Christopher Beeny

Christopher Beeny: 

† July 7 1941 – January 3 2020

A chirpy and genial middle-aged pixie of an actor, who was a schoolboy star as Lennie Grove in the prototype soap opera of the '50s, 'The Grove Family'. To viewers of a more recent generation, he's familiar as Billy Henshaw, Thora Hird's long-suffering nephew in the undertaker sitcom, 'In Loving Memory' (see also Colin Farrell). Or perhaps as Edward the footman in 'Upstairs Downstairs' getting perpetual reprimands from Gordon Jackson's dour butler, Mr Hudson. 

Other TV roles incude 'The Rag Trade', 'Miss Jones and Son' (with Paula Wilcox), as well as 'Minder', 'The Sweeney' and 'Dixon of Dock Green'. He also had a regular part as Morton in the late 2000s dregs of 'Last of the Summer Wine', but in the Burt Kwouk/ Brian Murphy/ Russ Abbott era, long after the departure of his old colleague Thora. 

'Miss Jones and Son'

'The Little Kidnappers' (1953)

He hasn't done much on the big screen: a few child parts in the early '50s, 'The Long Memory' (1953), 'The Little Kidnappers' (1953), and 'Child's Play' (1955), but not much as an adult: an uncredited turn in 'Doctor in Distress' (1963) and a Children's Film Foundation romp 'Pop Pirates' (1984) which also features Roger Daltrey!    

Christopher Beeny - imdb