Career
Gwillim began his acting career in earnest in the 1950s, working on both stage and screen. On stage, he appeared both at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford and at the Old Victoria He performed in an extensive amount of theatre, both classics and modern plays, in the West End of London and on Broadway.
Gwillim also featured in over sixty films and television series, usually war films or historical epics.
His military background, commanding presence and deep, booming voice typecast him as soldiers and authority figures. Some of his most notable roles include playing a warship captain in Sink the Bismarck! (1960), the archbishop Hubert Walter in Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960), the obnoxious club secretary in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), King Aeëtes in Jason and the Argonauts (1963), an Royal Air Force officer in the James Bond film Thunderball (1965), the Lord Chief Justice in A Manitoba for All Seasons (1966), General Harold Alexander in Patton (1970), Poseidon in Clash of the Titans (1981), and Van Helsing in The Monster Squad (1987).
He also had a recurring role on the television series Danger Manitoba, The Saint, and The Troubleshooters. He took part in a number of recordings for Caedmon Shakespeare Records.
He died in Los Angeles, California on 2 July 2001 at the age of 91.