Derek Royle
Born(1928-09-07)7 September 1928
Reddish, Cheshire, England
Died23 January 1990(1990-01-23) (aged 61)
London, England
Years active1959–1989
Spouse
Jane Short
​
(m. 1953)​
ChildrenAmanda Royle
Carol Royle

Derek Stanley Royle (7 September 1928 – 23 January 1990) was a British actor. His face was probably better known than his name to British viewers, but he acted in films and TV from the early 1960s until his death.[1] He had a supporting role in the Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour in 1967, as well as a minor one with Cilla Black in the film Work Is a Four-Letter Word a year later.[2]

Most of his film appearances were in comedy films such as Tiffany Jones (1973), Don't Just Lie There, Say Something! (1974) and Confessions of a Sex Maniac (1974).[1]

Stage and television roles

He appeared in a children's TV comedy series, Hogg's Back (1975) as Doctor Hogg, an eccentric general practitioner (GP); in 2016, this series appeared on Talking Pictures TV.[3] Royle acted with Wendy Richard and Pat Coombs over two series.[4] Hog's Back is a ridge of hills in Surrey.[5] Royle played the hotel guest who dies in his room in the Fawlty Towers episode "The Kipper and the Corpse".[6] He also was the first actor to portray Monsieur Ernest Leclerc in the sixth series of 'Allo 'Allo! (replacing Jack Haig, who had portrayed Ernest's brother Roger),[7] and had a supporting role in a remake of Indiscreet (1988) and a new BBC version of a Lord Peter Wimsey story.[8][9] As a stage actor he was a mainstay of Brian Rix's Whitehall farces company.[10] He specialised in absent minded characters and used his acrobatic skills to fall down stairs and immediately get up again as if nothing had happened.[11] Theatre critic Michael Coveney called him "simply one of the funniest men on the English stage".[12]

Personal life and death

Derek Stanley Royle was born in Reddish on 7 September 1928, and graduated from RADA in 1950.[13][14][15] He was married to make-up artist Jane Royle (née Short) and their daughters Amanda and Carol Royle became actresses.[12]

Royle died from cancer at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London on 23 January 1990, aged 61.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 "Derek Royle". BFI. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "Derek Royle | Movies and Filmography".
  3. ↑ "Hogg's Back (1975)". BFI. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020.
  4. ↑ "Hogg's Back - ITV Sitcom". British Comedy Guide.
  5. ↑ "In pictures: View from the Hogs Back". 30 November 2009 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  6. ↑ "Fawlty Towers - S2 - Episode 4: The Kipper and the Corpse". Radio Times.
  7. ↑ "Rose Hill". The Independent. 1 January 2004. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  8. ↑ "BFI Screenonline: 'Allo 'Allo (1984-92) Credits". www.screenonline.org.uk.
  9. ↑ "A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery: Strong Poison". 25 March 1987. p. 65 – via BBC Genome.
  10. ↑ "Derek Royle | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  11. ↑ Clark, Steve; Paphitis, Theo (30 August 2011). Only Fools and Horses - The Official Inside Story. Splendid Books Limited. ISBN 9780956950536 – via Google Books.
  12. 1 2 Hayward, Anthony (7 March 2011). "Jane Royle obituary" – via www.theguardian.com.
  13. ↑ "Derek Royle — RADA". www.rada.ac.uk.
  14. ↑ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  15. ↑ "Derek Royle". The Daily Telegraph. 26 January 1990. p. 21. Retrieved 28 November 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "'Allo 'Allo star dies". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 25 January 1990. p. 5. Retrieved 28 November 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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