A SMOOTH supporting actor, Ronald Leigh-Hunt was one of the most familiar faces of postwar British cinema. He made more than 50 films, many of them B-movie thrillers in which he was usually cast as a doctor or a policeman, and on television he was best known for roles as King Arthur in The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (1956) and as Colonel Buchan in the long-running children’s series Freewheelers (1968).

Later in his career Leigh-Hunt appeared in big-budget international films such as Le Mans (1971), with Steve McQueen, The Message (1976), with Anthony Quinn, and The Omen (1976), with Gregory Peck.

Leigh-Hunt was born in London and began acting in repertory companies before making his film debut, auspiciously as a doctor, in the thriller Blackout (1950), opposite Dinah Sheridan. Rarely out of work throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Leigh-Hunt played supporting roles in a string of films as well as appearing in television series such as The Saint, Dixon of Dock Green, The Avengers and Z Cars.

His break came when he was cast as King Arthur in the ITV production, The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, with William Russell as Lancelot, and he went on to cameo appearances in The League of Gentlemen (1959), Oscar Wilde (1960) and Khartoum (1966), in which he played Lord Northbrook.

Freewheelers ran for 104 episodes from 1968. An adventure series for older children, the show featured a teenage trio used by Colonel Buchan to defeat villains, often the neo-Nazi Von Gelb, played by Geoffrey Toone. Leigh-Hunt later said: “It was one of my favourite roles. I was in every episode.”

Leigh-Hunt frequently returned to the stage and in 1966 he played the showman Florenz Ziegfeld opposite Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice in the West End production of the musical Funny Girl. The production won several awards, but it was confined to 112 performances after the star fell pregnant.

Leigh-Hunt’s most recent television work included playing General Pagel in the American mini-series Ike (1979), opposite Robert Duvall, and Frankenstein (1992), with John Mills.

Elegantly dressed on screen and off, he was known in theatrical circles for his glorious voice and impeccable manners.

Ronald Leigh-Hunt, actor, was born on October 5, 1916. He died on September 12, 2005, aged 88.