Brian Murphy (actor)
Encyclopedia
Brian Murphy is a British
actor.
Murphy was born in Ventnor
, Isle of Wight
. Although a prolific actor in many film
s and theatre
productions for almost half a century, Murphy's most famous role was as the henpecked husband George Roper in the sitcom Man About the House
and spin-off George and Mildred
.
He was called up to do his military service at RAF Northwood, where he met future The Good Life actor Richard Briers
. On leaving the RAF the two aspiring actors both performed in productions by the Dramatic Society at the Borough Polytechnic Institute, now London South Bank University
. Murphy was a member of Joan Littlewood
's Theatre Workshop
(alongside Yootha Joyce
), and a jobbing actor in the 1960s and early 1970s, combining his theatre work with appearances in television shows such as The Avengers
, Z-Cars
and Dixon of Dock Green
, before being cast in the role which would make him a household name.
In Man About The House, Murphy played the lazy and scheming George Roper, the landlord of a house converted into flats who had a young man and two women renting the flat above. His wife, Mildred, was played by Yootha Joyce
. Her domineering, social-climbing characteristic was a sharp contrast to George's desire for an easy and quiet life and the pairing were an instant hit. A contributing factor to their immediate chemistry was the fact they had been friends for many years. Aside from their Theatre Workshop years, Murphy starred in Joyce's first movie, Sparrows Can't Sing
in 1963. When Man About The House reached a conclusion in 1976, a spin-off was created for Murphy and Joyce, entitled George and Mildred. This ran for five series until 1979. Murphy reprised his role in feature films of both sitcoms. Joyce died in 1980.
Murphy returned to the theatre but has been sporadically on television ever since, with memorable roles in On Your Way, Riley (1985) as Arthur Lucan
, Lame Ducks (as a private investigator
);
The Bill
(as a drunken tramp dressed as an elf at Christmas); comedy series One Foot in the Grave
starring Richard Wilson (playing a character called Mr Foskett); Last of the Summer Wine
(as Alvin Smedley); Brookside
; and as a shopkeeper called Stan in Wizadora
. He most recently made an appearance on The Catherine Tate Show
.
actress, Linda Regan
. They live in Shortlands
near Bromley
in south-east London
.
His grandson is the playwright Martin Murphy. His play Manor
was played at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden
in 2010.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
actor.
Murphy was born in Ventnor
Ventnor
Ventnor is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies underneath St Boniface Down , and is built on steep slopes and cliffs leading down to the sea...
, Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. Although a prolific actor in many film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s and theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
productions for almost half a century, Murphy's most famous role was as the henpecked husband George Roper in the sitcom Man About the House
Man About the House
Man About the House is a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox and Sally Thomsett that was broadcast for six seasons on ITV from 1973 to 1976. It was created and written by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke. The series was considered daring at the time due to its subject matter of...
and spin-off George and Mildred
George and Mildred
George and Mildred is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television that aired from 1976 to 1979. It was a spin-off from Man About the House and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as an ill-matched married couple, George and Mildred Roper...
.
He was called up to do his military service at RAF Northwood, where he met future The Good Life actor Richard Briers
Richard Briers
Richard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
. On leaving the RAF the two aspiring actors both performed in productions by the Dramatic Society at the Borough Polytechnic Institute, now London South Bank University
London South Bank University
London South Bank University is a university in south London. With over 25,000 students and 1,700 staff, it is based in the London Borough of Southwark, near the South Bank of the River Thames, from which it takes its name...
. Murphy was a member of Joan Littlewood
Joan Littlewood
Joan Maud Littlewood was a British theatre director, noted for her work in developing the left-wing Theatre Workshop...
's Theatre Workshop
Theatre Workshop
Theatre Workshop is a theatre group noted for their director, Joan Littlewood. Many actors of the 1950s and 1960s received their training and first exposure with the company...
(alongside Yootha Joyce
Yootha Joyce
Yootha Joyce was an English actress, best known for playing Mildred Roper in Man About the House and George and Mildred.-Early life:...
), and a jobbing actor in the 1960s and early 1970s, combining his theatre work with appearances in television shows such as The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
, Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
and Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...
, before being cast in the role which would make him a household name.
In Man About The House, Murphy played the lazy and scheming George Roper, the landlord of a house converted into flats who had a young man and two women renting the flat above. His wife, Mildred, was played by Yootha Joyce
Yootha Joyce
Yootha Joyce was an English actress, best known for playing Mildred Roper in Man About the House and George and Mildred.-Early life:...
. Her domineering, social-climbing characteristic was a sharp contrast to George's desire for an easy and quiet life and the pairing were an instant hit. A contributing factor to their immediate chemistry was the fact they had been friends for many years. Aside from their Theatre Workshop years, Murphy starred in Joyce's first movie, Sparrows Can't Sing
Sparrows Can't Sing
Sparrers Can't Sing is a 1962 British film. Based on a 1960 play, it was directed by Joan Littlewood and was from a story by Stephen Lewis. The producer was Don Taylor and the incidental music was composed by Stanley Black...
in 1963. When Man About The House reached a conclusion in 1976, a spin-off was created for Murphy and Joyce, entitled George and Mildred. This ran for five series until 1979. Murphy reprised his role in feature films of both sitcoms. Joyce died in 1980.
Murphy returned to the theatre but has been sporadically on television ever since, with memorable roles in On Your Way, Riley (1985) as Arthur Lucan
Arthur Lucan
Arthur Lucan was an English actor who gained fame as Old Mother Riley on stage, radio and also screen, with a series of comedy films between the late 1930s and early 1950s.-Biography:...
, Lame Ducks (as a private investigator
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
);
The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
(as a drunken tramp dressed as an elf at Christmas); comedy series One Foot in the Grave
One Foot in the Grave
One Foot in the Grave is a BBC television sitcom series written by David Renwick. The show ran for six series, including seven Christmas specials, two Comic Relief specials, over an eleven year period, from early 1990 to late 2000...
starring Richard Wilson (playing a character called Mr Foskett); Last of the Summer Wine
Last of the Summer Wine
Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that was broadcast on BBC One. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and...
(as Alvin Smedley); Brookside
Brookside
Brookside is a defunct British soap opera set in Liverpool, England. The series began on the launch night of Channel 4 on 2 November 1982, and ran for 21 years until 4 November 2003...
; and as a shopkeeper called Stan in Wizadora
Wizadora
Wizadora was a children's television programme broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom from 1993 to 1998. However, it was first used as a language teaching tool for children to learn the English language, by Oxford University Press in 1991. The series was created by Don Arioli and Carolyne Cullum. ...
. He most recently made an appearance on The Catherine Tate Show
The Catherine Tate Show
The Catherine Tate Show is a British television sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate and Aschlin Ditta. Tate also stars in all but one of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters. The Catherine Tate Show airs on BBC Two and is shown worldwide through the BBC...
.
Family
Murphy's second wife is Hi-de-Hi!Hi-de-Hi!
Hi-de-Hi! is a British sitcom that aired on the BBC from 1980-1988. It was set in a holiday camp during the 1950s and 1960s and was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who had written Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum. The title was the phrase used to greet the campers and in early episodes...
actress, Linda Regan
Linda Regan
Linda Regan is a British actress who has appeared in television and film. She is best known for her role as Yellowcoat April in the British holiday camp sitcom Hi-De-Hi...
. They live in Shortlands
Shortlands
Shortlands is a ward of the London Borough of Bromley, located less than a mile from Bromley town centre. Historically, Shortlands was known as Clay Hill. It became known as Shortlands around 1800, after the fields which, at this point of the Ravensbourne river, ran at right angles up the slopes...
near Bromley
Bromley
Bromley is a large suburban town in south east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Bromley. It was historically a market town, and prior to 1963 was in the county of Kent and formed the administrative centre of the Municipal Borough of Bromley...
in south-east London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
His grandson is the playwright Martin Murphy. His play Manor
Manor (play)
Manor, a play by Martin Murphy, ran through March to April of 2010 at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden.It was described as "a fierce and disturbing debut play about North London gangsters by a new talent, well acted by a young cast that deliver a sit-up-and-take-notice ferocity of...
was played at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
in 2010.
Theatre
- Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Christopher BondChristopher BondChristopher Godfrey Bond is a British playwright whose 1973retelling of the Victorian tale Sweeney Todd formed the basis of Stephen Sondheim's musical of the same name, with book by Hugh Wheeler...
), Theatre Royal Stratford East, Title role (Sweeney ToddSweeney ToddSweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as then antagonist of the Victorian penny dreadful The String of Pearls and he was later introduced as an antihero in the broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and its film adaptation...
), 1973. - On Your Way, Riley (Alan PlaterAlan PlaterAlan Frederick Plater, CBE, FRSL was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s.-Career:...
), The Queen's Theatre, Arthur LucanArthur LucanArthur Lucan was an English actor who gained fame as Old Mother Riley on stage, radio and also screen, with a series of comedy films between the late 1930s and early 1950s.-Biography:...
(Old Mother Riley), February–March, 1983 - When We Are MarriedWhen We Are MarriedWhen We Are Married is a 1938 play by English dramatist, J. B. Priestley. It is the first play ever to be televised unedited from a theatre.-Productions:* 1938 World premiere, London, England* 16 November 1938 BBC live telecast...
(J.B. Priestley), Whitehall Theatre, Herbert Soppitt, 1986. - Roll On Friday (Roger HallRoger HallRoger Leighton Hall, CNZM, QSO is a British born New Zealander actor and playwright, known for his comedies that carry a serious vein of social criticism and feelings of pathos.-Early years:...
, Watford Palace Theatre, Jim, October, 1989.
Selected television roles
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | The Devils The Devils The Devils is a name for:* The Devils , the 1960 play by John Whiting based on the book The Devils of Loudon by Aldous Huxley* The Devils , the 1971 Ken Russell film... |
Adam |
| 1973 to 1976 1976 to 1980 |
Man About the House Man About the House Man About the House is a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox and Sally Thomsett that was broadcast for six seasons on ITV from 1973 to 1976. It was created and written by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke. The series was considered daring at the time due to its subject matter of... George and Mildred George and Mildred George and Mildred is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television that aired from 1976 to 1979. It was a spin-off from Man About the House and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as an ill-matched married couple, George and Mildred Roper... |
George Roper |
| 1981 | The Incredible Mr Tanner | Ernest Tanner |
| 1982 | L for Lester | Lester Small |
| 1984 to 1985 | Lame Ducks Lame Ducks (TV series) Lame Ducks is a British television sitcom made by the BBC in 1984 and written by Peter J. Hammond.One of the more dark and surreal plotlines, it starred John Duttine as Brian Drake, a man who, when suffering a serious injury after being hit by a truck, can no longer work and decides to head off to... |
Ansell |
| 1993 to 1999 | Wizadora Wizadora Wizadora was a children's television programme broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom from 1993 to 1998. However, it was first used as a language teaching tool for children to learn the English language, by Oxford University Press in 1991. The series was created by Don Arioli and Carolyne Cullum. ... |
Stan |
| 1994 | One Foot in the Grave One Foot in the Grave One Foot in the Grave is a BBC television sitcom series written by David Renwick. The show ran for six series, including seven Christmas specials, two Comic Relief specials, over an eleven year period, from early 1990 to late 2000... |
Mr. Foskett |
| 2003 to 2010 | Last of the Summer Wine Last of the Summer Wine Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that was broadcast on BBC One. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and... |
Alvin Smedley |
| 2010 | Hustle Hustle (TV series) Hustle is a British television drama series made by Kudos Film and Television for BBC One in the United Kingdom. Created by Tony Jordan and first broadcast in 2004, the series follows a group of con artists who specialise in "long cons" – extended deceptions which require greater commitment, but... |
Larry |
| 2011 | White Van Man White Van Man (TV series) White Van Man is a British sitcom created by Adrian Poynton and first broadcast on BBC Three and BBC HD in 2011. Will Mellor plays Ollie, a man with business dreams who has to put them on hold while he takes over the family handyman business from his father Tony played by Clive Mantle. It was... |
Albert |