Denis Quilley

Denis Quilley, the booming-voiced British actor who starred in several major West End musicals and was a mainstay at the National Theatre, has died of cancer. He was 75.

Mr. Quilley, who died Sunday, became ill during the smash run of the National ' s recent revival of the 1930s Cole Porter musical " Anything Goes. " Mr. Quilley played the delightfully dim Elisha Whitney in the shipboard musical but had to bow out of the production ' s subsequent West End transfer, because of poor health.

In 1980, he won the SWET Award London ' s equivalent of the Tony for playing the title role of the murderous barber in " Sweeney Todd. " Mr. Quilley returned to the same Stephen Sondheim musical, although in a different production, during the 1990s, in a National Theater revival that found him playing first Judge Turpin and, ultimately, once again the title role.

In 1990 and 1991, he appeared in New York revivals of Sheridan ' s " The School for Scandal " and Webster ' s " The White Devil. " Mr. Quilley co-starred with George Hearn in the 1986 London premiere of the Tony-winning musical " La Cage Aux Folles, " inheriting the role originated on Broadway by Gene Barry.

But the actor was no less known for his work in plays and the classics, more often than not at the state-funded National, where he often took on more than one role at a time in repertory.

Between 1971 and 1976, parts for the National included Macbeth, Caliban in " The Tempest, " Jamie in " Long Day ' s Journey Into Night " alongside Laurence Olivier, and Claudius in " Hamlet. " In 2000, Mr. Quilley returned to " Hamlet, " this time doubling as the Gravedigger and as an unusually humane Polonius. In 2001, he played Diana Rigg ' s suitor in the National premiere of Charlotte Jones ' s play " Humble Boy. "

Mr. Quilley started his career at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1945. He had long runs on London ' s West End during the 1950s in " Wild Thyme " and " Grab Me A Gondola. "

In 1977, he won his first SWET Award as the high-camp military man, Terri Dennis, in the Peter Nichols play-with-music, " Privates On Parade. " Mr. Quilley played Dennis again opposite John Cleese in the 1982 film version of " Privates. " In 1978, he starred in the London stage premiere of " Deathtrap, " Ira Levin ' s long-running Broadway thriller.

Besides " Privates, " his numerous films include " Life At the Top, " " Anne of the Thousand Days, " " Murder On the Orient Express, " " Mr. Johnson " and " King David. " On television, he played Lord Curzon in " A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia, " starring Ralph Fiennes.

Mr. Quilley is survived by his wife, Stella, and three children.