British actor John Wood attended Oxford, where he served as president of the university's Dramatic Society. After serving as a lieutenant in the Royal Horse Academy, Wood joined the {~Old Vic} in 1954, then spent several seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1967, he made his Broadway bow as the glib Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard's {+Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead}.
He went to star in such Atlantic-crossing stage productions as {+Sherlock Holmes} (in the title role), {+Travesties} (for which he won a Tony Award), {+Tartuffe}, {+Deathtrap}, and {+Amadeus}. His infrequent film roles include the reclusive computer whiz Stephen Falken in WarGames (1983) and the Bishop in Ladyhawke (1985). John Wood was seen as the heroine's chauffeur father in Sabrina (1995) and the forbidding Lord Brocklehurst in Jane Eyre (1996). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide. 