Alan Edgar Stratford Johns (22 September 1925 – 29 January 2002[1]), known as Stratford Johns, was a British stage, film and television actor who is best remembered for playing the role as senior CID officer Charlie Barlow, a character he originated in the early years of the long-running BBC police series Z-Cars, and then continued to play in several spin-off series in the 1960s and 1970s.

[2] After serving as a deckhand in the South African navy during World War II,[3] he worked for a time in accountancy, but soon became involved in amateur theatre.

In 1948, Johns bought a one-way ticket to Britain and learned his craft working in repertory theatre at Southend-on-Sea for almost five years.

Johns later appeared in the Ken Russell films Salome's Last Dance and The Lair of the White Worm (both 1988),[2] followed by the title-character in the mid-1980s Channel 4 series Brond.

His guest appearances on TV include The Avengers, Department S, Neverwhere, the Doctor Who serial Four to Doomsday (1982) and the Blake's 7 episode "Games".

In 1993, Johns appeared in the BBC period drama Scarlet and Black alongside a young Ewan McGregor and Rachel Weisz.