AN author and actor from Game of Thrones and Casualty came to Worcester today, describing a city cricket legend as his 'absolute hero'.

Clive Mantle came to Bored and Bookless in Worcester's Friar Street for a 'Morning with Mantle and Malone' today, taking questions from the public, including about his Freddie Malone adventure children's books.

Worcester News: TALENT: Clive Mantle engaged an audience at Bored and Bookless, signing copies of his books and sharing anecdotes about his childhood and actors he has worked with including Clint Eastwood TALENT: Clive Mantle engaged an audience at Bored and Bookless, signing copies of his books and sharing anecdotes about his childhood and actors he has worked with including Clint Eastwood (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

The physically imposing actor is immediately recognisable to anyone who has seen Game of Thrones, Casualty, Holby City, hit 80s show Robin of Sherwood and the Vicar of Dibley.

He was the first actor in history to get the better of Clint Eastwood in a fight (an on-screen fight that is) in the film White Hunter Black Heart and also appeared in Alien 3. The Hertfordshire-born actor regularly appears at Malvern Theatres where he has been performing in Wish you were Dead.

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During the informal Q&A Mr Mantle, 66, spoke about his writing process (he likes to write his ideas out in longhand first), his love of history, sporting great Basil D'Oliveira and his encounters with some of the biggest stars in cinema, including Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman and Sigourney Weaver. 

He said: "Basil D'Oliveira was my hero when I was young. The history of Worcester revolves around the D'Oliveira family. Basil is my reason for loving Worcester."

Mr Mantle said he became a member of Worcestershire County Cricket Club where Mr D'Oliveira played. The cricketer was a powerful symbol in the battle against Apartheid in South Africa.

Prime Minister of South Africa B. J. Vorster made it clear D'Oliveira's inclusion in the England squad was not acceptable, and despite many negotiations, the tour was cancelled and South Africa was excluded from Test cricket for 22 years, a watershed in the sporting boycott of apartheid.

Mr Mantle met Mr  D'Oliveira and talked to him about being embraced by Nelson Mandela at Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town.

The actor played general surgeon Mike Barratt in the BBC hospital drama series Casualty and Holby City in the 1990s, and Little John in the 1980s fantasy series Robin of Sherwood.

Younger audiences may know him from HBO's Game of Thrones as Lord Greatjon Umber, a close ally of Robb Stark. Kit Harington who attended Worcester Sixth Form College and the Chantry School in Martley also starred in the show, playing Jon Snow, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

His inspiration to write what is now the first in the series of the Freddie Malone stories came during a trek to the Mount Everest Base Camp for the charity ‘Hope and Homes for Children’ and he has since returned to the Himalayas and completed the Annapurna circuit.

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