James Saxon (actor)

William James Smyth (12 June 1955 – 2 July 2003), better known by his stage name James Saxon, was an English television and theatre character actor. He began his career in British television productions in the early 1980s, and as the decade progressed he became an in-demand charismatic support actor.

He was known for the plump physique and expressive moon face that he developed in his thirties, and for his acting range, from frenetic intensity and garrulousness to refined genteel introspection. To the mid-1980s generation of British children he was known for his role as Roland Rat's inept agent, D'Arcy DeFarcy, who would mistakenly refer to his client as "Reynard".