Born on August 30, 1910 in Brentford, Middlesex, England (UK).
Name variations: Donald Bissett
Married Nancy in 1946 (divorced); 1983-1993 to Ruth Clunn
Has one son.
Died on August 10, 1995 in London, England (UK).
TV Appearances
(1991)"The Bill"- Loophole (Mr. Grimes)
(1991)The Black Velvet Gown (Mr. Morgan)
(1990)"Campion"- Mystery Mile: Part 2 (Rev Alaric Watts)
©BBC
(1990)"One Foot in the Grave"- The Valley of Fear (Bowls Player)
Both images ©BBC
(1989)"Agatha Christie: Poirot"- The Dream (Mayor)
©Carnival Films
(1988)"Crossbow"- Trolls (Bailiff)
(1988)The Hound of the Baskervilles (Manservant)
(1988)Little Dorrit (Enthusiastic Weighty Gentleman)
(1986)"Paradise Postponed"-The Simcox Inheritance (Trafford Simcox)
(1986)The Return of the Antelope-Brelca Goes Ballooning (Cabman)
(1984)"The Invisible Man" -Dr. Kemp's Visitor (Professor Hobbema)
(1983)A Pattern of Roses (Bishop, The Past)
©Grasshopper Productions/Channel 4 Television Corporation
(1982)"Only Fools and Horses"- A Touch of Glass (Wallace the Butler)
 2.7.jpg)
Both images ©BBC
(1981)Ragtime (J.P. Morgan)
(1981)Scarf Jack (Mr Turner)
(1981)Onu Tik-Taki seiklused
(1981)Smuggler-In at the Death (Nathaniel Rook)
(1979)"The Old Curiosity Shop" (Mr. Garland)
Both images ©BBC
(1978)Les Miserables (Gillenormand's Servant)
(1978)"The Professionals"- Not a Very Civil Civil Servant (Judge)
(1978)Life of Shakespeare-The Loved Boy (Horse coper)
(1978)Warlords of Atlantis/Warlords of the Deep (Professor Aitken)
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©EMI Films
(1978)The Thirty-Nine Steps
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©The Rank Organisation
(1977)"Love for Lydia" Ep 1.7 (Mr. Holland)
©London Weekend Television (LWT)
(1977)"Beryl's Lot" (Mr. Norris)
(1977)The Littlest Horse Thieves
(1976)Escape from the Dark
(1976)The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones (Gentleman of the hunt)
(1974)"Microbes and Men"- The Invisible Enemy (Hildenbrand)
(1974)"The Pallisers" Ep 1.26 (Doctor)
©BBC
(1974)The Double Dealers-Come in Number One (Sir George Hendy)
(1973)Pollyanna (Old Tom)
(1973)"Freewheelers" (Rumford)
(1972)For the Love of Ada (Mr. Chapman)
(1972)Nearest and Dearest (Vicar)
(1972)With These Hands.. (Chauffer)
(1971)Blind Terror (Doctor)
(1971)Clinic Exclusive (Chauffer)
(1971)See No Evil (Doctor)
(1970)Cromwell
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©Irving Allen Productions
(1970)"Doctor in the House" (Dr. Merriford)
(1970)Two a Penny (Dr. Berman)
(1970)"The Six Wives of Henry VIII" -Catherine of Aragon (Earl of Surrey)
 1.1.jpg)
Both images ©BBC
(1969)Carry on Again Doctor (Patient)
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Both images ©The Rank Organisation
(1969)"Special Branch"- Exit a Diplomat (Colonel)
(1969)Laughter in the Dark
(1965+1969)"Z Cars"
-- Give a Dog a Bad Name: Part 2 (Edward Chapman)
-- The Luck of the Game (Mr. Winters)
(1968)"The Beverly Hillbillies" (Tetley)
-- War of the Roses
-- Something for the Queen
(1968)"The Troubleshooters"/Mogul- The Minister of the Crown... and the Very Compromising Photograph (Sir Richard Costello)
(1968)The Expert-Full Choke (Charles Williams)
(1968)Mum's Boys-Where There's a Will
(1968)Mogul-The Minister and the Crown..and the Very Compromising Photograph (Sir Richard Costello)
(1967)Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon/Those Fantastic Flying Fools (Jack Flood/Sailor)
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©Jules Verne Films Ltd.
(1967)Two a Penny (Dr. Berman)
(1966)Eye of the Devil (Rennard)
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Both images ©Filmways Pictures
(1966)"Doctor Who"- The Highlanders: Episodes 1-4 (Laird Colin McLaren)
TheH.jpg)
©BBC
(1965)"R3"- The Big Balloon (Science Correspondent)
(1961+1965)"No Hiding Place"
-- Bear with a Sore Head (Mr. Ridge)
-- Man in the Dark (Finance Company manager)
(1965)"The Saint"- The Inescapable Word (Simms)
 3.17.jpg)
Both images ©Bamore
(1964)"Thorndyke"- A Case of Premeditation (Sergeant Hawkins)
(1964)"The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling"- Black Jack (Judge)
(1964)"Crane"- The Secret Assassin (Muller)
(1964)Boyd Q.C.-The Reluctant Prosecutor (Magistrate)
(1964)The Hidden Truth-Twelve Good Men (Mr. Adams)
(1964)Hide and Seek (Stranger on Platform)
(1962+1964)"Dr. Finlay's Casebook"
-- A Matter of Proof (Bailie Roberts)
-- What Women Will Do (MacEwan)
(1963)"Suspense"- Waiting for Wanda (Mr. Blunt)
(1961)"Dixon of Dock Green"- A Tip for the CID (Councillor Medwin)
(1961)"The Pursuers"- Breakout (Wilson)
(1960)"The Adventures of Robin Hood"- The Pharoah Stones (Tax Collector)
©Incorporated Television Company (ITC)/Yeoman Films Ltd./Sapphire Films
(1960)"On Trial"- The Tichborne Case (Foreman of the Jury)
(1960)Emergency-Ward 10 Ep 1.396 (Mr. Benson)
(1959)Scotland Yard-The Unseeing Eye
TheUnseeingEye.jpg)
© Merton Park Studios
(1959)A Touch of Larceny (Club Member)
(1959)The Battle of the Sexes (Tobacconist)
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©Prometheus Film Productions Ltd.
(1959)Friends and Neighbours (Porter)
(1959)The Headless Ghost (Guide)
(1959)Broth of a Boy (Newcome)
(1958)Up the Creek (Farm Laborer)
(1957)The New Adventures of Martin Kane-The Racing Car Story (Perkins)
(1955)The Case of the Red Monkey/Little Red Monkey(Editor Harris)
© Merton Park Studios
(1955)The Brain Machine (Major Gifford, hospital superintendant)
(1953)Noose for a Lady (Superintendent Shelford)
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©Victor Hanbury Productions
(1952)Murder in the Cathedral (First Priest)
(1949)Movie-Go-Round (Old-time Projector)
TV Appearances
AYBS Stats
AYBS Timeframe: 1977
Episode: "Take-Over"
Real Life Facts
-Educated at the Warehousemen, Clerks and Drapers School in Addington, Surrey.
-
He servied as a lieutenant with the British Royal Artillery during the Second World War.
-Son of a dress designer
Writer
Donald Bissett was the author of hundreds of short tales for Robin in the 1960s. Many featured the character 'Tubby the Odd-Job Engine' based on the characters created by Eileen Gibb. The Tubby stories began appearing from the very first issue of Robin on 28 March 1953 at which time they were probably written by Eileen Gibb, who was credited with the collection Tubby the Odd-Job Engine (London, Hulton Press, 1956), illustrated by Jill Franksen. From April 1954, the Tubby yarns began alternating with other one-off stories, 'Tracey the Tug Boat', 'Basil Bus Stop', etc. Bissett was definitely writing these by 1964, the stories illustrated by Arthur W. Baldwin, and was still writing them in 1966 when the title of the series became 'Honeytown Tales'.
(Eileen Gibb was credited in Robin Annual until no.8 (1960) but receives no credit in the 1962 annual.)
Bisset (note the spelling) also contributed a weekly 'Story for Bedtime' to Treasure in 1968-69.
Alongside his acting career, Bisset was a prolific author, often illustrating his own novels and short story collections. Stephanie Nettell, writing in Twentieth-Century Children's Writers, commented, "Innocence is the essential quality of Donald Bisset's work -- a pure, shining, quite unselfconscious innocence that finds a delighted response in a small child's mind and has an extraordinary cleansing effect in an adult's. Of all the writers who protest that they write for only themselves, or the child within them, Bisset is one of the few I would believe. There is genuine simplicity, a total lack of contrivance or artifice or sophisticated humorous hindsight, in his style, plots (if plots there be -- perhaps "sequence of events" is more accurate), characters, and dialogue."
Bisset himself commented: "All my books are modern fairy stories -- animistic in concept -- and, on the surface, nonsensical, but nevertheless they have meanings (varied)."
As an artist, Bisset designed children's posters and produced what Nettell described as "spiky little childlike drawings" which are attractive to the four, five or six-year-old "who has learnt enough of the rules of language, logic, real life, to appreciate seeing them bent ... who is still immersed in the world of fairy stories and nursery rhymes to enjoy the comfortable recognition of their patterns."
Bisset's books were translated into 16 languages. His best-known series featured Yak, a creature from the Himalayas, which was adapted as an animated television series (which Bisset scripted and narrated) in 1975.
Books for Children
Anytime Stories, illus. by the author. London, Faber & Faber, 1954.
Some Time Stories, illus. by the author. London, Methuen & Co., 1957.
Next Time Stories, illus. by the author. London, Methuen & Co., 1959.
This Time Stories, illus. by the author. London, Methuen, 1961.
Another Time Stories, illus. by the author. London, Methuen, 1963.
Little Bear's Pony, illus. Shirley Hughes. London, Benn, 1966.
Hullo Lucy, illus. Gillian Kenny. London, Benn, 1967; as Hello Lucy!, Ernest Benn, 1969.
Talks With a Tiger, illus. by the author. London, Methuen, 1967.
Kangaroo Tennis, illus. B. S. Biro. London, Benn, 1968.
Benjie the Circus Dog, illus. Val Biro. London, Benn, 1969.
Nothing, illus. by the author. London, Benn, 1969.
Upside Down Land. Moscow, Progress Publishers, 1969.
Time and Again Stories (selection of stories from Some Time Stories and This Time Stories), illus. by the author. London, London, Methuen, 1970.
Barcha the Tiger, illus. Derek Collard. London, Benn, 1971.
Tiger Wants More, illus. by the author. London, Methuen, 1971; as Ogg, illus. Amelia Rosato. Oxford University Press, 1987.
Yak and the Painted Cave, illus. Lorraine Calaora. London, Methuen, 1971.
Yak and the Sea Shell, illus. Lorraine Calaora. London, Methuen, 1971.
Yak and the Buried Treasure (from an idea by Susan Rutherford), illus. Lorraine Calaora. London, Methuen, 1972.
Yak and the Ice Cream, illus. Lorraine Calaora. London, Methuen, 1972.
Father Tingtang's Journey, illus. by the author. London, Methuen, 1973.
Jenny Hopalong, illus. Derek Collard. Tonbridge & London, Benn, 1973.
Yak Goes Home, illus. Lorraine Calaora. London, Methuen, 1973.
The Adventures of Mandy Duck, illus. by the author. London, Methuen, 1974.
The Happy Horse, illus. David Sharpe. London, Benn, 1974.
Hazy Mountain, illus. Shirley Hughes. Harmondsworth, Kestrel Boooks, 1975.
'Oh Dear', said Tiger, illus. by the author. London, Methuen, 1975.
Paws with Numbers, with Michael Morris, illus. Tony Hutchings. Maidenhead, Berks., Intercontinental Books, 1976.
Paws with Shapes, illus. Tony Hutchings. Maidenhead, Berks., Intercontinental Books, 1976.
The Lost Birthday, illus. by the author. Moscow, Progress Publishers, 1976.
Journey to the Jungle, illus. by the author. London, Beaver Books, 1977.
The Story of Smokey Horse, illus. by the author. London, Methuen, 1977.
This is Ridiculous, illus. by the author. London, Beaver Books, 1977.
The Adventures of Yak, illus. by the author. London, Methuen, 1978.
What Time Is It, When it Isn't?, illus. by the author. London, Methuen, 1980.
Johnny Here and There, illus. by the author. London, Methuen Children's Books, 1981.
The Hedgehog Who Rolled Uphill, illus. by the author. London, Methuen Children's Books, 1982.
The Joyous Adventures of Snakey Boo, illus. by the author. London, Methuen Children's Books, 1982.
Sleep Tight, Snakey Boo, illus. by the author. London, Methuen Children's Books, 1985.
Upside Down Stories, with Alison Claire Darke. London, Puffin, 1987.
Just a Moment!, illus. by the author. London, Methuen Children's Books, 1988.
Please Yourself. London, Methuen Children's Books, 1991.
TV Plays
(1975)"Play for Today"
-- Funny Farm (Mr. Scully)
©BBC
--Breath (Nell's Father)
(1951)BBC Sunday Night Theater-Shadow Scene (Boyd)
(March 1937)Left Theatre Revue