barred (1961)