Albert Edward Ladysmith Steptoe (Wilfrid Brambell) was born on 26 September 1899, though he always claimed to have been born in 1901. He is illegitimate; his father was unknown but believed to have been a local muffin man who died in 1910. The portrait Albert keeps of his father is actually of William Gladstone. Albert appears to have joined the army underage at the beginning of the First World War and is seen wearing the Mons Star medals to prove it. On one occasion he tells a reporter that he joined the Grenadier Guards, somewhat unlikely given his small stature. He claims that he was hit by a grenade in 1917; when it didn't explode he threw it back to the German trenches with devastating effect, especially on the canteen: sausages and sauerkraut went flying into the air. He apparently served with the British Expeditionary Force to Archangel, White Russia in 1919. Albert is lazy, stubborn, narrow-minded and foul-mouthed with revolting personal habits; he is content with his place in the world, utterly unpretentious and downright cynical. He can be extremely vindictive and does everything he can to prevent his son Harold from improving himself--especially if it means him leaving home. He is normally unshaven and wears a very old pair of discoloured false teeth with some teeth missing. His wife--alternately named Gladys and Emily--died on 23 December 1936. He mentions in one episode that he was one of 14 children. "Steptoe a la Cart" reveals that he has a daughter in France and "Cuckoo in the Nest" suggests that he has a son in Australia; "Oh, What a Beautiful Mourning!" suggests that his niece could instead be his daughter.