RIP Rio Fanning (7.11.1931 - 12.8.2018)
A familiar face in genre television - albeit usually in smaller, supporting roles - the actor Rio Fanning spent more than fifty years giving solid, dependable performances in all manner of mediums. Although his screen career was not the flashiest, his first love was probably the stage - for which he wrote, directed and performed.
Born James Arnold Rio Fanning in County Down, Ireland, in 1931, Rio began acting at a young age in school plays and local pageants. As an adult he would move to England and paid his way through the London School of Drama, and by the late 1950's he was a regular face in repertory theatre. Sticking to his Irish roots, he made notable appearances in Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars at the Mermaid Theatre in 1962 and, the following year, in the British premiere of Brendan Behan’s The Big House. In the next few years there were well received performances as Richard III, a starring role opposite Maximilian Schell in John Osborne's A Patriot For Me, and later work with Ron Hutchinson and David Leland. In 1980 he played Kent to David Ryall's King Lear, in the Birmingham Rep's celebrated production.
His screen debut was in 1959, with a small role in Great Expectations. During the following decade he was a regular face on British television, racking up credits in Ghost Squad (1963), The Man In Room 17 (1965) and Mr. Rose (1967). He was particularly busy in the last years of the 1960's, appearing in Mogul, Softly Softly, and making two episodes each for The Champions and The Avengers. For the latter, he was particularly memorable as the doomed Danvers, one of Steed's old friends, in Dead Man's Treasure (1967). Its a brief role - really, Danvers is only there to die and to set the action rolling - but Fanning throws his all into it. Death, in The Avengers, can often be taken a little less than seriously, but few actors threw quite so much weight into being mortally wounded. Fanning - sweating, grimacing, leaving bloody handprints on the walls - sticks in the mind long after the episode has finished.
He was busy throughout the following decade, with guest spots on Hadleigh and The Brothers, before a couple of roles won him genre immortality. In 1977, Fanning played Harker in Doctor Who (15.1, Horror of Fang Rock), one of the more likable characters amongst the cast of shipwreck victims who must survive the night at a Victorian lighthouse - likeable or not, his character didn't survive, as was becoming habitual by now. He suffered a similar fate on Blake's 7 (3.7, Children of Auron, 1980), as Deral, an ill-fated henchman to Supreme Commander Servalan.
There were some more choice appearances - in The Sandbaggers (1980), Harry's Game (1982), and an episode of Father Ted (1996), but in later years he concentrated more on a second career that had been running simultaneously since the 1970's - as a scriptwriter. Under the penname Michael Robartes, Fanning had been a regular contributor to British soap operas, writing for Emmerdale, The District Nurse, and most prolifically, EastEnders. In 1996, under his own name, he wrote the six part series The Adventures Of Swiss Family Robinson. His final writing credit was in 2002; his last acting role in 2014.
Although never a leading man, Rio's distinctive look and quiet, heartfelt performances - not to mention an enviable list of genre credits - made for a long and varied career. He is survived by his wife, the actor Karen Ford, and two sons.
