Rye Family Scholarship

John Rye was born in Streatham and spent his childhood and early life in South London. His mother was a district nurse and his father worked in local government. His grammar school education also gave him early opportunities to appear in school productions, and he soon developed an interest in drama. John enjoyed three years as a student at the Central School before graduating in 1956, and began to forge a career as an actor, writer and voice-over artist. His early career was spent with local repertory companies, before auditioning successfully for the Old Vic theatre company, where he appeared in Shakespeare productions with many star names. John became a well-known BBC radio actor, working on a range of productions including Macbeth (1958), Mystery and Imagination (1966) and Puss in Boots (2014) as well as playing ‘The Mouth of Sauron’ in the 1981 BBC radio broadcast of The Lord of the Rings. Working primarily in radio, John also appeared in film and TV, he was a regular on several iconic British TV shows including The Bill and One Foot in the Grave. Recent credits include Kung Fu Panda (2014) and Puss in Boots (2014). John was known for his exceptional kindness and matter-of-fact attitude, and avoided what he termed the ‘unnecessary fuss’ of show business. Of his generous legacy gift, his cousin says ‘John was always so grateful to receive the local authority grant which enabled him to study, and he wanted to ensure others had the same good fortune and receive financial support to train at Central.’