Wilfrid Brambell

Infobox actor
name = Wilfrid Brambell


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birthdate = birth date|1912|03|22|df=y
birthplace = Dublin, Ireland
deathdate = death date and age|1985|01|18|1912|03|22|df=y
deathplace = London, England
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occupation = Actor
yearsactive = 1950–1985
spouse = Molly Josephine (1948–1955)
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Wilfrid Brambell (22 March 1912 – 18 January 1985) was an Irish film and television actor, born in Dublin, best known for his role in the British television series "Steptoe and Son". He also starred alongside The Beatles in their film "A Hard Day's Night", playing Paul McCartney's grandfather.

Early life

On leaving school he worked part-time as a reporter for "The Irish Times" and part-time as an actor at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, before becoming a professional actor for the Gate Theatre. In World War II he joined the British military forces entertainment organisation ENSA.

Acting career

His television career began during the 1950s, when he was cast in small roles in three Nigel Kneale/Rudolph Cartier productions for BBC Television: as a drunk in "The Quatermass Experiment" (1953), as both an old man in a pub and later a prisoner in "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (1954) and as a tramp in "Quatermass II" (1955). All of these roles earned him a reputation for playing old men, though he was only in his forties at the time.

teptoe and Son

It was this ability to play old men that led to his casting in his most famous role, as Albert Steptoe, the irascible father in "Steptoe and Son". Initially this was a pilot on the BBC's "Comedy Playhouse" anthology strand: but its success led to a full series being commissioned, which lasted throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s. There were also two feature film spin-offs, a stage show and an American re-make entitled "Sanford and Son", based on the original British scripts. In the latter, Brambell's part was taken by Redd Foxx.

The success of "Steptoe and Son" made Brambell a high profile figure on British television, and earned him the major role of Paul McCartney's grandfather in The Beatles' first film, "A Hard Day's Night" in 1964. A running joke is made throughout the film of his character being "a very clean old man". This is in reference to his on-screen son, Harold, in "Steptoe and Son" constantly referring to his father as "you dirty old man!" (In real life too, he was nothing like his "Steptoe" persona, being dapper and well-spoken). In 1965 Wilfrid told the BBC that he did not want to do another "Steptoe and Son" series and in September of that year he went to New York to appear in the Broadway musical "Kelly" at the Broadhurst Theatre, however it closed after just one performance.

In 1971 he was due to play the role of Jeff Simmons, bass guitarist with The Mothers of Invention, in Frank Zappa's film "200 Motels" (a bizarre piece of casting, since the real Simmons was young, long-haired and American) but left the production after an argument with Zappa.

In 2002, Channel 4 broadcast a documentary film on the off-screen life of Brambell and his relationship with Harry H. Corbett, who played Harold Steptoe in "Steptoe and Son". The film, titled: "When Steptoe met son", revealed that the two men detested each other and were barely on speaking terms outside of takes by the end of the programme's run. In a series almost entirely based around the pair of them with no other regular characters, this made production of the series difficult and stressful. This tension partly related to Brambell's difficult private life. As he battled with alcoholism, he frequently forgot his lines and caused other problems both on and off the set. Brambell was also a homosexual at a time when it was almost impossible for public figures to be openly gay. He was arrested and charged for 'cottaging' in the early 1960s and subsequently holidayed annually in Asia. Earlier in his life he had been married, from 1948 to 1955, to Molly Josephine but the relationship ended after she gave birth to the child of their lodger, Roderick Fisher, in 1953.

Personal & Later life

After the final series of "Steptoe and Son" was made in 1974, Brambell had some guest roles in films and on television, but both he and Corbett found themselves heavily type cast as their famous characters. In an attempt to take advantage of this situation, they undertook a tour of Australia in 1977 with a "Steptoe and Son" stage show: however, with the pair openly despising each other, the tour was a disaster and a working relationship proved impossible. On one occasion, Brambell used bad language and was openly derogatory about the New Zealand cathedrals in an interview. Despite this, Brambell did appear on the BBC's television news paying tribute to Corbett after the latter's death from a heart attack in 1982. The following year Brambell appeared in Terence Davies's film "Death and Transfiguration", playing a dying elderly man who finally comes to terms with his homosexuality.

Brambell himself died in London less than three years later of cancer, at the age of 72. His ashes were buried at Saint Marylebone Cemetery and Crematorium in Finchley, London. [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6898011]

Legacy

"The Curse of Steptoe", a BBC TV play about Brambell and his co-star Harry H. Corbett, was broadcast on 19 March 2008 on digital BBC channel BBC Four, featuring Phil Davis as Brambell. The first broadcast gained the channel its highest audience figures to date, based on overnight returns. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/mar/20/bbc4.ratings BBC4 breaks ratings record] , March 19, 2008, The Guardian]

References

*"Harry H Corbett", Bristol Evening Post (England), June 7, 2005.
*"Home is where the hurt is; Steptoe and Son was a huge sit-com hit, but behind the scenes the laughter died", Thomas Quinn, The Herald / Sunday Herald (Glasgow, Scotland), August 17, 2002
*'‘Brambell, (Henry) Wilfrid (1912–1985)’', David Parkinson, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004

Filmography

* "Steptoe and Son" .... Albert Steptoe (1962-1965,1970-1974,1977)
* "According to Dora (1968)" TV series .... Various
* "The Adventures of Robin Hood" .... Fisherman (1957)
* "Quatermass II" .... Tramp (1955)
* "The Quatermass Experiment" .... A Drunk (1953)
* "" (1984) .... Porter
* "The Terence Davies Trilogy" (1984) .... Robert Tucker (old age)
* "Rembrandt" (1980) .... Beggar Saul
* "High Rise Donkey" (1980) .... Ben Foxcroft
* "Holiday on the Buses" (1973) .... Bert Thompson
* "Steptoe and Son Ride Again" (1973) .... Albert Edward Ladysmith Steptoe
* "Steptoe and Son" (1972) .... Albert Steptoe
* "Carry On Again Doctor" (1969) ... Mr Pullen, a Patient
* "Witchfinder General" (1968) (as Wilfred Brambell) .... Master Loach
* "Lionheart" (1968) .... Dignett
* "Cry Wolf" (1968) .... Delivery man
* "Crooks in Cloisters" (1964) .... Phineas
* "A Hard Day's Night" (1964) .... Grandfather
* "The Three Lives of Thomasina (1964) .... Willie Bannock
* "Go Kart Go (1964) .... Fred, Junkman
* "The Small World of Sammy Lee (1963) .... Harry
* "In Search of the Castaways (1962) .... Bill Gaye
* "What a Whopper" (1961) .... Postman

External links

*
* [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/brambellwill/brambellwill.htm Museum of Broadcast Communications encyclopedia entry]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,776815,00.html The dirty truth] "Guardian " feature on the Channel 4 TV documentary on "Steptoe and Son".
*Find A Grave|id=6898011