Brian Murphy

**Brian Trevor John Murphy** (born 25 September 1932) is an English actor, best known as the henpecked husband George Roper, alongside Yootha Joyce in the popular sitcom *Man About the House* and its spin-off series *George and Mildred*, and as Alvin Smedley in *Last of t*

## Biographical information

### Marital status

Carol Gibson (1957-?) (divorced)Linda Regan (m.1995)

### Date of birth

25 September 1932 (age 89)Ventnor, Isle of Wight, England, UK

*he Summer Wine*.

## Early life and Acting career

Murphy was born in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. He was called up to do his national 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*, *Callan* 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 George Roper, who's 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 was an instant hit. A contributing factor to their immediate chemistry was that they had been friends for many years. Aside from their Theatre Workshop years, Murphy also featured in *Sparrows Can't Sing* (1963) with Joyce and other Theatre Workshop colleagues. When *Man About The House* ended 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, and *George and Mildred* was cancelled. Another sitcom was created for Murphy with him in the title role in *The Incredible Mr. Tanner* along with *Man About The House* and *George and Mildred* co-star Roy Kinnear, but the show failed to gain popularity.

Murphy has continued to appear regularly on television, most notably as "Alvin Smedley" in *Last of the Summer Wine* from 2003 to 2010, and also with roles in *On Your Way, Riley* (1985) as Arthur Lucan,[2] *Lame Ducks* (as a private investigator); *The Bill* (as a drunken tramp dressed as an elf at Christmas); comedy series *Pond Life*, an animation series, as Len Pond, the father of protagonist Dolly Pond (Sarah Ann Kennedy), *One Foot in the Grave*starring Richard Wilson (playing a character called Mr Foskett);,[3] *Brookside*; and as a shopkeeper called Stan in the pre-school children's TV series *Wizadora*. In 2010 he appeared in an episode of *Hustle* called "The Thieving Mistake". He has more recently made appearances in comedy shows *The Catherine Tate Show*, *This is Jinsy* and *Benidorm*. Murphy can also be seen in all three episodes of the ITV comedy *The Booze Cruise*, playing Maurice. He also appeared as Frank Dobson in *The Cafe* from 2011 and 2013.

## Family

Murphy's second wife is *Hi-de-Hi!* actress Linda Regan. Brian lives in Kent with Regan and has two grown-up children, Trevor and Kevin, from his first marriage.[4] His grandson is the playwright Martin Murphy, whose play *Manor* was performed at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden in 2010,[5] and his second cousin is actor Benjayx Murphy.

## Theatre

* *Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street* (Christopher Bond), Theatre Royal Stratford East, Title role (Sweeney Todd), 1973.
* *On Your Way, Riley* (Alan Plater), The Queen's Theatre, Arthur Lucan (Old Mother Riley), February–March, 1983
* *When We Are Married* (J.B. Priestley), Whitehall Theatre, Herbert Soppitt, 1986.
* *Roll On Friday* (Roger Hall), Watford Palace Theatre, Jim, October 1989.

## Radio

From October 1987 to July 1991, Murphy played Ernest Bond in BBC Radio 4's drama series *Citizens*.