Geoffrey Hutchings

Geoffrey Hutchings
Hutchings in character as Mel Harvey from the comedy TV series Benidorm
Born	(1939-06-08)8 June 1939 Dorchester, Dorset, England, UK
Died	1 July 2010(2010-07-01) (aged 71) London, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1964–2010
Spouse(s)	June Watts (1969–2002) Andi Godfrey (?–2010; his death)
Children	3

Geoffrey Hutchings (8 June 1939 – 1 July 2010) was an English stage, film and television actor.

Early life and career

Hutchings was born in Dorchester, Dorset, England. After attending Hardye's School, he studied French and Physical Education at the University of Birmingham before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and later joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1968.

Career

Stage

With the RSC from 1968 until the 1980s Hutchings played many roles in Shakespeare, including Launce, Octavius Caesar and Pandar. He played Bosola in the 1971 RSC production of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi. Hutchings made his name particularly in Shakespeare's comic roles, including Dromio of Syracuse, Bottom, Feste, Lavache, Autolycus and Doctor Caius. Hutchings' singing voice often featured in his comic roles, with his appearance in 1982 as Lady Dodo in the musical Poppy winning a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance.

In 1998, he played Carry On actor Sid James in the Royal National Theatre's production of Terry Johnson's stage play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick, a behind-the-scenes look at the love affair between Sid James and his co-star Barbara Windsor, which was subsequently made into an ITV drama, Cor, Blimey!, in 2000. In 2004, he played Nagg in Samuel Beckett's Endgame at the Albery Theatre alongside Michael Gambon, Lee Evans and Liz Smith. From October 2006 to April 2007, he played Herr Schultz in the West End production of Cabaret. His final stage role was in 2009 in the West End production of The Shawshank Redemption.

Film and TV

In 1980, Hutchings starred as a character called Trunky Porter in the TV series Juliet Bravo.

In 1987, Hutchings played Harry Stobbs in Series 3, episode 4 of The Bill.

A first collaboration with David Leland for the film Made in Britain (directed by Alan Clarke and starring Tim Roth) in 1981 has led to his notable role as Hubert Mansell, the father of Emily Lloyd in Wish You Were Here in 1987.

His other film successes included White Hunter, Black Heart (with Clint Eastwood), Henry V (with Kenneth Branagh), Topsy-Turvy (with Jim Broadbent), Clockwise (with John Cleese), The Thief Lord (as Conte) and The Affair of the Necklace (with Hilary Swank).

On television, his most notable role has probably been in Our Friends in the North (1996), in which he played corrupt building contractor John Edwards, a character closely based on the real-life figure of John Poulson. He also had a semi-regular role as Bobby Hollamby in the ITV prison drama Bad Girls from 2000 to 2003. Earlier, he had played second fiddle to Michael Gambon in 12 episodes of Maigret in 1992–1993. He also narrated several audiobooks based on Georges Simenon's Maigret stories. In 2005 he played Lionel Morris in ITV's Heartbeat. In 2007, Hutchings made a guest appearance in ITV drama Wild at Heart.

In December 2006, he made an appearance in the Sky One television adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Hogfather. From 2008 to 2009, he appeared in the ITV comedy series Benidorm as Mel Harvey and had a small role in the second Terry Pratchett adaptation Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic.

In February 2009, he appeared in EastEnders as Roger Clarke, Jane and Christian's father, and in the BBC film Nativity!.

In 2010 he appeared in the BBC medical drama Casualty and the sitcom Grandma's House, both of which were screened after his death.

He was a regular, as Mel Harvey, in the popular TV show Benidorm as the owner of five sunbed shops in the Greater Manchester, appearing in Series 2 (2008), Series 3 (2009) and a 2009 special. His sudden death, just before the shooting of the 2010 Christmas special, meant that the script had to be heavily rewritten, with his character's death said to have occurred off-screen on a business trip abroad.

Death

Hutchings died suddenly, in hospital, on the morning of 1 July 2010. The cause of death was meningitis. He was surrounded by his family: second wife Andi Godfrey, and the three children of his first marriage – one son (Nathan Hutchings) and two daughters (Octavia Hutchings and Holly Hutchings). He was cremated at Kensal Green Cemetery, West London.

Selected filmography

Film

List of films

Title	Year	Role/Character	Director	Type/Notes/Description
Rime of the Ancient Mariner	1975	The pilot (voice)	Raúl daSilva	Photoanimated film
Made in Britain	1982	Superintendent	Alan Clarke	Television film
Clockwise	1986	Mr. Wisely	Christopher Morahan	Feature film
Wish You Were Here	1987	Hubert Mansell	David Leland	Feature film
On the Black Hill	1988	Solicitor	Andrew Grieve	Feature film
Henry V	1989	Corporal Nym	Kenneth Branagh	Feature film
White Hunter Black Heart	1990	Squadron Leader Alec Laing	Clint Eastwood	Feature film
Topsy-Turvy	1999	Armourer	Mike Leigh	Feature film
Mike Bassett: England Manager	2001	Geoffrey Lightfoot	Steve Barron	Mockumentary
The Affair of the Necklace	2001	President D'Aligre	Charles Shyer	Feature film
It's All About Love	2003	Mr. Morrison	Thomas Vinterberg	Feature film
Cheeky	2003	Sid the Barman	David Thewlis	Feature film
The Thief Lord	2006	Conte	Richard Claus	Feature film
She, a Chinese	2009	Geoffrey Hunt	Xiaolu Guo	Documentary
Nativity!	2009	Father Tom	Debbie Isitt	Feature film
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger	2010	Alan's Father	Woody Allen	Feature film Last final film role to date

Television

List of programs television

Title	Year	Role/Character	Type/Notes/Description
The Ambassadors	1965	Jacques Montan	Television film
The Scarlet and the Black	1965	Student	Episode: "Entry Into Society"
Mrs Thursday	1966	M. Grandjean	Episode: "A Little of What You Fancy"
Antony and Cleopatra	1974	A Fig Seller	Television film
A Little Bit of Wisdom	1975	Bandaged Man	Episode: "#2.2"
Clayhanger	1976	Arthur Dayson	2 episodes
The Squirrels	1976	First Man	Episode: "The Snatch"
Raffles	1977	Bank Official	Episode: "The Chest of Silver"
Strangers	1980	Stanley Roberts	Episode: "Retribution"
Juliet Bravo	1980	Trunky Porter / Commander Nigel Scott	Episode: "The One Who Got Away"
Widows	1983	Willy Daily	Episode: "#1.2"
All the World's a Stage	1984	Reading from the 1572 Act of Parliament	Episode: "A Muse of Fire"
Charlie	1984	Dave Abbott	2 episodes
Hot Metal	1986	Max Rutherford	5 episodes
Lytton's Diary	1986	Florist	Episode: "The Ends and the Means"
Onassis: The Richest Man in the World	1986	Meneghini	Television film
Bergerac	1989	Sylvester Silver	Episode: "Weekend Off"
Saracen	1989	James Silverdale	Episode: "Infidels"
Home James!	1989	Sir Linus Brinks / Wainwright	2 episodes
Brass	1990	George Fairchild	6 episodes
The Gravy Train	1990	Gustave	4 episodes
Traitors	1990	Fr. Henry Garnet	Television film
Pirate Prince	1991	Rochefort	Television film
Perfect Scoundrels	1992	Alan Fry	Episode: "The Long Way Home"
Minder	1992	Heart Attack	Episode: "Last Orders at the Winchester"
A Year in Provence	1993	Ralph Tompkins	Episode: "Room Service"
Maigret	1992–1993	Sgt. Lucas	12 episodes
Screen One	1991–1993	Barton / Carwyn Phillips	2 episodes
Heart of Darkness	1993	Delcommune	Television film
Cracker	1993	Pathologist	Episode: "One Day a Lemming Will Fly: Part 1"
Drop the Dead Donkey	1994	Alfred	Episode: "Helen's Parents"
Degrees of Error	1995	Professor Marshall	3 episodes
Performance	1995	Bardolph	Episode: "Henry IV"
Our Friends in the North	1996	John Edwards	4 episodes
Witness Against Hitler	1996	Prison Governor	Television film
The Famous Five	1996	Binks	2 episodes
Accused	1996	Dan Chapman	4 episodes
Mortimer's Law	1998	Chris Borland	Episode: "#1.2"
Duck Patrol	1998	Malcolm White	8 episodes
Goodnight, Mister Tom	1998	Ralph Briggs	Television film
Kavanagh QC	1999	Trevor Gregton	Episode: "Previous Convictions"
The Bench	1999	Cyril	Television film
Longitude	2000	Estate Manager	Television film
Cor, Blimey!	2000	Sid James	Television film
Doctors	2000	Chief Supt. Len Salter	Episode: "Family Law"
Holby City	2002	George Fry	Episode: "Second Chances"
Where the Heart Is	2002	Ray Ballinger	Episode: "Count on Me"
The Safe House	2002	Det. Supt. Bill Matthews	Television film
Foyle's War	2002	Harold Smith	Episode: "Eagle Day"
Down to Earth	2003	Fenner / Mr. Fenner	2 episodes
Bad Girls	2000–2003	Bobby Hollamby	4 episodes
The Bill	1987–2004	Arthur Penrose / Martin Jackson / Harry Stobbs	3 episodes
The Royal	2005	Arthur Cordell	Episode: "Duty Bound"
Heartbeat	2005	Lionel Morris	Episode: "Shadows from the Past"
Derailed	2005	Robin Kellow	Television film
Funland	2005	Howdy Doodere	Episode: "#1.4"
Hogfather	2006	Mr. Brown	Television film as Geoffrey Hutchins
Wild at Heart	2007	Bill	Episode: "#2.2"
Maxwell	2007	George Wheeler	Television film
The Whistleblowers	2007	Fred Barrass	Episode: "Environment"
The Colour of Magic	2008	Picture Imp	2 episodes
Sunshine	2008	Bernard	Episode: "#1.2"
EastEnders	2009	Roger	3 episodes
Midsomer Murders	1999–2009	Harry Claypole / Colin Smy	2 episodes
Benidorm	2008–2009	Mel Harvey	15 episodes
Casualty	1994–2010	Alan Carson / Mr. Ross / Oliver Flint / Paul Fenwick	4 episodes
Grandma's House	2010	Grandpa	6 episodes

External links

• Geoffrey Hutchings at IMDb