Fleming, Tom

Born in Edinburgh, Tom Fleming established himself as a distinguished character actor, making his theatrical debut alongside Edith Evans during a tour of India in 1945.

Following two years of service in the Royal Navy from 1945 to 1947, Fleming resumed his acting career.

His commitment to Scottish theatre led him to co-found the Gateway Company in Edinburgh in 1953, where he subsequently served as artistic director until 1962 at the Gateway venue, which was owned by the Church of Scotland.

Fleming’s theatrical prominence grew through his association with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon and London between 1962 and 1964.

During this period, he delivered notable performances including Kent opposite Paul Scofield’s King Lear in Peter Brook’s production, the titular role in William Gaskill’s staging of Cymbeline, Brutus in Julius Caesar, and Buckingham in Peter Hall and John Barton’s The Wars of the Roses.

His leadership within Scottish theatre continued when he became artistic director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh in 1965. Later, in 1982, he assumed the role of artistic director for the Scottish Theatre Company, succeeding Ewan Hooper.

A regular presence at the Edinburgh Festival across many years, Fleming became particularly renowned for his readings of Robert Burns and his celebrated 1992 performance of Hugh MacDiarmid’s A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle.

Fleming achieved a pioneering milestone as the first actor to portray Jesus Christ in the BBC serial Jesus of Nazareth (1956). He was subsequently considered for the same role in Nicholas Ray’s film King of Kings (1961), though the part ultimately went to Jeffrey Hunter.

His portrayal of Lord (John) Reith, the founding father of the BBC, featured in the television production Reith (BBC One, 1983) and in multiple stage tours.

Other television acting credits include:

• Little Women (1958);
• The Highlander (1959);
• Title role in Redgauntlet (BBC Television, 1959);
• Title role of King Henry IV in An Age of Kings (1959);
• Title role in Rob Roy (BBC Television, 1961);
• Title role of Lord Adam Weir in Weir of Hermiston (BBC Two, 1973).

However, for several generations of television viewers, Fleming’s resonant Scottish voice became the defining sound of royal occasions, state ceremonies and annual BBC Television broadcasts spanning four decades, including:

• Last Night of the Proms (BBC Television, 1962);
• Remembrance Sunday – The Cenotaph (1965 – 1999);
• Edinburgh Military Tattoo (1966 – 2008);
• Trooping the Colour (BBC One, 1969 – 1988).

He commentated for BBC Television on the following royal events:

• Memorial Service for HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (BBC One, 1968);
• Silver Wedding of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh (BBC One, 1972);
• Wedding of Princess Anne and Capt Mark Phillips (BBC One, 1973);
• Wedding of HRH The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer (BBC One, 1981);
• Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales (1997);
• Funeral of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (2002).

Other television credits include:

• Edinburgh International Festival (BBC Two, 1967 – 1968);
• Songs of Praise (BBC One, 1970 and 1972);
• Wrote and narrated The Galileans (BBC One, 1971);
• The Lord Mayor’s Banquet (BBC One, 1972);
• Commentator – The Royal Variety Performance (BBC One, 1972);
• The Royal Tournament (BBC One, 1973 – 1976);
• The Queen’s Guards: Trooping the Colour (BBC One, 1973);
• Narrated The World About Us (BBC Two, 1973 – 1974 and 1981);
• The Enthronement of the Archbishop of Canterbury (BBC One, 1975 and 1980);
• The Ordination and Installation of the Archbishop of Westminster (BBC Two, 1976);
• The Queen in the United States of America (BBC Two, 1976);
• Opening Night at the National – HM The Queen opens the National Theatre on London’s South Bank (BBC One, 1976);
• Wrote and narrated In This Your Honour, marking HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother’s 80th birthday (BBC One, 1980);
• Commentator on The Papal Visit (BBC One, 1982);
• Wrote and presented Seven Days That Changed the World (BBC One, 1984);
• The Falklands Remembered (BBC One, 1985);
• Commentator on Zeebrugge Ferry Memorial Service (BBC One, 1987);
• Narrated Eye on Nature (BBC Two, 1989);
• Presented Gulf Remembrance from Glasgow Cathedral (BBC One, 1991);
• D-Day Remembered (BBC One, 1994);
• VE50 Buckingham Palace: The Day Peace Broke Out (BBC One, 1995);
• VJ-50 Live: the Final Tribute (BBC One, 1995).

Fleming served as a member of the BBC Radio commentary team at The Queen’s Coronation in 1953.

Other radio commentary included A 90th Birthday Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (BBC Radio 4, 1990) and Trooping the Colour (BBC Radio 4, 1991 – 1993).

In 1991, Fleming opened BBC Scotland’s refurbished radio drama premises in Edinburgh through his performance in John Purser’s play Carver, celebrating Robert Carver, Augustinian canon and composer to the Renaissance court of James V.

His radio credits include:

• A Book at Bedtime (BBC Light Programme, 1950 – 1956 and BBC Radio 4, 1971 and 1980);
• Lift up Your Hearts! (BBC Home Service, 1955 – 1956);
• Red Gauntlet (BBC Home Service, 1957);
• Macbeth (BBC Home Service, 1961);
• Saturday Night Theatre – The Partridge Dance (BBC Radio 4, 1965);
• Dickens Today (BBC Home Service, 1967);
• Ten to Eight: Holy Places (BBC Radio 4, 1968);
• Saturday Night Theatre – Dr Angelus (BBC Radio 4, 1970);
• Saturday Night Theatre – Mr Bolfry (BBC Radio 4, 1971);
• A Book at Bedtime (BBC Radio 4, 1971 and 1984);
• Story Time (BBC Radio 4, 1972 and 1978);
• In Praise of God (BBC Radio 4, 1973 – 1975, 1977 – 1978);
• Old Mortality (BBC Radio 4, 1974);
• Sunday Worship (BBC Radio 4, 2001).

Fleming’s film appearances included two projects directed by Peter Brook: Scofield’s King Lear (1970) and his Gurdjieff film, Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979).

For more than two decades, he served as organist, preacher, secretary and reader at Canonmills Baptist Church in Edinburgh.

Fleming received the OBE in the 1980 New Year Honours for services to drama and was appointed CVO in 1998.

Academic recognition came in the form of an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh in 1984, and he was made a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 1986.

He died from cancer, aged 82.

Personal information

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