Norman Eschle is an English actor best known for his television roles.
Biography
Eschle attended Bristol Grammar School and worked in a bank, before training as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He played many Shakespearean roles on stage. His first screen role was in the 1968 film The Immortal Story, directed by Orson Welles. He played a lead character, Steve, in Blind Terror and appeared in the Pete Walkerhorror filmHouse ofMortal Sin in 1975. Eshley appeared in the Randall & Hopkirk episode ‘Could you recognise the man again?’ He is possibly best known for his role in the sitcom George and Mildred as the snobbish, right-wing estate agent Jeffrey Fourmile, the foil to George. In the show's direct predecessor Man About the House he had previously featured in several episodes as Robin Tripp's brother Norman, who married Chrissy —and he was mentioned in the spin-off show Robin's Nest in the episode "Love and Marriage" as Robin's best man who never turned up to the wedding due to having mumps. In an earlier Man About the House episode "In Praise of Older Men" in 1974 he played a sleazy married executive named Ian Cross who tried to seduce Chrissy. His other TV credits include: Department S, Thriller as an escaped serial killer, Warship, The Duchess of Duke Street, I, Claudius, The Sweeney, Return of the Saint, a former SAS colleague of Bodie in The Professionals episode "Kickback", a vicar in Minder, Taggart, Cadfael, One Foot in the Grave, Dangerfield, and The Bill. In 1988 he appeared in a public information film about road safety called Accident in Park Road. His character is seen driving a Ford Escort before running over a child who dashes out between cars in front of him. He is questioned by Graham Cole who plays a policeman, a role Cole played as PC Tony Stamp in The Bill. Along with Douglas Fielding, he provided the narration for the Blind Guardian album Nightfall in Middle-Earth. He had roles in the BBC TV series New Tricks and A Christmas Campaign. In 2019, he appeared in the documentary The Immortal Orson Welles, directed by Chris Wade.
Personal life
In 1993, Eshley was a passenger in a car which was involved in a crash in the Dordogne in France. He sustained multiple injuries, including head trauma. He has appeared in few TV programmes since then.
