Nicholas Lyndhurst

Nicholas Simon Lyndhurst (born 20 April 1961) is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor and became best known for his role as Rodney Trotter in the sitcom Only Fools and Horses (1981–2003). He also had major roles in other sitcoms including Goodnight Sweetheart (1993–1999, 2016) (as Gary Sparrow), Going Straight (1978), Butterflies (1978–1983), The Two of Us (1986–1990), The Piglet Files (1990–1992) and After You've Gone (2007–2008). He starred in the comedy-drama series Rock & Chips (2010–2011) and co-starred in the procedural crime drama series New Tricks (2013–2015). In 2023, he was cast in the revival of the US sitcom Frasier.
Lyndhurst won two National Television Awards for his role in Goodnight Sweetheart, as well as being nominated for a British Comedy Award and three British Academy Television Awards for his role in Only Fools and Horses.
== Early life[edit] ==
Lyndhurst was born on 20 April 1961, to parents Joe Lyndhurst and Liz Long, and raised in Emsworth, Hampshire. His parents met at the holiday camp run on the farm owned by Lyndhurst's grandfather, Francis Lyndhurst, a theatrical scenery painter and film director, who set up an early film studio at Shoreham Fort, Shoreham-by-Sea. Lyndhurst's parents separated when he was young, reuniting and separating permanently later on. Joe Lyndhurst had had an affair and started a family with another woman by the time Lyndhurst was eight, leaving Lyndhurst and his mother "poverty-stricken". He attended East Wittering Primary School and Corona Theatre School in Hammersmith, London.
== Career[edit] ==
Lyndhurst appeared in various television adverts and children's films in the 1970s before winning the starring role of Tom Canty/Prince Edward in a BBC Television version of The Prince and the Pauper, directed by Barry Letts and transmitted in January 1976. Lyndhurst gained increased national recognition two years later in two BBC sitcom roles - Raymond Fletcher, the teenage son of Ronnie Barker's Norman Stanley Fletcher in Going Straight, and Adam Parkinson, a son of Wendy Craig and Geoffrey Palmer in Carla Lane's Butterflies.
Lyndhurst achieved his best-known role in another BBC sitcom, Only Fools and Horses, in which he played Rodney Trotter, the younger brother of the main character, Derek "Del Boy" Trotter, played by David Jason. Only Fools and Horses first aired in 1981 and increased in popularity until it reached its peak in 1996 with its Christmas Day show in the UK. In a BBC poll in 2004 it was voted Britain's Best Sitcom by television viewers. Lyndhurst appeared in the show from the start until its final airing at Christmas 2003.
In 1986 Lyndhurst had a minor part in the film Gunbus/SkyBandits. The film went straight to video and was never seen in British cinemas. During the mid-1980s and 1990s Lyndhurst also played Ashley Phillips in ITV's The Two of Us, which co-starred Janet Dibley, and MI5 agent Peter "Piglet" Chapman in The Piglet Files, as well as in a number of stage performances.
From 1993 to 1999 he played the lead character of Gary Sparrow in the time-travelling sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart. At around the same time he was the face and voice on the TV and radio commercials for the telecommunications chain Peoples Phone. Lyndhurst said that he declined an opportunity to play the lead role of Gary in the 1997 British film The Full Monty.
From 1997 to 1999 Lyndhurst was the public face of the stationery chain store WH Smith, starring in their adverts as all four members of one family. He won a BAFTA for his acting in the adverts. In 1999 he played the villainous Uriah Heep opposite Daniel Radcliffe and Dame Maggie Smith in David Copperfield.
In 2013 he joined the cast as a regular in the BBC police procedural series New Tricks alongside Dennis Waterman and Tamzin Outhwaite.
In 2016 Lyndhurst revived his Goodnight Sweetheart character, Gary Sparrow, in a one-off special episode, which aired on 2 September 2016. In 2017 Lyndhurst played the role of Star Keeper in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel at the English National Opera. In 2019 he played the Governor/Innkeeper in Man of La Mancha for English National Opera at the London Coliseum opposite Kelsey Grammer as Cervantes/Quixote, Danielle de Niese as Aldonza/Dulcinea and Peter Polycarpou as Sancho. In January 2023, Lyndhurst was cast as Alan Cornwall in the new Frasier series.
== Personal life[edit] ==
Lyndhurst lives in West Wittering, West Sussex, with his wife, Lucy, a former ballet dancer. The couple married in Chichester, West Sussex, in 1999. Their son, Archie Lyndhurst (born 4 October 2000), was also an actor appearing in So Awkward. On 22 September 2020, Archie died from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at the age of 19. In a statement Lyndhurst said he and his wife were "utterly grief stricken and respectfully request privacy".
Lyndhurst's hobbies include underwater diving, beekeeping and piloting his own aeroplanes.
== Filmography[edit] ==
=== Film[edit] ===
Year(s)	Title 	Role 	Notes
1973 	Bequest to the Nation	Shot cabin Boy 	Uncredited
1983 	Bullshot 	Nobby Clark 	
1986 	Sky Bandits 	Chalky 	
2005 	Lassie 	Buckle 	
2016 	A United Kingdom 	George Williams	
=== Television[edit] ===
Year(s) 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1974 	Heidi 	Peter 	4 episodes
1975 	Anne of Avonlea 	Davy Keith 	6 episodes
1976 	The Prince and the Pauper 	Prince Edward/Tom Canty 	6 episodes
1976 	Peter Pan 	Tootles 	Television film
1978 	Going Straight 	Raymond Fletcher 	4 episodes
1978 	The Tomorrow People 	Karl Brandt 	2 episodes
1978 	ITV Playhouse 	Westbrook 	Episode: "Losing Her"
1978 	BBC2 Play of the Week 	Brian Grant 	Episode: "Fairies"
1978–1983, 2000 	Butterflies 	Adam Parkinson 	28 episodes and 1 special
1979 	Father's Day 	Philip 	Television film
1979 	Two People 	Matthew 	2 episodes
1980 	The Dick Emery Show 	Unknown 	Episode: #18.2
1980 	To Serve Them All My Days 	Dobson 	4 episodes
1981 	Spearhead 	Private Wilson 	4 episodes
1981–2003 	Only Fools and Horses 	Rodney Trotter 	64 episodes
1982 	Arena 	Dennis 	Episode: "A Genius Like Us: A Portrait of Joe Orton"
1982 	Play for Today 	Policeman 	Episode: "A Mother Like Him"
1982 	Only Fools and Horses: Christmas Trees 	Rodney Trotter 	TV short
1982 	The Funny Side of Christmas 	Rodney Trotter
Adam Parkinson 	Television film
1983 	It'll All Be Over in Half an Hour 	Various 	3 episodes
1983 	The Michael Barrymore Show 	Supporting actor 	Episode: "26 May 1983"
1984 	Round and Round 	Patrick 	Episode: "Sex"
1984–1985 	The Lenny Henry Show 	Various 	3 episodes
1986–1990 	The Two of Us 	Ashley Philips 	32 episodes
1987 	The Grand Knockout Tournament 	Himself 	Television special
1988 	Ariel Liquid (advertisement) 	Mr H 	With his co-star, David Jason, as Mrs B
1990–1992 	The Piglet Files 	Peter Chapman 	19 episodes
1993 	Stalag Luft 	'Chump' Cosgrove 	Television film
1993–1999 & 2016	Goodnight Sweetheart 	Gary Sparrow
Colonel Henri Dupont 	59 episodes
1996 	Gulliver's Travels 	Clustril 	Episode: #1.1
1997 	Only Fools and Horses: Only Fools Cutaway	Rodney Trotter 	TV short
1999 	David Copperfield 	Uriah Heep 	2 episodes
2000 	Thin Ice 	Graham Moss 	Television film
2002 	The Life and Times of Aly Martin-Smith 	Aly Martin-Smith 	Made for TV film
2003 	Murder in Mind 	Alan Willis 	1 episode: "Landlord"
2006 	The Children's Party at the Palace 	Cruella de Vil's Chauffeur (The 101 Dalmatians)	Television special
2007–2008 	After You've Gone 	Jimmy 	25 episodes
2010–2011 	Rock & Chips 	Freddie Robdal 	3 episodes
2013–2015 	New Tricks 	Dan Griffin 	26 episodes
2014 	Only Fools and Horses: Beckham in Peckham	Rodney Trotter 	TV short
2017 	The Story of Only Fools and Horses 	Himself 	6 episodes
2019 	So Awkward 	Johnny 	Episode: "Awardatarian"
2023 	Frasier 	Alan Cornwall 	10 episodes
=== Radio[edit] ===
* My First Planet (2012–2014)
== Awards and nominations[edit] ==
Year	Group 	Award 	Work 	Result 	Ref
1987	British Academy Television Awards	BAFTA Best Light Entertainment Performance	Only Fools and Horses 	Nominated	
1991	British Academy Television Awards	BAFTA Best Light Entertainment Performance	Only Fools and Horses 	Nominated	
1997	British Academy Television Awards	BAFTA Best Comedy Performance 	Only Fools and Horses (Christmas Special)	Nominated	
1997	British Comedy Awards 	Best TV Comedy Actor 	Only Fools and Horses (Christmas Special)	Nominated	
1997	National Television Awards 	Most Popular Comedy Performer 1997 	Only Fools and Horses 	Nominated	
1998	National Television Awards 	Most Popular Comedy Performer 1998 	Goodnight Sweetheart 	Won 	
1999	National Television Awards 	Most Popular Comedy Performer 1999 	Goodnight Sweetheart 	Won 	
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== External links[edit] ==
* Nicholas Lyndhurst at IMDb
* Nicholas Lyndhurst at the BFI's Screenonline
* Nicholas Lyndhurst discography at Discogs
Category:Cast
Category:Starring