Brian Osborne

Brian Osborne: 

† 1940 – July 8 2021*

Even among the staunchest of enthusiasts, the later 'Carry On' films are generally held in lower regard than the early and mid-period examples, which in some ways is a shame as the supporting cast of the '70s films often had some great character actors of the period. An example of this is the redoubtable Brian Osborne, who had already gathered a few modest credits in TV shows such as 'Softly Softly' and  'Redcap' before he appears as an ambulance driver in 'Carry On Matron' (1972). He can also be seen in 'Carry On Abroad' (1972),  'Carry On Girls' (1973), 'Carry On Dick' (1974),  'Carry On Behind' (1975) and 'Carry On England' (1976). He was also a regular in the same period's generally unfunny TV spin-off 'Carry On Laughing'.     

Vendor of the notorious love potion liqueur in
'Carry On Abroad' (1972) 

This raised profile may well have led to an increasing number of TV roles in the early '70s, in such popular fare as 'Follyfoot', 'Pardon My Genie', 'Some Mothers Do Ave Em' and, more substantially, 'Upstairs Downstairs' in which he played Pearce the chauffeur.   

The latter '70s saw appearances in 'Space:1999', 'Are You Being Served?', 'The Sandbaggers' and 'Secret Army', but perhaps surprisingly not 'The Sweeney' or 'The Professionals'.

In the film version of the popular TV series 'Bless This
House' (1972), here with Robin Askwith in the role of Mike

In 'Space:1999', and about to fall victim to some 
floral foul play by the young lady with her alien plant    

During the '80s you might have spotted Brian Osborne in 'Moonfleet', 'Minder', 'Shine On Harvey Moon', 'Juliet Bravo', 'Sorry!' and 'A Dorothy L Sayers Mystery: Have His Carcase', while the '90s offered the likes of 'London's Burning' and 'The Bill'.  

In the excellent BBC production of the Dorothy L
Sayers mystery 'Have His Carcase' from 1987  

Beyond his 'Carry On' shenanigans, he does appear in a few big screen productions, including 'Women In Love (1969), 'Under Milk Wood' (1971), 'Bless This House' (1972), Nighthawks (1981), 'Haunters Of The Deep' (1984) and 'Last Orders' (2001). It seems that he hasn't been in anything since 2003, so I hope he is enjoying a happy retirement.  

* (Edit 21/7/21: I'm sad to learn that Brian Osborne has died, in the Canary Islands, aged 81,  just a couple of days before I published this little salute.)

Brian Osborne-imdb

Derek Martin

Derek Martin:  
† Apr 11 1933 – Jan10 2026

If you watch 'EastEnders', you'll recognise Derek Martin as lovelorn cabbie Charlie Slater who was finally killed off in 2016, after 700+ episodes and even a spin-off, 'Slaters In Detention'. And if you don't watch 'EastEnders', you'll recognise him from dozens of cop series, gangster dramas and comedies, stretching back to the '60s.

Cutting up rough in an episode of 'The Professionals'

Despite having little formal drama training, Londoner Derek Martin has been ubiquitous in no-nonsense roles across British television for decades. Leaving his job at Smithfield meat market and starting as a stuntman and extra, he soon proved to be more than capable with dialogue and gradually built a reputation as reliable casting for heavies, coppers, soldiers and security guards. 

An uncredited appearance in the 'Doctor Who'
adventure 'The Claws Of Axos' from 1971

In 'The Curse Of Fendahl', a classic Tom Baker 'Who' from 1977 

An idea of this trajectory can be seen from his long involvement with 'Doctor Who'. Cast in no fewer than nine adventures from 1965 onwards, he was an uncredited extra until 1977's 'The Curse Of Fendahl'. A conscious decision to move away from stunt work and into speaking roles paid off after much effort and application. The long upwards haul included appearances in 'No Hiding Place', 'Adam Adamant Lives!', 'Z-Cars', 'Softly Softly', 'Terry & June', 'Hart To Hart' (an episode shot in London), 'Target', 'Shoestring', 'Private Schultz', 'Minder' and 'Angels'.        

As a redcap in an episode of 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum'
with the late Windsor Davies and Donald Hewlett  

As the bent copper DI Lyall in 'Law & Order' 

Big breaks came in the form of 'Law & Order' in 1978, a gritty police corruption drama featuring his soon-to-be 'EastEnders' colleague Peter Dean. He also played David Yip's guvnor DCI Berwick in 'The Chinese Detective' and Janet McTeer's cynical deputy in the prison drama 'The Governor'. 

A TV stalwart and deserving of a salute.

Derek Martin-imdb 

Michael Stainton

 

Michael Stainton: 

A lot of policemen. Quite a few landlords. But a LOT of policemen. The perpetually unamused Michael Stainton must be familiar to anyone who had even a casual acquaintance with British television in the '70s and '80s. In comedy and in drama, this solidly imposing actor appeared frequently in blue as one of the quintessential portrayers of the uniformed plod. He's the  copper in 'Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?', 'Rising Damp', Citizen Smith',  'Only Fools And Horses', 'Never The Twain' and 'Mind Your Language', but also in 'Juliet Bravo', 'The Ruth Rendell Mysteries', 'Lord Peter Wimsey', numerous television plays and even 'Brideshead Revisited'.       

Michael Stainton as the copper who brings an end to Terry's attempt
to give Bob a stag night in 'Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?'

 

Michael Stainton's earliest roles were on TV back in the mid '50s, already stepping easily from historical dramas and crime shows into light entertainment and comedy such as 'Hancock', 'The Army Game', 'Benny Hill', 'Hugh & I' and Sid James's popular show 'Citizen James'.   

As the vicar in the pilot episode of 'Last Of The Summer Wine'

In the '60s and '70s, the mix of drama and comedy was still strong, with the likes of 'Softly Softly', The Plane Makers', and 'No Cloak-No Dagger' more than offset by 'The Liver Birds', 'All Gas And Gaiters', 'Dad's Army', Moody & Pegg', 'The Two Ronnies' and 'Steptoe & Son'. To these we can add old favourites of this blog, 'Shelley', 'A Sharp Intake Of Breath' and 'Ripping Yarns'. He was also a regular in Jimmy Edwards' school comedy 'Whack-O!', which seems more bizarre every time the recollection of it crops up these days.    

As Don the ever-sympathetic landlord in 'You Must Be
The Husband', with the late Tim Brooke-Taylor  

As the Beano-esque Father in the silly Mickey Dolenz-directed
kids series 'Metal Mickey', which at least featured Irene Handl

This momentum was carried into the '80s and he appears in a lot of popular shows. He was Sergeant Tipper in the genteel detective series 'Charters & Caldicott', and pops up in programmes as diverse as the TV comedy vehicles of Russ Abbott, Kenny Everett, Kelly Monteith, Les Dawson and Les Dennis and the drama potboilers of 'The Bill' and 'London's Burning'.   

 As Alleyn's implacable desk officer in 
an episode of 'The Ruth Rendell Mysteries'  

Big screen appearances have been scant, a few obscure films and an uncredited part in 'Carry On Dick' (1974). To view his TV track record though, is to scan lightly over the history of British middle-brow entertainment of five decades, and for that he is surely due a salute.     

Michael Stainton-imdb

Leon Lissek

Leon Lissek: 

Although born in Australia, Leon Lissek has spent the majority of his long acting career in the UK where his mobile features and expressive eyes have made him a memorable face in a range of supporting roles. Which isn't to say that he is simply a master of the shrug, gape or head-shake, as a series of slightly more substantial acting successes makes clear.     

In the Hammer horror 'Countess Dracula' (1971)

A few major films have featured his talents, such as 'Nicholas & Alexandra' (1971) which featured a Tom Baker as Rasputin, and alongside Albert Finney's Poirot in 'Murder On The Orient Express' (1974, ), as well as 'Sweeney 2' (1978), 'Time Bandits' (1981), 'Personal Services' (1987), and 'The Unbearable Lightness Of Being' (1988). There's also an early role in the revered 'Marat/Sade' (1967). It's in television though, that he has really made the bigger impression.   

In the dock in a 'Crown Court' story from 1973 

With equal aplomb, Leon Lissek has met with television's casting demands for Jewish rabbis, businessmen and revolutionaries, Spanish priests and waiters, Arab sheikhs, French maitre d's, and various Greeks, Russians, Hungarians and Mexicans. You could have spotted him in police and adventure shows ranging from 'Softly Softly', 'Special Branch', 'Z-Cars' and 'Van Der Valk' to 'The Avengers', 'The Protectors', 'The Return Of The Saint' and 'The Professionals'.       

Continental shenanigans in 'Return Of The Saint'

He seems to have returned to Australia for a spell in the mid-'70s, to appear as a regular in 'The Sullivans', and several other Australian programmes. In the UK, lighter fare included low-brow comedies 'Not On Your Nellie' and 'Take A Letter Mr Jones', and kids TV 'Tottering Towers', 'Robert's Robots' and 'The Famous Five.' Better things were around the corner though, with his performance in the big-budget TV drama 'Shogun' as Father Sebastio.    

Waiting for the bathroom in an episode of
the BBC sitcom 'Ever Decreasing Circles'    

The '80s and '90s saw a sprinkling of quality drama - 'Our Friends In The North', 'The Final Cut', 'Cambridge Spies' - and occasional small roles in some popular productions such as 'Ever Decreasing Circles', 'A Fine Romance' and so on, culminating in a stint on 'EastEnders' with the legendary Stella Tanner, as Bruno and Luisa Di Marco, before the cast was dramatically pruned in late 1998.       

Playing Lavoisier in 'Marat/Sade' (1967)

Leon Lissek-imdb

Edward Kelsey

Edward Kelsey:

† Jun 4 1930 – Apr 23 2019

The voice of the rascally Joe Grundy on the BBC Radio 4 serial 'The Archers', Edward Kelsey is a stalwart actor with a list of TV and film credits stretching back to the late '50s. He appeared in several of those timeless series which we now like to call 'cult', including both 'The Avengers' and its '70s rehash 'The New Avengers', as well as 'Colditz', 'Doomwatch', 'The Saint', 'The Tripods' and three different Dr Who stories; the Hartnell-era 'Slave Traders', 'The Power Of The Daleks' with Patrick Troughton, and alongside Tom Baker in 'The Creature From The Pit'.         

 Colonel K in 'Danger Mouse'

A popular voice actor, he is also known for providing the bluster of Danger Mouse's boss Colonel K and his arch enemy Baron Greenback, and creating a pastiche of his own Joe Grundy role as Mr Growbag in the Wallace & Gromit film, 'The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit'. Other animations to benefit from his low growl include 'The Wind In The Willows', 'The Reluctant Dragon' and the Terry Pratchett-penned 'Truckers'.      

In an early (1962) episode of 'The Avengers'

In an episode of the Peter Davison cosy crime
favourite, 'Campion' from 1990

Not very much comedy, save for a spot in 'The Vicar Of Dibley' and 'Minder', but lots of mainstream TV drama over the past four decades. Highlights include 'The Plane Makers', 'Cranford' and 'Anna Of The Five Towns', with more everyday stuff like 'The Cedar Tree', 'Softly Softly', 'Penmarric', 'Z-Cars', 'Angels' and the ever-present 'Casualty'.  

It's not how I'd pictured Joe Grundy really, but that's him.

Edward Kelsey-imdb

Brian Grellis

Brian Grellis:

A tall Northern actor with a distinctive, slightly crumpled face and often unruly hair, who pops up in quite a few small roles as coppers and servicemen, but making something of a speciality of the befuddled passer-by. You might recall him as the likeable, cricket-loving vegetable pilferer in 'The Good Life', or as the unfortunate stranger lured to Terry's surprise birthday party in 'Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'.

In the WWII actioner 'Submarine X-1' (1968)

In the Tom Baker era Doctor Who adventure 'The Invisible Enemy'

A stalwart character actor, appearing in a number of stalwarts of British television: 'Minder', 'Z-Cars', 'Softly Softly', 'Bergerac', 'The Gentle Touch', etc. The chances are you've never particularly noticed him, but he's been there all the same. Some middle-brow dramas too, 'Anna Karenina', 'War and Peace' and 'A Tale of Two Cities'. His cult TV tally includes 'Doctor Who' (two stories from the Tom Baker era, one with Peter Davison), plus 'Jason King', 'The Frighteners' and 'Survivors'. 

Waiting for the big bang in the nuclear bomb drama 'Threads'  

Sightings on the big screen are mostly in the war and spy genres, and often uncredited: 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' (1969), the forgotten Len Deighton story 'Only When I Larf' (1968), and 'Submarine X-1' (1968), although he does get a speaking role in the latter. 

Get your hair cut... Working at the Ministry
in 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' (1969). 

He doesn't seem to have done much since the late-'80s, but I trust he is alive and well.

Brian Grellis-imdb

Frank Windsor

Frank Windsor:

† July 12 1927 – Sep 30 2020

I suppose I can hardly count such a famous actor as unknown, but the reassuringly wholesome rumpled features of Frank Windsor have been seen more widely than just in the venerable cop dramas 'Z-Cars' and 'Softly Softly; Taskforce' or adverts for pension plans and stairlifts. Starting as an actor in the late '50s, he never played the dashing leading man, but more often the trusty retainer or honest yeoman. 

Frank Windsor (second from left), between co-stars
James Ellis and Stratford Johns with the cast of 'Z-Cars'

TV jobs include the sci-fi serial 'A for Andromeda', 'The Avengers', 'Randall & Hopkirk, Deceased', the title role in the series 'Headmaster', and the not very memorable limo-hire drama 'Flying Lady'. More recent appearances cover the usual suspects 'Boon', 'Casualty', 'Chancer', 'Midsomer Murders', 'Judge John Deeds' and so on. 

On the big screen he is far less ubiquitous, but pops up in favourites like 'This Sporting Life' (1963), 'Spring and Port Wine ' (1971) and 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' (1971), as well as duffers such as 'Barry McKenzie Holds His Own' (1974), and heist romp 'The Omega Connection/The London Connection' (1979), often in a pastiche version of his familiar copper persona. 

Dependable rather than riveting. Hence the insurance adverts.                 

Frank Windsor - imdb profile

George Sweeney

George Sweeney:

Rather hoggish, wild-eyed actor who has played a lot of henchmen, petty criminals, tough coppers and psychopaths, and was memorable as Speed in 'Citizen Smith'. He's also been in 'Z-Cars', 'Softly Softly', and naturally, 'The Sweeney'. 

His film credits include 'For Your Eyes Only' (1981), 'The Bitch' (1979), Holmes spoof 'Without A Clue' (1988), and the bizarre Reg Varney vehicle 'The Best Pair Of Legs In The Business' (1974).

George Sweeney - imdb profile