Bill Wallis

Bill Wallis:

† 20 November 1936 – 6 September 2013

A great unsung character actor whose Pickwickian features appear in some of my favourite TV and film of the golden age from the '60s to the '90s, as well as some great radio including 'Week Ending' and the original series of 'Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy'. He can be seen in cult classics like 'The Avengers' and 'The Beiderbecke Tapes' on television, and fleetingly in absurd masterpieces like 'The Bed Sitting Room' (1969) and 'Brazil' (1985).   

He was memorable as the scrofulous jailer Mr Ploppy in 'Black Adder II', and the unscrupulous Minister for Sport in 'Yes, Prime Minister'. He is in the first ever episode of 'Midsomer Murders', Pete & Dud's 'Not Only But Also' and performs on Ivor Cutler's 'Prince Ivor' album. 

Well done, that man.   

Singing the interminable praises of Alan-A-Dale on 'Not Only
But Also', with John Wells, Dudley Moore and Peter Cook

Working on the mail train in 'Robbery' (1967)

 

Update: Largely unreported at the time, I didn't realise that Bill Wallis passed away in 2013. I salute him posthumously. 

Bill Wallis-imdb

Robert East

Robert East:

A trim and businesslike character actor, probably still familiar to many as Edmund's elder brother, the smug Prince of Wales in the first incarnation of 'The Black Adder'. By that time (1983), Robert East had been seen in a fair number of television roles. He was in the BBC's 1972 adaptation of 'Emma' as the rakish Frank Churchill, and in 'Warship', 'Churchill's People', and 'Napoleon and Love'. A smattering of comedy parts includes; 'Dave Allen at Large', 'Moody & Pegg', 'Happy Ever After' and the long-lost Stephen Potter-inspired comedy 'One-Upmanship' with Richard Briers and Peter Jones.  

In the 'did you fart?' sketch from 'Dave Allen at Large'

As he matured in looks, casting directors found him a popular choice for more patrician characters, and he can be seen in 'Rumpole of the Bailey', 'Miss Marple' and 'London's Burning', while still handling a wide range of comedy from the sophisticated: 'Yes, Minister', 'Yes, Prime Minister' and the aforementioned 'The Black Adder', to the more infantile: 'The Kenny Everett Television Show', 'Rentaghost', and 'Allo Allo'.     

The steely face of the establishment, as Dolby in 'Spooks'

In recent years, the dull potage of potboiler cop and doctor drama series ('Heartbeat', 'Peak Practice', Holby City')has been peppered with tastier morsels such as the 2003 modernised version of 'Canterbury Tales' and the silly but entertaining secret service series 'Spooks', or 'MI-5' as it now calls itself.    


Robert East-imdb

Howard 'Lew' Lewis

Howard 'Lew' Lewis: 

† Aug 21 1941 – Jan 20 2018

Hefty, 6'3" London-born actor, pretty much specialising in gormless goons, whose longest-running role is probably as Elmo the barman in the '80s-'90s sitcom 'Brush Strokes'. He also played the dimwitted Blag in 'Chelmsford 123', and Rabies in the larky kids' series 'Maid Marian & Her Merry Men'. A stalwart of TV cop shows and comedies, he pops up in episodes of 'The Bill', 'Minder' and 'Widows' as often as 'Black Adder', 'Open All Hours', The Magnificent Evans' and he was also the memorable Uncle Idris in 'My Family'. 

His film career has largely been a string of bit-parts, albeit in some fairly big movies. For example 'Brazil' (1985), 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves' (1991), 'Chaplin' (1992), 'Shadowlands' (1993). He has also been in some variably interesting low-budget British efforts including the comedy-gangster picture 'The Baby Juice Express' (2004), acclaimed b&w short 'Zoltan the Great' (2005), and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets League of Gentlemen-style UK horror, 'Small Town Folk' (2007).

  



Howard 'Lew' Lewis - imdb