Michael John Edward Culver was born on 16 June 1938 in Hampstead, London, the son of actor Roland Culver and casting director Daphne Rye.[2] He was educated at Gresham's School. Culver died on 27 February 2024, at the age of 85.[3]

Culver was twice married. In 1962, he married actress Lucinda Curtis and divorced in 1986. He married sculptor Amanda Ward in 2004.[3]

Actor
Culver's aunt, father, mother and brother all had theatrical careers. Culver gained experience at the Old Vic, Dundee Rep (performing in 35 plays in 2 years) and London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.[3]

Culver appeared in several television series in recurring roles, as Squire Armstrong in The Adventures of Black Beauty (1972–74), Major Erwin Brandt in the BBC drama Secret Army (1977–78), crooked banker Ralph Saroyan in the second series of The House of Eliott (1992) and the strict Prior Robert ('Brother Prior') in Cadfael (1994–98).

His guest roles included an episode of The Sweeney as Dave Leeford (episode Money, Money, Money; 1978), The Professionals (1982) as Lawson, Miss Marple "The Moving Finger" (1985) as Edward Symmington and as Sir Reginald Musgrave, in the episode "The Musgrave Ritual" (1986) in the Granada Television series The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

Culver appeared in two uncredited roles in James Bond films. In From Russia With Love (1963), he played a man in a punt[4] which was followed as the co-pilot of Avro Vulcan, (Callsign Ramjet MBX-79), in Thunderball (1965).[5] Other film roles are Captain Needa in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and also a major part in A Passage to India (1984) as a bigoted police inspector. In 2008, he appeared in a guest role in Sidetracked, the first episode of Wallander. Culver was in the first ever episode of New Tricks in 2003 as a corrupt dinosaur detective.[6]

Culver performed in three of Tricycle Theatre’s Tribunal Plays: Nuremberg (A distillation of the 1945–46 Nuremberg trials – of leading Nazi war criminals); Half the Picture (From transcripts from the Scott Inquiry into Arms-to-Iraq – the first play to be performed in the Palace of Westminster.) and The Colour of Justice (The dramatisation of the evidence given during Sir William Macpherson’s inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, his family's search for justice and endemic racism in the police force). They were directed by Nicolas Kent. The Colour of Justice and Half the Picture and were broadcast by the BBC Television.[3]