Lennard Pearce

Lennard Pearce (9 February 1915 – 15 December 1984) was an English actor who worked mostly in the theatre, but also appeared in British television programmes. He starred in the last years of his life as Grandad in the sitcom Only Fools and Horses, from its beginning in September 1981 until his death in December 1984.

Lennard Pearce
Born(1915-02-09)9 February 1915[1]
Paddington, London, England
Died15 December 1984(1984-12-15) (aged 69)
Archway, London, England
Alma materRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art
OccupationActor
Years active1930s–1984
TelevisionOnly Fools and Horses (1981–1984) (His death)

Career

Theatre

Born in Paddington, Pearce trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, in London. As a young actor in the 1930s, he went on a performance tour in Germany. One theatrical performance was attended by senior members of the Nazi Party; at the end of the show, party officials came backstage to congratulate the cast, and Pearce shook hands with Adolf Hitler. Pearce later told his Only Fools and Horses co-star Nicholas Lyndhurst that he regretted not taking the opportunity to kill Hitler.[2]

During World War II, Pearce performed for the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). In the early 1960s, he understudied for Stanley Holloway as Alfred P. Doolittle in the original West End production of My Fair Lady. After 1965, he appeared in many plays at the National Theatre, including Much Ado About Nothing and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. He worked with both Laurence Olivier and Anthony Hopkins on stage. In 1966, Pearce starred in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Rivals alongside David Jason, but the two men did not meet again until 15 years later.

In 1975, Pearce played Owl in a theatre adaptation of Winnie the Pooh at the Phoenix Theatre in London and, two years later, Mr Witherspoon in Arsenic and Old Lace at the Westminster Theatre. He was also a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Television

Pearce starred as Grandad in the first 23 episodes of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses between 1981 and 1983,[3] a role with which he is most closely associated. His other work includes Dixon of Dock Green (1965), Dr. Finlay's Casebook (1967), Sykes (1972) and Coronation Street in May 1969 and April 1977, along with The Wednesday Play ("Cathy Come Home", 1966). Pearce played a role in Crown Court broadcast in February 1984.

Pearce also appeared in an episode of Minder named "The Balance of Power", which was shown on Halloween in 1984, along with playing Mr Coles in three episodes of Shroud for a Nightingale in March 1984. Coincidentally, the man who replaced Pearce as the senior member of the Trotter family, Buster Merryfield, also appeared in two episodes of the same series. Pearce's last TV appearance was on BBC 1's Children in Need, on 23 November 1984.

Health problems and death

In 1980, Pearce was in a play at the Bristol Old Vic, when he kept losing balance and repeatedly falling asleep. He was diagnosed as having critical hypertension, and put on seven different tablets for it, taking these for the rest of his life. A heavy smoker for many years, Pearce was in poor health while filming Only Fools and Horses. On 12 December 1984, he suffered a heart attack, and was rushed to the Whittington Hospital, where his condition improved. Two days later, Only Fools and Horses scriptwriter John Sullivan visited him, and assured Pearce that his place in the programme would be open for him when he recovered. However, following his release, Pearce suffered a second heart attack on 15 December at his flat in Archway and died instantly. He was 69. Sullivan was phoned the following morning to be told the news, and he broke it to Pearce's Only Fools and Horses co-stars David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, who were devastated by Pearce's sudden death, as were the entire crew.

When Pearce died, production was under way of the Only Fools and Horses episode "Hole in One". Scenes he had filmed on location prior to his death were re-shot with Buster Merryfield as the replacement character Uncle Albert, and the episode was put back in the series. The episode "Strained Relations" begins in the wake of the death of the character Pearce had played.

Television roles

Comedy
YearTitleRole
1970Nearest and DearestDoctor
1981Bless Me, FatherClerk of the Court
1981–1984Only Fools and HorsesGrandad Trotter (Edward "Ted" Trotter)

Drama
YearTitleRole
1961MelissaDetective Sergeant Heston
1966Cathy Come HomeRatepayer
1974Antony and CleopatraCleopatra's schoolteacher
1980Hammer House of HorrorVicar
1984Shroud for a NightingaleGate security guard

References
  1. Death cert
  2. "Only Fools and Horses actor Lennard Pearce 'had the chance to kill Hitler'". The Telegraph. 2 October 2017. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  3. "IMDb > Grandad (Character)". IMDb. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
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