Sad to wake up to the news Brian Murphy has left us at the age of 92. For many he will forever be George Roper of the ITV sitcoms Man About The House and George and Mildred, but did so much more in his career. I was lucky enough to spend a day in a rehearsal room with him back in 2001, actually it was an old church hall somewhere in London – he was rehearsing for a UK tour of The Sunshine Boys, co-starring Ron Moody. Brian was welcoming, funny, generous and kind.
I loved listening to the tales from his early days working with Joan Littlewood’s ground-breaking Theatre Workshop in the 1950s – he recalled working on Littlewood’s comedy, Sparrows Can’t Sing, on both stage and screen – the latter starring Barbara Windsor who had also been a member of Littlewood’s troupe – and of being part of Theatre Workshop’s WWI musical satire Oh! What a Lovely War. A lovely talented man, he’ll be much missed by all whose lives he touched. Thanks for the laughs, Brian. My thoughts with his wife Linda Regan and his two sons.
A few months ago, I was surprised to see him in an old black and white episode of “Callan”, not just playing a rather nasty criminal but one quite ready to use a gun! It was a brief but invaluable glimpse of Murphy’s pre-George as a successful character actor.
Thanks, Paul. Yes, always admired his range as an actor.