Actor / Director Profile

Proud and passionate Englishman, Pat Roach, was born and raised in Birmingham, England and grew to be a mountain of a man standing at 6'5" inches tall, with doorway wide shoulders and a barrel chest.Pat wrestled competitively under the name of "Bomber" Roach, and at one time held both the British and European Heavyweight Wrestling Championships! Whilst still in the wrestling game, Roach broke into acting with a bit part in the Stanley Kubrick film Barry Lyndon (1975). He quickly became popular as an enforcer or warrior figure and appeared onscreen with some of Hollywood's biggest names. Many people would remember him as the muscle bound, bald German guard who hands out a fist beating to Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), before being cut down by a spinning plane propeller.In other film roles, Roach nearly eliminates 007 Sean Connery in the Bond film Never Say Never Again (1983), in dual roles as a resurrected demon and as a fierce warrior, he fought Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Conan sequel Conan the Destroyer (1984), and was back as a ferocious Indian guard pummeling poor Harrison Ford once again in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), before falling into a rock crusher!He also appeared in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Red Sonja (1985) and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). Apart from his film activities, Pat ran a gymnasium in Birmingham, operated a used appliance business in the local markets and was known as a warm-hearted and genial man who was happy to chat with admiring fans, sign autographs and pose for photos.Roach was also very popular with English TV audiences for his portrayal of gentle giant "Brian 'Bomber' Busbridge" in the series "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet" (1983) and was scheduled to appear in the fourth series of the show, when he passed away from cancer on July 17th, 2004. He was 67 years old.