Biography
Stratford Johns (born Alan Edgar Stratford Johns) was a South African-born British actor. He moved to Britain in 1948 and trained in repertory theatre at Southend-on-Sea for nearly five years before beginning his screen career in the mid-1950s.
He became widely known for playing the abrasive Detective Chief Inspector Charlie Barlow in the BBC series Z-Cars (1962–65) and its spin-offs Softly, Softly (1966–69), Softly Softly: Task Force (1969–76) and Barlow at Large (1971–73). His film roles included a security guard in The Ladykillers (1955) and Ismail in The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980). Other television appearances encompassed Doctor Who, I, Claudius (1976) and Neverwhere (1996).
