| Trevor Bannister | |
|---|---|
| Born | Trevor Gordon Bannister 14 August 1934[1] Durrington, Wiltshire, England |
| Died | 14 April 2011 (aged 76) Thames Ditton, Surrey, England |
| Cause of death | Myocardial infarction |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1960–2011 |
| Television | The War of Darkie Pilbeam The Dustbinmen Are You Being Served? Last of the Summer Wine |
| Spouse | Kathleen Cravos (m. 1959-?, divorced)[2] Pamela née Carson (m. 1982–2011, his death) |
| Children | 3 sons |
Trevor Gordon Bannister[2] (14 August 1934 – 14 April 2011)[2] was an English actor best known for playing the womanising junior salesman Mr. Lucas in the sitcom Are You Being Served? from 1972 to 1979, and for his role as Toby Mulberry Smith in the longest-running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine, from 2003 until it ended its run in 2010. He died the following year.
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In 1960, Bannister appeared on stage at the Cambridge Theatre in London in Billy Liar, which starred Albert Finney. He starred as Darkie Pilbeam, a wartime spiv, in the 1968 television series The War of Darkie Pilbeam, and from 1969 to 1970 he appeared as "Heavy Breathing" in Jack Rosenthal's sitcom, The Dustbinmen. Shortly afterwards, he was asked to play Mr Lucas in a Comedy Playhouse pilot called Are You Being Served? and took the part in the series.[3] In 1972 he appeared as the weak bladdered Producer of a local theatre company in "Steptoe and Son", Episode 2 series 7 - "A Star is Born". He played Peter Pitt in the 1988 BBC sitcom Wyatt's Watchdogs. Other TV appearances include Keeping Up Appearances, Call Earnshaw, Gideon's Way, The Saint, The Tomorrow People, Only on Sunday and The Avengers. Bannister played three different characters in the ITV soap Coronation Street.[3] From 2001 he played a recurring character (The Golf Captain) in Last of the Summer Wine.[3] becoming a regular in the 30th series in 2009, finally receiving a name (Toby Mulbery-Smith), moving in next door to Barry and Glenda (Mike Grady and Sarah Thomas) and befriending Morton (Christopher Beeny).
He worked mostly in the theatre, with credits including Billy Liar and the farce Move Over, Mrs Markham. Bannister also performed in Shakespeare and was a regular in pantomime for more than 35 years, nearly always playing the dame.[4] In 2007, he guest starred in the Doctor Who audio adventure, Nocturne.
His last appearances was in the TV series New Tricks episode "Old Fossils" broadcast 4 July 2011.
Bannister was the youngest of three siblings. His first marriage was to actress Kathleen Cravos in 1959. They had three sons together - Jeremy, Simon and Timothy - and divorced. He married Pamela Carson in 1982[2] and lived with her in Surrey at the time of his death. He is survived by all of his sons and his brother, John.[5]
Bannister died on the 14th April 2011, at the age of 76, after a heart attack at his allotment in Thames Ditton, Surrey.[6] Are You Being Served? and Last of the Summer Wine co-star Frank Thornton said that the last event Bannister had attended had been his own 90th birthday on the 15th January 2011, three months before he died.