Brian Murphy (actor)

For other people of the same name, see Brian Murphy (disambiguation).

Brian Murphy
Born	(1932-09-25) 25 September 1932 Ventnor, Isle of Wight, England, UK
Occupation	actor
Years active	1960-present
Spouse(s)	Linda Regan (1995-present) Carol Murphy (?-?) (divorced)
Children	2

Brian Trevor John Murphy (born 25 September 1932) is an English actor. Murphy remains best known as the henpecked husband George Roper in the sitcom Man About the House and spin-off George and Mildred.

Acting career

Murphy was born in Ventnor, 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 George and Mildred, Murphy played the lazy George Roper. His 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 the fact 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.

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 memorable roles in On Your Way, Riley (1985) as Arthur Lucan, 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);, 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.

Family

Murphy's second wife is Hi-de-Hi! actress, Linda Regan. His grandson is the playwright Martin Murphy, whose play Manor was performed at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden in 2010, 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, Brian played Ernest Bond in BBC Radio 4's drama series Citizens.

Selected film and television roles

Year	Title	Role
1963	Sparrows Can't Sing	Jack
1971	The Devils	Adam
1971	The Boy Friend	Peter
1972	The Ragman's Daughter	Tony's Father
1973 to 1976 1976 to 1980	Man About the House George and Mildred	George Roper
1976	I'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight	Caretaker
1981	The Incredible Mr Tanner	Ernest Tanner
1981	Black Jack	Archibald
1982	L for Lester	Lester Small
1984 to 1985	Lame Ducks	Ansell
1993 to 1999	Wizadora	Stan
1994	One Foot in the Grave	Mr. Foskett
1998	Jonathan Creek	Ken Speed
1999	Mrs Merton & Malcolm	Mr Capstick
2003 to 2010	Last of the Summer Wine	Alvin Smedley
2005 to 2006	The Catherine Tate Show	Neville
2010	Hustle	Larry
2010	Benidorm	Clive Mitchell
2011	White Van Man	Albert
2011	The Cafe	Frank Dobson
2011	Grave Tales	Arthur
2012	Run For Your Wife	Allotment Man
2013	Man Down	Mr Field-Williams
2014-	It's An Unknown World	George Timemile
2014	Holby City	Charlie Evans

External links

• Brian Murphy at the Internet Movie Database
• Brian Murphy role reviews