Derek Royle | |
---|---|
Born |
Reddish, Cheshire, England | 7 September 1928
Died | 23 January 1990 London, England | (aged 61)
Years active | 1959–1989 |
Spouse |
Jane Short (
m. 1953) |
Children |
Amanda Royle Carol Royle |
Derek Stanley Royle (7 September 1928 – 23 January 1990) was a British actor. His face was probably better known than his name to British viewers, but he acted in films and TV from the early 1960s until his death. [1] He had a supporting role in the Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour in 1967, as well as a minor one with Cilla Black in the film Work Is a Four-Letter Word a year later. [2]
Most of his film appearances were in comedy films such as Tiffany Jones (1973), Don't Just Lie There, Say Something! (1974) and Confessions of a Sex Maniac (1974). [1]
He appeared in a children's TV comedy series, Hogg's Back (1975) as Doctor Hogg, an eccentric general practitioner (GP); in 2016, this series appeared on Talking Pictures TV. [3] Royle acted with Wendy Richard and Pat Coombs over two series. [4] Hog's Back is a ridge of hills in Surrey. [5] Royle played the hotel guest who dies in his room in the Fawlty Towers episode " The Kipper and the Corpse". [6] He also was the first actor to portray Monsieur Ernest Leclerc in the sixth series of 'Allo 'Allo! (replacing Jack Haig, who had portrayed Ernest's brother Roger), [7] and had a supporting role in a remake of Indiscreet (1988) and a new BBC version of a Lord Peter Wimsey story. [8] [9] As a stage actor he was a mainstay of Brian Rix's Whitehall farces company. [10] He specialised in absent minded characters and used his acrobatic skills to fall down stairs and immediately get up again as if nothing had happened. [11] Theatre critic Michael Coveney called him "simply one of the funniest men on the English stage". [12]
Derek Stanley Royle was born in Reddish on 7 September 1928, and graduated from RADA in 1950. [13] [14] [15] He was married to make-up artist Jane Royle (née Short) and their daughters Amanda and Carol Royle became actresses. [12]
Royle died from cancer at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London on 23 January 1990, aged 61. [16]