Stephen Lewis (actor)

Stephen Lewis
Born	Stephen Cato 14 November 1936 (1936-11-14) London, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1959–2007

Stephen Lewis (born Stephen Cato 14 November 1936) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Inspector Cyril "Blakey" Blake in the LWT sitcom On the Buses, Clem "Smiler" Hemmingway in the longest running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine and Harry Lambert in BBC Television's Oh, Doctor Beeching!.

Career

Lewis began his career as a merchant seaman, but was persuaded to go to a performance by the Theatre Workshop, under their director Joan Littlewood. It was common, after these performances, to invite members of the audience to meet the cast. He was invited to an audition and landed the part; he left the sea, becoming a member of the company, and made his West End debut with the transfer of Brendan Behan's The Hostage in 1958. In 1960 he wrote Sparrers Can't Sing with the Theatre Workshop, which was made into a 1963 film, starring Barbara Windsor, Roy Kinnear and Lewis himself.

In 1969 Lewis starred in his best remembered role as Blakey in the British sitcom On the Buses, which ran for 74 half-hour episodes and spawned three films, On the Buses (1971), Mutiny on the Buses (1972) and Holiday on the Buses (1973). A spin off series, Don't Drink the Water, ran for thirteen episodes from 1974 to 1975. This featured Blakey retiring to Spain with his sister, Dorothy (Pat Coombs).

He also appeared in two British sex comedies Adventures of a Taxi Driver (1975) and Adventures of a Plumber's Mate (1978), both directed by Stanley Long.

In 1988 he took on one of his longest-running roles, playing the ironically-named 'Smiler' Hemingway in the BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine. The character recurred in occasional episodes for 17 years before ill health forced Lewis to leave the series in 2007.^{[citation needed]}

In 1995, Lewis played Harry Lambert, the signalman in the BBC pilot of sitcom Oh, Doctor Beeching!, which ran to two further series. Lewis has also appeared as a guest in sitcoms such as One Foot in the Grave, 2point4 Children and Father, Dear Father, and in the movies The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971), Personal Services (1987) and The Krays (1990). Lewis and Anna Karen are the last surviving members of the regular cast of On The Buses following the death of Reg Varney on 16 November 2008.

Television roles

Year	Title	Role
1969 to 1973	On the Buses	Inspector Cyril "Blakey" Blake
1974 to 1975	Don't Drink the Water	Cyril Blake
1977	The Fosters	Mr Wilberforce
1982	"Rep"	Royston Flagg
1988 1990 to 2007	Last of the Summer Wine	Clem "Smiler" Hemmingway
1990	One Foot in the Grave	Vince
1995 to 1997	Oh, Doctor Beeching!	Harry Lambert

External links

• Stephen Lewis at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Stephen Lewis