Howard Lew Lewis

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Howard Lew Lewis (born 21 August 1939) is an English comedian and actor, best known for his roles in comedy series' including Maid Marian and her Merry Men and Brush Strokes.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Howard Lew Lewis was born on August the 21st 1939 in London, England. According to an interview conducted by Jo Johnson (found on Jo's Maid Marian fansite) Howard is 6" 3' tall, with brown eyes and married to someone he met on the Maid Marian set. He enjoys the music of Frank Zappa and the cartoons of Daffy Duck. His favourite book is The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek, and he was inspired by Orson Welles, particularly enjoying his 1965 film Chimes at Midnight. He worked for several years in Computer and Telecommunications, but when promoted to a manager decided instead to pursue acting as a career.[1]

[edit] TV work

[edit] Maid Marian and her Merry Men

Main article: Maid Marian and her Merry Men

As an actor, he is probably most associated in the British public consciousness with his role as Rabies, one of the Merry Men in the award-winning 1989 BBC Children's television comedy series Maid Marian and her Merry Men. Talking about his time on Maid Marian, which he considers his favourite project and an "excellent" experience, he singles out singing the 'Pixie Paul' song in the Series 4 episode "The Wise Woman of Worksop" as his favourite moment. Prior to MM&HMM, he had already worked with Tony Robinson, and subsequently he has stayed in touch with actor Mike Edmonds, whose character (Little Ron) also held appeal to him as a role alongside Rabies.[2]

[edit] Other comedy

He has also notably appeared in two other prominent historical comedy series - as Blag in the underrated Channel 4 sitcom Chelmsford 123 (1988) set during the Roman occupation of Britain in 123A.D., and as assorted medieval peasants, (including Piers and Mr Applebottom) in The Black Adder (1983), set in 1485. His longest recurring role has been as dim barman Elmo Putney in the comedy series Brush Strokes (1991), and he has also had minor parts in two Ronnie Barker sitcoms - The Magnificent Evans (1984) and Open All Hours (1985) - and the 1984 BBC comedy-drama Minder.

[edit] Other TV

In addition to his appearances in British comedy programmes, he has had a succession of minor roles in such notable series' and mini-series', including:

[edit] Films

He has also appeared in several films, again mostly in minor roles. Notable film appearances include Terry Gilliam's 1985 film Brazil, where he played one of the Black Maria guards, and playing "Hal" in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, the latter leading to in-jokes in subsequent series of Maid Marian, specifically the episode "They Came From Outer Space". In that episode, after alluding to Kevin Costner's American accent being somewhat out-of-place, Little Ron (Mike Edmonds) suggests a possible title for a Robin Hood film, prompting Rabies to question his role in such a film - receiving an immediate put-down from Robin (Wayne Morris):

Little Ron: "..Robin Hood Prince of Weeds?"

Rabies: "Will I be in it do you reckon?"

Robin: "Oh I shouldn't think so, I see you more as one of those naff comedy characters."

He also appeared in the 1992 Oscar-nominated semi-biographical film Chaplin, and was the English-language voice of Obelix in the 1994 film of Asterix In America to Craig Charles' Asterix. In 2005 he played the part of Lillas Pastia, the innkeeper, in Bizet's Carmen at the Royal Albert Hall, London, and in 2007 played alongside Warwick Davis in the movie Small Town Folk.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Interview with Howard Lew Lewis by Jo Johnson. Accessed 14 March, 2008
  2. ^ Interview with Howard Lew Lewis by Jo Johnson. Accessed 17 December 2007
  3. ^ According to Maid Marian fansite The Hideout. Accessed 17 December 2007

[edit] External links

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