Wilfrid Brambell

Brambell was born in Dublin, the youngest of three sons born to Henry Lytton Brambell (1870–1937), a cashier at the Guinness Brewery, and his wife, Edith Marks (1879–1965), a former opera singer. The family surname was changed from "Bramble" by Wilfrid's grandfather Frederick William Brambell. His two older brothers were Frederick Edward Brambell (1905–1980) and James Christopher Marks "Jim" Brambell (1907–1992).

His first appearance was as a child, entertaining the wounded troops during the First World War. After leaving school, he worked part-time as a reporter for The Irish Times and part-time as an actor at the Abbey Theatre before becoming a professional actor for the Gate Theatre. He also did repertory at Swansea, Bristol and Chesterfield.[1] In the Second World War, he joined the British military forces entertainment organisation ENSA.

Brambell had roles in film and television films from 1947, first appearing (uncredited) in Odd Man Out as a tram passenger. 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. He appeared as Bill Gaye in the 1962 Maurice Chevalier/Hayley Mills picture, In Search of the Castaways. He was heard in the original soundtrack of The Canterbury Tales, which was one of the quickest selling West End soundtrack albums of all time. He also released two 45-rpm singles, "Second Hand"/"Rag Time Ragabone Man", that played on his Steptoe and Son character, followed in 1971 by "Time Marches On", his tribute to the Beatles, with whom he had worked in 1964 (and had met many times). It featured a Beatles-esque guitar riff, with Brambell reciting words about the Beatles' splitting up. The B-side was "The Decimal Song" which, at the time of Britain's adopting decimal currency, was politically charged.[2]

Brambell was featured in many prominent theatre roles. In 1966, he played Ebenezer Scrooge in a musical version of A Christmas Carol. This was adapted for radio the same year, and appeared on Radio 2 on Christmas Eve. Brambell's booming baritone voice surprised many listeners: he played the role straight, true to the Dickens original, and not in the stereotype Albert Steptoe character. In 1971, he starred in the premiere of Eric Chappell's play, The Banana Box, in which he played Rooksby. This part was later renamed Rigsby for the television adaptation called Rising Damp, with Leonard Rossiter replacing Brambell in the role. Brambell also played the part of an Irish widower in the film Holiday on the Buses; the character in question started a close friendship with Stan Butler's mother Mabel.

It was this ability to play old men that led to his casting in his best remembered role as Albert Steptoe, the irascible father in Steptoe and Son, a man who – when the series began – was said to be in his sixties, even though Brambell was only aged 50 in 1962 (thirteen years older than Harry H. Corbett, who played his son Harold). The series began as a pilot on the BBC's Comedy Playhouse, and its success led to the commissioning of a full series. It ran from 1962 to 1974, including a five-year hiatus. A constant thread throughout the series was Albert being referred to by Harold as a "dirty old man"; for example, when he was eating pickled onions while taking a bath, and retrieving dropped onions from the bathwater. There were also two feature film spin-offs, a stage show and an American incarnation titled Sanford and Son, some episodes of which were almost exact remakes of the original British scripts.

The success of Steptoe and Son made Brambell a high-profile figure on British television, and earned him the supporting role of Paul McCartney's grandfather in the Beatles' first film, A Hard Day's Night (1964). A running joke is made throughout the film of his character being "a very clean old man", in contrast to his being referred to as a "dirty old man" in Steptoe and Son. In real life, he was indeed nothing like his Steptoe persona, being dapper and well-spoken. In 1965, Brambell told the BBC that he did not want to do another series of Steptoe and Son, and in September that year, he went to New York City to appear in the Broadway musical Kelly at the Broadhurst Theatre. It closed after a single performance.[3]

Apart from his role as the older Steptoe, Brambell achieved recognition in many films. His performance in 'The Terence Davies Trilogy' won him critical acclaim, far greater than any achieved for Steptoe and Son.[4] Although he appears throughout the full 24-minute piece, Brambell does not speak a single word.

After the final series of Steptoe and Son was made, in 1974, Brambell had some guest roles in films and on television. He and Harry H. Corbett also undertook a tour of Australia in 1977 in a stage production based on Steptoe and Son. In 1982, Brambell appeared on the BBC's television news paying tribute to Corbett, after the latter's death from a heart attack. In 1982 , Brambell appeared in Terence Davies's film Death and Transfiguration, playing a dying elderly man who finally comes to terms with his homosexuality.[5]

In 2002, Channel 4 broadcast a documentary film, When Steptoe Met Son, about the off-screen life of Brambell and his relationship with Corbett. The film claimed that the two men detested each other and were barely on speaking terms after the Australian tour. The rift was apparently caused in part by Brambell's alcoholism, and led to the two men leaving the country on separate aircraft. This claim is disputed by the writers of Steptoe and Son, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, who were unaware of any hatred or conflict.[6] Corbett's nephew released a statement in which he claimed that the actors did not hate each other: "We can categorically say they did not fall out. They were together for nearly a year in Australia, went on several sightseeing trips together, and left the tour at the end on different planes because Harry was going on holiday with his family, not because he refused to get on the same plane. They continued to work together after the Australian tour on radio and adverts."[7]

Brambell was homosexual[8][9] at a time when it was impossible for public figures to be openly gay, not least because male homosexual acts were illegal in England and Wales until 1967. In 1962, he was arrested in a toilet in Shepherd's Bush for persistently importuning and given a conditional discharge.[10][11]

He was married to Mary "Molly" Josephine Hall from 1948 to 1955.[12] The relationship ended in divorce after she gave birth in 1955 to the child of their lodger.[8]

Brambell died of cancer at his home in Westminster,[13] London, aged 72 on 18 January, 1985. He was cremated on 25 January, 1985 at Streatham Park Cemetery, where his ashes were scattered.

The Curse of Steptoe, a BBC television 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.[14]

• Brambell, (Henry) Wilfrid (1912–1985), David Parkinson, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004

• Wilfrid Brambell at IMDb
• Wilfrid Brambell at the TCM Movie Database
• Wilfrid Brambell biography at the BFI's Screenonline
• The dirty truth Guardian feature on the Channel 4 TV documentary on Steptoe and Son.