Wilfrid Brambell
Encyclopedia
Henry Wilfrid Brambell was an Irish
film
and television
actor best known for his role in the British
television series Steptoe and Son
. He also performed alongside The Beatles
in their film A Hard Day's Night
, playing Paul McCartney
's fictional grandfather.
and part-time as an actor at the Abbey Theatre
before becoming a professional actor for the Gate Theatre
. He also did repertory at Swansea, Bristol and Chesterfield. In World War II
he joined the British military forces entertainment organisation ENSA
.
/Rudolph Cartier
productions for BBC Television
: as a drunk in The Quatermass Experiment
(1953), as both an old man in a pub and later a prisoner in Nineteen Eighty-Four
(1954) and as a tramp in Quatermass II
(1955). All of these roles earned him a reputation for playing old men, though he was only in his forties at the time. Brambell hardly ever stopped working in his 36-year career.
Brambell also performed hilariously as Bill Gaye in the 1962 Maurice Chevalier/Hayley Mills picture, In Search of the Castaways (film)
. He was heard in the original soundtrack of The Canterbury Tales, which was one of the quickest selling West End soundtrack albums of all time. He also released two 45-rpm singles, Second Hand b/w Rag Time Ragabone Man which played on his Steptoe and Son
character, followed in 1971 by Time Marches On, his tribute to The Beatles
with whom he had worked in 1964 (and met many times). It featured a Beatles-esque guitar riff with Brambell reciting words about The Beatles splitting up, b/w The Decimal Song which, at the time of Britain adopting decimal currency, was politically charged.
In 1965, he appeared on Broadway in the show Kelly which closed after just one performance.
He featured in many prominent theatre roles. In 1966 he played Ebenezer Scrooge
in a musical version of A Christmas Carol
. This was adapted for radio the same year and appeared on Radio 2 on Christmas Eve. Brambell's booming baritone voice surprised many listeners: he played the role straight, true to the Dickens original, and not in the stereotype Albert Steptoe character.
In 1971, he starred in the Premiere of Eric Chappell's play The Banana Box in which he played Rooksby. This part was later renamed Rigsby for the TV adaptation called Rising Damp
which starred Leonard Rossiter
.
). Initially this was a pilot on the BBC's Comedy Playhouse
anthology strand: but its success led to a full series being commissioned, which lasted throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s. A constant thread throughout the series was Albert being referred to by Harold as a "dirty old man", particularly, for example, when he was eating pickled onions whilst taking a bath, and retrieving dropped ones from the bathwater. There were also two feature film spin-offs
, a stage show and an American re-make entitled Sanford and Son
, based on the original British scripts.
The success of Steptoe and Son made Brambell a high profile figure on British television, and earned him the major role of Paul McCartney's grandfather in the Beatles' first film, A Hard Day's Night
in 1964. A running joke is made throughout the film of his character being "a very clean old man", in contrast to his being referred to as a "dirty old man" in Steptoe and Son. In real life however, he was nothing like his Steptoe persona, being dapper and well-spoken. In 1965 Brambell told the BBC that he did not want to do another Steptoe and Son series, and in September of that year he went to New York
to appear in the Broadway musical Kelly at the Broadhurst Theatre
; however, it closed after just one performance.
In 1971 he was due to play the role of Jeff Simmons
, bass guitarist with The Mothers of Invention
, in Frank Zappa
's film 200 Motels
(a bizarre piece of casting, since the real Simmons was young, long-haired and American) but left the production after an argument with Zappa.
Although best known for Steptoe and Son, he achieved international recognition in many films. His performance in The Terence Davies Trilogy won him critical acclaim, far greater than any achieved for Steptoe and Son, yet although appearing throughout the full 24-minute piece, Brambell did not speak a single word.
as their famous characters. In an attempt to take advantage of this situation, they undertook a tour of Australia
in 1977 with a Steptoe and Son stage show. On one occasion, Brambell used bad language and was openly derogatory about New Zealand cathedrals in an interview. Despite this, Brambell did appear on the BBC's television news paying tribute to Corbett after the latter's death from a heart attack
in 1982. The following year Brambell appeared in Terence Davies's film Death and Transfiguration, playing a dying elderly man who finally comes to terms with his homosexuality.
In 2002, Channel 4
broadcast a documentary film, entitled When Steptoe Met Son
, about the off-screen life of Brambell and his relationship with Harry H. Corbett. The film claimed that the two men detested each other and were barely on speaking terms after the Australia
tour, caused in part by Brambell's alcoholism
, which led to the pair leaving the country on separate aeroplanes. This claim is disputed by the writers of Steptoe and Son
, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson
, who were unaware of any hatred or conflict. Harry H. Corbett
's nephew from his second marriage also released a statement which claimed that the actors did not hate each other. "We can categorically say they did not fall out. They were together for nearly a year in Australia, went on several sightseeing trips together, and left the tour at the end on different planes because Harry was going on holiday with his family, not because he refused to get on the same plane. They continued to work together after the Australia tour on radio and adverts."
Brambell was also a closet homosexual at a time when it was almost impossible for public figures to be openly gay
, not least because homosexual acts were illegal in the UK until 1967
. In 1962 he was arrested in a toilet in Shepherd's Bush
for persistently importuning and given a conditional discharge. Earlier in his life he had been married, from 1948 to 1955, to Mary "Molly" Josephine but the relationship ended after she gave birth to the child of their lodger in 1953.
Brambell died of cancer
in Westminster
, London, aged 72. He was cremated on 25 January 1985 at Streatham Park Cemetery, where his ashes were scattered.
, a BBC
TV play about Brambell and his co-star Harry H. Corbett
, was broadcast on 19 March 2008 on digital BBC
channel BBC Four
, featuring Phil Davis as Brambell. The first broadcast gained the channel its highest audience figures to date, based on overnight returns.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
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...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
actor best known for his role in the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television series Steptoe and Son
Steptoe and Son
Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about two rag and bone men living in Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune, "Old...
. He also performed alongside The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
in their film A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
, playing Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
's fictional grandfather.
Early life
Brambell was born in Dublin. His father worked at a Guinness Brewery and his mother was an opera singer. His first appearance was as a child, entertaining the wounded troops during the First World War. On leaving school he worked part-time as a reporter for The Irish TimesThe Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
and part-time as an actor at the Abbey Theatre
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...
before becoming a professional actor for the Gate Theatre
Gate Theatre
The Gate Theatre, in Dublin, was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir, initially using the Abbey Theatre's Peacock studio theatre space to stage important works by European and American dramatists...
. He also did repertory at Swansea, Bristol and Chesterfield. In World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he joined the British military forces entertainment organisation ENSA
Entertainments National Service Association
The Entertainments National Service Association or ENSA was an organisation set up in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes...
.
Acting career
His television career began during the 1950s, when he was cast in small roles in three Nigel KnealeNigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale was a British screenwriter from the Isle of Man. Active in television, film, radio drama and prose fiction, he wrote professionally for over fifty years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice nominated for the British Film Award for Best Screenplay...
/Rudolph Cartier
Rudolph Cartier
Rudolph Cartier was an Austrian television director, filmmaker, screenwriter and producer who worked predominantly in British television, exclusively for the BBC...
productions for BBC Television
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
: as a drunk in The Quatermass Experiment
The Quatermass Experiment
The Quatermass Experiment is a British science-fiction serial broadcast by BBC Television in the summer of 1953 and re-staged by BBC Four in 2005. Set in the near future against the background of a British space programme, it tells the story of the first manned flight into space, overseen by...
(1953), as both an old man in a pub and later a prisoner in Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four (TV programme)
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a British television adaptation of the novel of the same name by George Orwell, originally broadcast on BBC Television in December 1954. The production proved to be hugely controversial, with questions asked in Parliament and many viewer complaints over its supposed...
(1954) and as a tramp in Quatermass II
Quatermass II
Quatermass II is a British science-fiction serial, originally broadcast by BBC Television in the autumn of 1955. It is the second in the Quatermass series by writer Nigel Kneale, and the first of those serials to survive in its entirety in the BBC archives...
(1955). All of these roles earned him a reputation for playing old men, though he was only in his forties at the time. Brambell hardly ever stopped working in his 36-year career.
Brambell also performed hilariously as Bill Gaye in the 1962 Maurice Chevalier/Hayley Mills picture, In Search of the Castaways (film)
In Search of the Castaways (film)
In Search of the Castaways is a 1962 Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Hayley Mills and Maurice Chevalier in a tale about a worldwide search for a shipwrecked sea captain. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by Lowell S. Hawley based upon Jules Verne's 1868...
. He was heard in the original soundtrack of The Canterbury Tales, which was one of the quickest selling West End soundtrack albums of all time. He also released two 45-rpm singles, Second Hand b/w Rag Time Ragabone Man which played on his Steptoe and Son
Steptoe and Son
Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about two rag and bone men living in Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune, "Old...
character, followed in 1971 by Time Marches On, his tribute to The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
with whom he had worked in 1964 (and met many times). It featured a Beatles-esque guitar riff with Brambell reciting words about The Beatles splitting up, b/w The Decimal Song which, at the time of Britain adopting decimal currency, was politically charged.
In 1965, he appeared on Broadway in the show Kelly which closed after just one performance.
He featured in many prominent theatre roles. In 1966 he played Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge is the principal character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the novel, Scrooge is a cold-hearted, tight-fisted and greedy man, who despises Christmas and all things which give people happiness...
in a musical version of A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
. This was adapted for radio the same year and appeared on Radio 2 on Christmas Eve. Brambell's booming baritone voice surprised many listeners: he played the role straight, true to the Dickens original, and not in the stereotype Albert Steptoe character.
In 1971, he starred in the Premiere of Eric Chappell's play The Banana Box in which he played Rooksby. This part was later renamed Rigsby for the TV adaptation called Rising Damp
Rising Damp
Rising Damp is a television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, first broadcast from 1974 to 1978. It was adapted for television by Eric Chappell from his well-received 1971 stage play, The Banana Box The series was the highest-ranking ITV sitcom on the 100 Best Sitcoms poll run in...
which starred Leonard Rossiter
Leonard Rossiter
Leonard Rossiter was an English actor known for his roles as Rupert Rigsby, in the British comedy television series Rising Damp , and Reginald Iolanthe Perrin, in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin...
.
Steptoe and Son
It was this ability to play old men that led to his casting in his most famous role, as Albert Steptoe, the irascible father in Steptoe and Son (his son Harold being played by Harry H. CorbettHarry H. Corbett
Harry H. Corbett OBE was an English actor.Corbett was best known for his starring role in the popular and long-running BBC Television sitcom Steptoe and Son in the 1960s and 70s...
). Initially this was a pilot on the BBC's Comedy Playhouse
Comedy Playhouse
Comedy Playhouse was a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 120 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served?...
anthology strand: but its success led to a full series being commissioned, which lasted throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s. A constant thread throughout the series was Albert being referred to by Harold as a "dirty old man", particularly, for example, when he was eating pickled onions whilst taking a bath, and retrieving dropped ones from the bathwater. There were also two feature film spin-offs
Steptoe and Son (film)
Steptoe and Son is a 1972 British comedy drama film and a spin-off from the popular British television comedy series of the same name about a pair of rag and bone men. It starred Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett as the eponymous characters, Albert and Harold Steptoe respectively...
, a stage show and an American re-make entitled Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
, based on the original British scripts.
The success of Steptoe and Son made Brambell a high profile figure on British television, and earned him the major role of Paul McCartney's grandfather in the Beatles' first film, A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
in 1964. A running joke is made throughout the film of his character being "a very clean old man", in contrast to his being referred to as a "dirty old man" in Steptoe and Son. In real life however, he was nothing like his Steptoe persona, being dapper and well-spoken. In 1965 Brambell told the BBC that he did not want to do another Steptoe and Son series, and in September of that year he went to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to appear in the Broadway musical Kelly at the Broadhurst Theatre
Broadhurst Theatre
The Broadhurst Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 235 West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan.It was designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, a well-known theatre designer who had been working directly with the Shubert brothers; the Broadhurst opened 27 September 1917...
; however, it closed after just one performance.
In 1971 he was due to play the role of Jeff Simmons
Jeff Simmons (musician)
Jeff Simmons, born May 1949 in Seattle, Washington, is a rock musician and former member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Simmons provided bass, guitar, and backing vocals for the group between 1970 and 1971. He left The Mothers just prior to the filming of 200 Motels in mid 1971...
, bass guitarist with The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention were an American band active from 1964 to 1969, and again from 1970 to 1975.They mainly performed works by, and were the original recording group of, US composer and guitarist Frank Zappa , although other members have had the occasional writing credit...
, in Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
's film 200 Motels
200 Motels
200 Motels is a 1971 American-British musical surrealist film cowritten and directed by Frank Zappa and Tony Palmer and starring The Mothers of Invention, Theodore Bikel and Ringo Starr. The film covers a loose storyline about The Mothers of Invention going crazy in the small town Centerville...
(a bizarre piece of casting, since the real Simmons was young, long-haired and American) but left the production after an argument with Zappa.
Although best known for Steptoe and Son, he achieved international recognition in many films. His performance in The Terence Davies Trilogy won him critical acclaim, far greater than any achieved for Steptoe and Son, yet although appearing throughout the full 24-minute piece, Brambell did not speak a single word.
Personal and later life
After the final season of Steptoe and Son was made in 1974, Brambell had some guest roles in films and on television, but both he and Corbett found themselves heavily typecastTypecasting (acting)
In TV, film, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character; one or more particular roles; or, characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ethnic groups...
as their famous characters. In an attempt to take advantage of this situation, they undertook a tour of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1977 with a Steptoe and Son stage show. On one occasion, Brambell used bad language and was openly derogatory about New Zealand cathedrals in an interview. Despite this, Brambell did appear on the BBC's television news paying tribute to Corbett after the latter's death from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in 1982. The following year Brambell appeared in Terence Davies's film Death and Transfiguration, playing a dying elderly man who finally comes to terms with his homosexuality.
In 2002, Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
broadcast a documentary film, entitled When Steptoe Met Son
When Steptoe Met Son
When Steptoe Met Son is a 2002 Channel 4 documentary about the personal lives of Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett, the stars of the longrunning BBC situation comedy, Steptoe and Son. It aired on 20 August 2002....
, about the off-screen life of Brambell and his relationship with Harry H. Corbett. The film claimed that the two men detested each other and were barely on speaking terms after the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
tour, caused in part by Brambell's alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, which led to the pair leaving the country on separate aeroplanes. This claim is disputed by the writers of Steptoe and Son
Steptoe and Son
Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about two rag and bone men living in Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune, "Old...
, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson
Galton and Simpson
Ray Galton OBE , and Alan Simpson OBE , are British scriptwriters who met in 1948 at a tuberculosis sanatorium, the Surrey county sanatorium near Godalming, on which the sitcom Get Well Soon was based...
, who were unaware of any hatred or conflict. Harry H. Corbett
Harry H. Corbett
Harry H. Corbett OBE was an English actor.Corbett was best known for his starring role in the popular and long-running BBC Television sitcom Steptoe and Son in the 1960s and 70s...
's nephew from his second marriage also released a statement which claimed that the actors did not hate each other. "We can categorically say they did not fall out. They were together for nearly a year in Australia, went on several sightseeing trips together, and left the tour at the end on different planes because Harry was going on holiday with his family, not because he refused to get on the same plane. They continued to work together after the Australia tour on radio and adverts."
Brambell was also a closet homosexual at a time when it was almost impossible for public figures to be openly gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, not least because homosexual acts were illegal in the UK until 1967
Sexual Offences Act 1967
The Sexual Offences Act 1967 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom . It decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men, both of whom had to have attained the age of 21. The Act applied only to England and Wales and did not cover the Merchant Navy or the Armed Forces...
. In 1962 he was arrested in a toilet in Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush
-Commerce:Commercial activity in Shepherd's Bush is now focused on the Westfield shopping centre next to Shepherd's Bush Central line station and on the many small shops which run along the northern side of the Green....
for persistently importuning and given a conditional discharge. Earlier in his life he had been married, from 1948 to 1955, to Mary "Molly" Josephine but the relationship ended after she gave birth to the child of their lodger in 1953.
Brambell died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in Westminster
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
, London, aged 72. He was cremated on 25 January 1985 at Streatham Park Cemetery, where his ashes were scattered.
Legacy
The Curse of SteptoeThe Curse of Steptoe
The Curse of Steptoe is a television play which was first broadcast on 19 March 2008 on BBC Four as part of a season of dramas about television personalities. It stars Jason Isaacs as Harry H. Corbett and Phil Davis as Wilfrid Brambell...
, a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV play about Brambell and his co-star Harry H. Corbett
Harry H. Corbett
Harry H. Corbett OBE was an English actor.Corbett was best known for his starring role in the popular and long-running BBC Television sitcom Steptoe and Son in the 1960s and 70s...
, was broadcast on 19 March 2008 on digital BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
channel BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
, featuring Phil Davis as Brambell. The first broadcast gained the channel its highest audience figures to date, based on overnight returns.
Further reading
- Brambell, (Henry) Wilfrid (1912–1985), David Parkinson, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
Filmography
- Another ShoreAnother ShoreAnother Shore is a 1948 Ealing Studios comedy film/tragedy filmed in Ireland. It stars Robert Beatty as Gulliver Shields, an Irish customs official who dreams of living on a South Sea island; particularly Rarotonga...
(1948) - The Quatermass Experiment (1953) .... Drunk (1953)
- Quatermass IIQuatermass IIQuatermass II is a British science-fiction serial, originally broadcast by BBC Television in the autumn of 1955. It is the second in the Quatermass series by writer Nigel Kneale, and the first of those serials to survive in its entirety in the BBC archives...
.... Tramp (1955) - The Adventures of Robin HoodThe Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)The Adventures of Robin Hood is a popular British television series comprising 143 half-hour, black and white episodes. It starred Richard Greene as the outlaw Robin Hood and Alan Wheatley as his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham. The show aired weekly between 1955 and 1959 on ITV in London in the...
(1957) .... Fisherman - Serious Charge (1959).... Verger
- Urge to KillUrge to Kill (film)Urge to Kill is a 1960 British B-movie serial killer film, directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Patrick Barr, Ruth Dunning and Terence Knapp. The film is based on the novel Hughie Roddis and play Hand in Glove, both by Gerald Savory...
(1960) .... Mr. Forsythe - Steptoe and Son (1962–1965, 1970–1974, 1977) (TV series) .... Albert Steptoe
- Flame in the StreetsFlame in the StreetsFlame in the Streets is a 1961 British drama film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring John Mills, Sylvia Syms, Brenda De Banzie, Earl Cameron and Johnny Sekka.-Synopsis:...
(1961) .... Mr. Palmer senior - What a WhopperWhat a WhopperWhat a Whopper is a 1961 British comedy film, written by Terry Nation.It treats the subject of the Loch Ness Monster in a rather tongue in cheek fashion...
(1961) .... Postman - In Search of the CastawaysIn Search of the Castaways (film)In Search of the Castaways is a 1962 Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Hayley Mills and Maurice Chevalier in a tale about a worldwide search for a shipwrecked sea captain. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by Lowell S. Hawley based upon Jules Verne's 1868...
(1962) .... Bill Gaye - The Small World of Sammy Lee (1963) .... Harry
- Crooks in CloistersCrooks in CloistersCrooks in Cloisters is a British-made comedy released in 1964 and starring Ronald Fraser as 'Little Walter' , the boss of a gang of forgers, including Bernard Cribbins as 'Squirts' , Melvyn Hayes as 'Willy' , Grégoire Aslan as 'Lorenzo' , and Davy Kaye as 'Specs' .-Synopsis:After pulling off...
(1964) .... Phineas - A Hard Day's NightA Hard Day's Night (film)A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
(1964) .... John McCartney (Paul McCartney's Grandfather) - The Three Lives of ThomasinaThe Three Lives of ThomasinaThe Three Lives of Thomasina is a 1964 British-American Disney fantasy feature film starring Patrick McGoohan, Susan Hampshire, and child actress Karen Dotrice in a story about a cat and her influence on a family. The screenplay was written by Robert Westerby and Paul Gallico and was based upon...
(1964) .... Willie Bannock - Go Kart Go (1964) .... Fred, Junkman
- San Ferry Ann (1965) .... Grandad
- Alice in Wonderland (1966 film)Alice in Wonderland (1966 film)Alice in Wonderland is a BBC television play based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. It was directed by Jonathan Miller, then most widely known for his appearance in the long-running satirical revue Beyond the Fringe....
(1966) .... White Rabbit - According to Dora (1968) (TV series) .... Various
- Witchfinder GeneralWitchfinder General (film)Witchfinder General is a 1968 British horror film directed by Michael Reeves and starring Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, and Hilary Dwyer. The screenplay was by Reeves and Tom Baker based on Ronald Bassett's novel of the same name. Made on a low budget of under £100,000, the movie was coproduced by...
(1968) (as Wilfred Brambell) .... Master Loach - Lionheart (1968) .... Dignett
- Cry Wolf (1968) .... Delivery man
- Carry On Again DoctorCarry On Again DoctorCarry On Again Doctor is the eighteenth Carry On film. It was released in 1969 and was the third to feature a medical theme. The film features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor and Hattie Jacques...
(1969) ... Mr. Pullen, a patient - Some Will, Some Won'tSome Will, Some Won'tSome Will, Some Won't was a 1970 British comedy film directed by Duncan Wood. It was a remake of Laughter in Paradise. It starred an ensemble British cast, including Michael Hordern, Ronnie Corbett, Dennis Price, Leslie Phillips and Arthur Lowe....
(1970) ... Henry Russell - Steptoe and SonSteptoe and Son (film)Steptoe and Son is a 1972 British comedy drama film and a spin-off from the popular British television comedy series of the same name about a pair of rag and bone men. It starred Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett as the eponymous characters, Albert and Harold Steptoe respectively...
(1972) .... Albert Steptoe - Steptoe and Son Ride AgainSteptoe and Son Ride AgainSteptoe and Son Ride Again is the 1973 sequel to the 1972 film Steptoe and Son. Again the film starred Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett.-Plot:...
(1973) .... Albert Steptoe - Holiday on the BusesHoliday on the BusesHoliday on the Buses is a 1973 British comedy film directed by Bryan Izzard and starring Reg Varney and Doris Hare. The film is the third spin-off film from the ITV sitcom On the Buses and succeeded the films On the Buses and Mutiny on the Buses...
(1973) .... Bert Thompson - Picassos äventyr (1979) .... [Alice B. Toklas]
- Rembrandt (1980) .... Beggar Saul
- High Rise Donkey (1980) .... Ben Foxcroft
- The Terence Davies Trilogy: Death and Transfiguration (1984) .... Robert Tucker (old age)
- Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1984) .... Porter
External links
- Museum of Broadcast Communications encyclopedia entry
- The dirty truth Guardian feature on the Channel 4 TV documentary on Steptoe and Son.