John Oldcastle John Oldcastle Sir John Oldcastle (died 14 December 1417) was an English Lollard leader. Being a friend of Henry V, he long escaped prosecution for heresy. When convicted, he escaped from the Tower of London and then led a rebellion against the King. Eventually, he was captured and executed in London. He formed the basis for William Shakespeare's character John Falstaff, who was originally called John Oldcastle. Oldcastle's date of birth is unknown, although dubious and possibly apocryphal sources place it variously at 1360 or 1378. His father was Richard Oldcastle of Almeley in northwest Herefordshire. His grandfather, also called
Bardolph (Shakespeare character) the film "Cold Mountain" are named Bardolph, Nym, and Pistol. Bardolph comments on various events, factions, and characters in Jason Sholtis's Dungeons & Dragons adventure Operation Unfathomable. On screen Bardolph has been portrayed twice by Gordon Gostelow, an actor who was described as "born" to play the part. He depicted him in the 1960 BBC production "An Age of Kings" and in the 1979 BBC Television Shakespeare films of the Henriad plays. In the "Age of Kings" version of "Henry V", after Bardolph dies Gostelow is 'reborn' to become Sir Thomas Erpingham, mutating from the king's disreputable companion in criminality