Buster Merryfield
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| Harry 'Buster' Merryfield | |
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| Born | Harry Merryfield 27 November 1920 Battersea, London, England |
| Died | 23 June 1999 (aged 78) Poole, Dorset, England |
Harry 'Buster' Merryfield (b. November 27, 1920 - d. June 23, 1999) was an English actor who became a national institution after joining the hit BBC comedy Only Fools and Horses in 1984, as the former seafaring Albert Gladstone Trotter, known as Uncle Albert. The character effectively took over the role of senior citizen member of the irrepressible Trotter family from Lennard Pearce who played Grandad, Uncle Albert being Grandad Trotter's globetrotting long-lost brother.
Born in Battersea, South London, England, Merryfield attended Sir Walter St John's Grammar School and served with the Royal Artillery in World War II as a physical training and jungle warfare instructor. He served in South Africa and India and was commissioned as a lieutenant. As sports and entertainments officer he organized shows for the troops and it is believed that this is where his passion for acting originated. However, it was to be many years before he became a professional actor at the age of 57, after working for the Westminster Bank (later the National Westminster Bank) for nearly 40 years.
Before turning professional Merryfield was a keen amateur actor and director. His productions of John Osborne's The Entertainer, The World-My Canvas by Ruth Dixon and A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller, for the now defunct amateur theatre group The Characters, won Best Play at the Woking Drama Festival in 1966, 1968 and 1969 respectively.[1] He also won the Best Actor trophy for his roles in The Entertainer and The World-My Canvas.[2]
He always prided himself on his fitness, following a strict fitness regime of daily press-ups and swimming sessions. Unlike his TV character, forever replenishing his mariner's pipe, Merryfield never smoked. His efforts to stay fit could be traced back to his time as a child boxing star in the 1930s. He was British schoolboy champion in 1936 and Southern Command army champion in 1945. He also had a brief spell as a professional footballer with Millwall F.C. although he only played one full first team game for The Lions.
In 1997 he fell over at the British Comedy Awards whilst walking up to the stage to collect an award for David Jason for his part in Only Fools and Horses. Despite cutting his forehead, he soldiered on and collected the award.
He is known for Uncle Albert's catchphrase of "During the war..."
He died, aged 78, in June 1999, as a result of a brain tumour. He was survived by Iris, his wife of 57 years.
[edit] Appeared in
- Only Fools and Horses
- Shroud for a Nightingale
- Strangers and Brothers
- The Citadel
- The Entertainer (play)
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
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