Brian Murphy (actor)

For other people of the same name, see Brian Murphy (disambiguation).

Brian Murphy
Born	(1933-09-25) 25 September 1933 Ventnor, Isle of Wight, England, UK
Occupation	actor
Years active	1960-present
Spouse(s)	Linda Regan (1993-present) Carol Murphy (?-?) (divorced)
Children	2

Brian Murphy (born 25 September 1933) is an English actor. Murphy remains best known as the henpecked husband George Roper in the sitcom Man About the House and spin-off George and Mildred.

Acting career

Murphy was born in Ventnor, Isle of Wight. He was called up to do his national service at RAF Northwood, where he met future The Good Life actor Richard Briers. On leaving the RAF the two aspiring actors both performed in productions by the Dramatic Society at the Borough Polytechnic Institute, now London South Bank University. Murphy was a member of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop (alongside Yootha Joyce), and a jobbing actor in the 1960s and early 1970s, combining his theatre work with appearances in television shows such as The Avengers, Z-Cars, Callan (Reeves in 'None of Your Business', 1972) and Dixon of Dock Green, before being cast in the role which would make him a household name.

In Man About The House, Murphy played the lazy and scheming George Roper, the landlord of a house converted into flats who had a young man and two women renting the flat above. His wife, Mildred, was played by Yootha Joyce. Her domineering, social-climbing characteristic was a sharp contrast to George's desire for an easy and quiet life and the pairing were an instant hit. A contributing factor to their immediate chemistry was the fact they had been friends for many years. Aside from their Theatre Workshop years, Murphy also featured in Sparrows Can't Sing (1963) with Joyce and other Theatre Workshop colleagues. When Man About The House ended in 1976, a spin-off was created for Murphy and Joyce, entitled George and Mildred. This ran for five series until 1979. Murphy reprised his role in feature films of both sitcoms. Joyce died in 1980.

Murphy returned to the theatre but has since only been sporadically on television, with memorable roles in On Your Way, Riley (1985) as Arthur Lucan, Lame Ducks (as a private investigator); The Bill (as a drunken tramp dressed as an elf at Christmas); comedy series One Foot in the Grave starring Richard Wilson (playing a character called Mr Foskett); Last of the Summer Wine (as Alvin Smedley); Brookside; and as a shopkeeper called Stan in Wizadora. He has more recently made appearances in comedy shows The Catherine Tate Show, This is Jinsy and Benidorm.

Family

Murphy's second wife is Hi-de-Hi! actress, Linda Regan. His grandson is the playwright Martin Murphy, whose play Manor was performed at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden in 2010, and his second cousin is actor Benjayx Murphy.

Theatre

• Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Christopher Bond), Theatre Royal Stratford East, Title role (Sweeney Todd), 1973.
• On Your Way, Riley (Alan Plater), The Queen's Theatre, Arthur Lucan (Old Mother Riley), February–March, 1983
• When We Are Married (J.B. Priestley), Whitehall Theatre, Herbert Soppitt, 1986.
• Roll On Friday (Roger Hall, Watford Palace Theatre, Jim, October, 1989.

Selected television roles

Year	Title	Role
1971	The Devils	Adam
1973 to 1976 1976 to 1980	Man About the House George and Mildred	George Roper
1981	The Incredible Mr Tanner	Ernest Tanner
1982	L for Lester	Lester Small
1984 to 1985	Lame Ducks	Ansell
1993 to 1999	Wizadora	Stan
1994	One Foot in the Grave	Mr. Foskett
1998	Jonathan Creek	Ken Speed
2003 to 2010	Last of the Summer Wine	Alvin Smedley
2005 to 2006	The Catherine Tate Show	Neville
2010	Hustle	Larry
2010	Benidorm	Clive Mitchell
2011	White Van Man	Albert
2011	The Cafe	Frank Dobson

External links

• Brian Murphy at the Internet Movie Database
• Brian Murphy role reviews