I had the pleasure of directing the actor Larry Rew on several occasions. Each time his wit, professionalism and gravitas were truly impressive.
Larry, who has died aged 75, had a long career that included appearances in the films Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (as one of the nine Kings of Men, 2001) and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (as Kosta, 2009), as well as many theatrical parts in the UK and in his second home of New Zealand.
Named after Laurence Olivier, he was born in Small Heath, Birmingham, to Norman, a builder, and his wife, Joyce. He attended Bordesley Green technical school and the Birmingham School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art (known as “Chappies”, 1965-68).
After a short period as an assistant stage manager at the Midlands Arts Centre theatre in Birmingham, he moved on to acting in rep, first at the Liverpool Playhouse, then at the Lyric theatre in Belfast, where he met his wife, Gwen Williams, who was an assistant stage manager there.
They married in 1974 and settled in Birmingham. Soon Larry got his dream job as a teacher and director back at Chappies, working there for 15 years. While at Chappies he directed the first student production of the play Road, by Jim Cartwright.
When the marriage ended in divorce in 1984, Larry moved to New Zealand, where he worked extensively as an actor and director, and lived with his second long-term partner, Roz Walls, a fellow actor.
In New Zealand his production in 2007 for BATS theatre in Wellington of Matthew Saville’s Kikia Te Poa, about a Māori man fighting in the Boer war, won a national critics award and acclaim from the New Zealand UN Human Rights Commission for its contribution to race relations in the country.
After Larry and Roz split up in 2009, he returned to the UK in 2010, continuing to take on film roles into his 70s, including the significant part of Karl Scott-Morton alongside Neil Morrissey in the 2019 film Crucible of the Vampire.
It was appropriate that Larry played a King of Men in Lord of Rings, for he is remembered by those who knew him as being one.
In his spare time he loved to walk the dog on the canals around Birmingham and was often found in coffee shops with a hot drink and a muffin.
He is survived by Gwen, with whom he lived after his return to the UK.
