- Keith Barron, Doctor Who #127: Enlightenment, TV, 1983. Sallis was selected for Captain Striker because he had been seen as “a similarly detached character” in 1974’s The Pallissers. (Striker was an Eternal stuck in the “trackless wastes of eternity.” The Doctor and his companions are Ephemerals. But you knew that, right?). Sallis was there at rehearsals. However, when shooting was strike-delayed he had to split to his day job, Last of the Summer Wine – he only stopped being Clegg there after 295 episodes in 2010 at age 89! After 153 screen roles, Sallis died on June 2, 2017, He was 96.
- Patrick Stewart, Lifeforce, 1984.
- Aubrey Morris, Lifeforce, 1984.
- Terence Alexander, Doctor Who #139: The Mark of the Rani, 1984. Sallis, Joss Ackland, Harry Andrews, Bernard Archard, Robin Bailey, George Baker, Ian Bannen, Geoffrey Bayldon, John Carson, Peter Cushing, Allan Cuthbertson, Frank Finlay, Robert Flemyng, Michael Gough, Dinsdale Landen, TP McKenna, Donald Pickering, John Standing, Patrick Stewart, Peter Vaughan… and the Z Cars cops James Ellis and Jeremy Kemp – 23 contenders for Lord Ravenworth. Phew! Actually, Sir John Standing was the most suitable, being the fourth baronet in his family’s line.
- John Stratton, Doctor Who #140: The Two Doctors, TV, 1985. The two Time Lords were Doc2 Patrick Troughton and Doc 6, the short lived Colin Baker. Shockeyes were more plentiful. The 22 prospects were: Sallis (!), Stratton, Joss Ackland, George Baker, Ian Bannen, Brian Blessed, Denholm Elliott, James Ellis, Frank Finlay, Ronald Fraser, Michael Gothard, Don Henderson, Donald Houston, Freddie Jones, Jeremy Kemp, Roy Kinnear, Ronald Lacey, TP McKenna, Aubrey Morris, Donald Pleasence, George Sewell, Peter Vaughan.
| - -Johnny Depp, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, 2004.
Although being eminently more suitable – at age 83 – for Grandpa Joe, director Tim Burton fancied Sallis as chocolatier Willy Wonka. Tim’s 31 other ideas went from his ole Betelgeuse, Michael Keaton, to… Rowan Atkinson, Dan Aykroyd, Nicolas Cage, Jim Carrey, Chevy Chase, Warwick Davis, Robert De Niro, James Gandolfini, Dwayne Johnson, Ian McKellen, Marilyn Manson, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, John Neville, Leslie Nielsen, Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, Will Smith, Patrick Stewart, Ben Stiller, Christopher Walken, Robin Williams. And the surviving Monty Python crew (also up for the 1970 version): John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin. Among the five exec producers, author Roald Dahl’s widow, Liccy, wanted her husband’s favourite Willy – Dustin Hoffman. If not possible she voted for UK comics, Eddie Izzard or David Walliams. She was quite happy with Depp… who found Willy’s voice while riffing on a stoned George W Bush!
Birth year: 1921Death year: 2017Other name: Casting Calls: 6