Hilary Minster

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title: "Hilary Minster" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1944-births", "1999-deaths", "english-male-television-actors", "english-male-film-actors", "deaths-from-cancer-in-england", "male-actors-from-surrey", "burials-at-putney-vale-cemetery", "20th-century-english-male-actors"] description: "English actor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Minster" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary English actor ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Hilary Minster
birth_name	Roger Michael Hilary Minster
birth_date
birth_place	Surrey, England
death_date
death_place	London, England
parents
occupation	Actor
::

| name = Hilary Minster | image = | caption = | birth_name = Roger Michael Hilary Minster | birth_date = | birth_place = Surrey, England | death_date = | death_place = London, England | parents = | occupation = Actor

Roger Michael Hilary Minster (21 March 1944 – 24 November 1999) was an English character actor.

Life and career

Born in Surrey, England, he is best known for playing General Erich Von Klinkerhoffen in the sitcom 'Allo 'Allo! between 1984 and 1992.{{cite book |last= Stevens |first= Christopher |title= Born Brilliant: The Life of Kenneth Williams |publisher= John Murray |year= 2010 |isbn = 978-1-84854-195-5 |page=400

In 1974, Minster appeared as Lieutenant Lightfoot in the Upstairs, Downstairs episode "Facing Fearful Odds". He played the motorcyclist in the TV series The Long Chase. He also appeared twice in Doctor Who, as the Thal soldier Marat in Planet of the Daleks (1973) and as an unnamed Thal soldier who dangles Sarah Jane Smith from the rocket gantry in Genesis of the Daleks (1975) alongside fellow 'Allo 'Allo actor Guy Siner. This makes him one of the few Doctor Who actors to have played two characters from the same alien race. He also had a major part in another episode of a successful science fiction series playing Yagon in "Achilles Heel,' an episode of The Tomorrow People, in 1978.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Hilary_Minster_grave_Putney_Vale_2015.jpg" caption="Hilary Minster's grave at [[Putney Vale Cemetery]], London, in 2015"] ::

His film appearances were scarce but include roles in A Bridge Too Far (1977), The Godsend (1980), Cry Freedom (1987) and The Girl in a Swing (1988).

He was a presenter and producer of Central Independent Television's flagship ethnic minorities current affairs programme Here and Now during the early 1980s.

Minster provided the narration for the controversial Central television documentary The Men Who Killed Kennedy, which outlined various theories concerning the assassination of the American president John F. Kennedy.

Death

Minster died from cancer in London on 24 November 1999. His body was buried at Putney Vale Cemetery. The epitaph on the gravestone reads:

The noblest of men. He brought laughter to a million hearts. Loving father to Leo, Quona, Jack and Lyall. Beloved partner to Nicola. So sorely missed. My wonder.

Filmography

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1969	Battle of Britain	Pilot – Falke's Crew	Uncredited
1977	A Bridge Too Far	British Medical Officer
1980	The Godsend	Reporter
1987	Cry Freedom	1st Passport Control officer
1988	The Girl in a Swing	Joe
::

References

References

1. GRO Register of Births JUN 1944 2a 1045 SURREY S.W. – Roger M. H. Minster, mmn = Cochran-Carr
2. GRO Register of Deaths: NOV 1999 B60B 5 KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA – Roger Michael H. Minster, DoB = 21 Mar 1944, aged 55
3. (January 2018). ["MACE The Media Archive for Central England | Media clipHere and Now Programme 186]".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::