Nicholas Smith (actor)
Nicholas Smith | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 6 December 2015 Sutton, London, England | (aged 81)
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | theatre pre 1960, television 1960–2009 |
Television | Are You Being Served? |
Spouse | Mary Smith |
Children | Catherine Russell |
Nicholas John Smith (5 March 1934 – 6 December 2015) was an English comedian and actor. He appeared in the
Early life
Smith, the son of a chartered surveyor, attended a preparatory school and St John's School, Leatherhead. He served with the Royal Army Service Corps in Aldershot during his national service.[1] He learned to play musical instruments, studied singing and trained as an actor at RADA. He then appeared in repertory theatres, on the West End stage, at the Bristol Old Vic and on Broadway.[2]
Roles
Smith's earliest TV roles were as a non-speaking extra in various
Are You Being Served?
Are You Being Served? began with a pilot episode in 1972, with Smith playing Mr Cuthbert "Jug Ears" Rumbold, the manager of the menswear and ladieswear departments in a large fictional London store called Grace Brothers.
Smith remained with the programme until the end of its run in 1985, as well as appearing in the
Other roles
From September 1972, in contrast to his contemporaneous work in Are You Being Served?, he also had a semi-regular role as PC Jeff Yates in the series Z-Cars. His last appearance as Yates was in February 1975. His film work included appearances in Salt and Pepper (1968), A Walk with Love and Death (1969), The Champions-Project Zero (1969), The Twelve Chairs (1970), dubbed in an Italian version of The Canterbury Tales (1972) directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, and The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975) as Hunkston, Sigerson Holmes' servant. He played Mr. Simpkins (a miserable and desperately unattractive leisure centre manager who had rings run around him by two lazy, womanizing Australian criminals who had taken jobs in the leisure centre as a cover for their crimes) in the Sweeney, episode Golden Fleece in 1975.
In 1979, he appeared in Worzel Gummidge as Mr Foster, the headmaster of the school.
In 1986 he played Sir John Treymayne in the British tour of Me and My Girl, a role played in the West End by his Are You Being Served? co-star Frank Thornton. In 1987 he joined the cast on And There's More and was paired up with Joan Sims for a number of sketches for each episodes as an old couple.
He appeared in the TV mini-series
In 2010, he appeared in children's TV programme M.I. High as Professor Quakermass. Smith also wrote music and poetry.[citation needed]
Personal life and death
Smith was the father of actress Catherine Russell. He died on 6 December 2015 following seven weeks of hospitalisation for a head injury from a fall at his home in Sutton, London.[5][1]
Partial filmography
- Partners in Crime (1961) - Pawn Shop Assistant
- Doctor Who (1964, season 2) - Resistant
- Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines(1965) - Fireman (uncredited)
- Salt and Pepper (1968) - Constable
- The Saint - "The Fiction-Makers" (1968) - Bishop
- A Walk with Love and Death (1969) - Pilgrim
- The Champions- "Project Zero" (1969) - Postmaster.
- The Twelve Chairs (1970) - Actor in Play
- The Canterbury Tales (1972) - Friar
- Are You Being Served? (1972) - Mr. Rumbold
- Baxter! (1973) - 1st Taxi Driver
- Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) - Death Wish (uncredited)
- The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975) - Hunkston
- Are You Being Served? (1977) - Mr. Rumbold
- Grace & Favour (1992) - Mr. Rumbold
- Martin Chuzzlewit (1994) - Mr. Spottletoe
- What Rats Won't Do (1998) - Chaplain
- Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production
- Every Hidden Thing (2006) - Abel
References
- ^ a b Farquhar, Simon (8 December 2015). "Nicholas Smith: Comic actor who excelled in Gilbert and Sullivan, best known as Mr Rumbold in 'Are You Being Served?'". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ Who's Who on Television Independent Television Publications Ltd (1970).
- Huffington Post. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
- ^ "33rd Annual Annie Awards". ANNIE Awards. ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD. 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ "Are You Being Served? actor Nicholas Smith dies aged 81". BBC News. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
External links
- Nicholas Smith at IMDb
- Are You Being Served? A Celebration of Twenty-Five Years. Richard Webber with David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. New York; Welcome Rain, 1998.
- Nicholas Smith (Aveleyman)