Norman Painting
Encyclopedia
Norman Painting, OBE
(23 April 1924 – 29 October 2009) was an actor
who played Phil Archer
in the BBC Radio 4
soap opera
The Archers
since the pilot episodes were aired on the BBC Midlands Home Service in summer 1950. The series went national on 1 January 1951. At the time of his death he was the longest-serving member of the cast, his last episode being recorded two days before he died. His last recording session was first broadcast on 22 November 2009. According to Guinness World Records
he held the world record for an actor playing a continuous role.
Painting, a graduate of The University of Birmingham
and Christ Church, Oxford
was already an interviewer, writer and broadcaster before he first appeared as Philip in The Archers. He first became a script writer for the series in 1967, following in the footsteps of Edward J. Mason
, Geoffrey Webb, David Turner and John Keir Cross. He wrote in his memoir of the programme, Forever Ambridge (Ambridge is the name of the fictional West Midlands village in which the programme is set) that he believed that Geoffrey Webb, who had died some time before, was guiding his hand as he wrote. He penned about 1,200 episodes under the pseudonym Bruno Milna. Artistic disagreements with a then editor, plus a general disillusionment with the BBC management, meant that he decided to retire from writing scripts in 1982 and to stick to just performing them.
The character of Phil Archer developed from the lusty young romantic lead of the early episodes into a father and grandfather. Perhaps his most famous moment occurred on 22 September 1955, when his wife, Grace Archer
, was killed while trying to rescue a horse, Midnight, from a burning barn.
Phil, like his father, Dan Archer, before him, became a senior figure in the series, almost a village patriarch. He survived Painting by four months, dying peacefully in February 2010.
In 2000, Painting stated he was suffering from bladder cancer
. He was a bachelor who lived alone. He died from heart failure in his cottage in Warmington, Warwickshire on October 29, 2009.
He was the subject of a programme in the TV series This Is Your Life
in 1991.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(23 April 1924 – 29 October 2009) was an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who played Phil Archer
Phil Archer
Philip Walter Archer is a fictional character from the British BBC Radio 4 soap opera The Archers, played by Norman Painting. He made his first appearance on 29 May 1950, the show's pilot episode. The character later became the longest serving male character in the series...
in the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
The Archers
The Archers
The Archers is a long-running British soap opera broadcast on the BBC's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4. It was originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk", but is now described on its Radio 4 web site as "contemporary drama in a rural setting"...
since the pilot episodes were aired on the BBC Midlands Home Service in summer 1950. The series went national on 1 January 1951. At the time of his death he was the longest-serving member of the cast, his last episode being recorded two days before he died. His last recording session was first broadcast on 22 November 2009. According to Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
he held the world record for an actor playing a continuous role.
Painting, a graduate of The University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
and Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
was already an interviewer, writer and broadcaster before he first appeared as Philip in The Archers. He first became a script writer for the series in 1967, following in the footsteps of Edward J. Mason
Edward J. Mason
Edward J. Mason was born on May 8, 1912 in Birmingham, England and died on February 3, 1971. He was a script writer for radio, television and movies for both the British Broadcasting Corporation and its rival Radio Luxembourg.-Brief biography:Edward J...
, Geoffrey Webb, David Turner and John Keir Cross. He wrote in his memoir of the programme, Forever Ambridge (Ambridge is the name of the fictional West Midlands village in which the programme is set) that he believed that Geoffrey Webb, who had died some time before, was guiding his hand as he wrote. He penned about 1,200 episodes under the pseudonym Bruno Milna. Artistic disagreements with a then editor, plus a general disillusionment with the BBC management, meant that he decided to retire from writing scripts in 1982 and to stick to just performing them.
The character of Phil Archer developed from the lusty young romantic lead of the early episodes into a father and grandfather. Perhaps his most famous moment occurred on 22 September 1955, when his wife, Grace Archer
Grace Archer
Grace Archer née Fairbrother was a fictional character in the BBC's long-running radio soap, The Archers, and was one of the original characters. She was played by Ysanne Churchman...
, was killed while trying to rescue a horse, Midnight, from a burning barn.
Phil, like his father, Dan Archer, before him, became a senior figure in the series, almost a village patriarch. He survived Painting by four months, dying peacefully in February 2010.
In 2000, Painting stated he was suffering from bladder cancer
Bladder cancer
Bladder cancer is any of several types of malignant growths of the urinary bladder. It is a disease in which abnormal cells multiply without control in the bladder. The bladder is a hollow, muscular organ that stores urine; it is located in the pelvis...
. He was a bachelor who lived alone. He died from heart failure in his cottage in Warmington, Warwickshire on October 29, 2009.
He was the subject of a programme in the TV series This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life (UK TV series)
This Is Your Life is a British biographical television documentary, based on the 1952 American show of the same name. It was hosted by Eamonn Andrews from 1955 until 1964, and then from 1969 until his death in 1987 aged 64...
in 1991.
External links
- BBC Biography
- Norman Painting - The Daily Telegraph obituary