Brian Murphy: sitcom star who brought joy to generations dies aged 92

He signed up for Last of the Summer Wine as Alvin Smedley in 2003, supposedly as a one-off but ended up staying for seven years.

"It was a great time,” he told The Yorkshire Post in January 2024. “I loved in Huddersfield, where we stayed in a hotel, and were driven out to Holmfirth, Marsden and other places for filming. I’d been to Yorkshire before but I never realised how beautiful it was.”

Murphy, who has died aged 92, said the acting life meant he got to travel the country but usually for brief stops. But he said it was “wonderful” that he was able to make extended stops to Yorkshire.

He was already regarded as sit-com royalty when he arrived on Last of the Summer Wine. He was already famous for starring in sitcoms Man About The House and George And Mildred.

He died at his home in Kent on Sunday with his wife, Hi-de-Hi! actress Linda Regan, by his side, his agent, Thomas Bowington, said.

Murphy had been filming for a comedy before Christmas and was due to start production on a road movie in June in which he would star alongside Regan as a husband and wife duo.

Mr Bowington described it as “a sudden attack and cut down” as Murphy had developed a pain in his back around three weeks ago, and, after getting a check-up, he was told he had cancer in his spine and shoulders.

His agent remembered him as a “sprinkler of joy on stage, screen and in life” and as a person who was “joyful, warm, kind and caring to everyone”.

Murphy met his wife in 1990 when they starred opposite each other in a play as husband and wife, and they married in 1995.

Regan said in a statement: “I was lucky to have in my lifetime found my soulmate Brian, who I will love forever.”

The actor came to the public’s attention with ITV’s Man About The House, a popular sitcom that began airing in 1973 and saw the actor play landlord George Roper.

The show featured landlords George and Mildred Roper, played by the late Yootha Joyce, and was considered controversial for the time because it featured two single women living with a man.

When the show ended in 1976 Murphy and Joyce starred in the spin-off, George And Mildred, which ran for five series until 1979.

In the 1960s Murphy appeared in Z-Cars, a TV police drama also featuring Judy Matheson, who said in her tribute to him on X: “Heartbroken about the death of my dear friend of over 50 years, Brian Murphy.

“One of the finest actors I have known, and one of the kindest.”

Born on September 25 1932 on the Isle of Wight, he trained at The Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art after completing National Service with the RAF.

He started his career in the 1950s as a member of the Theatre Workshop, founded by Joan Littlewood, and appeared in both the stage and 1962 film version of Littlewood’s comedy Sparrows Can’t Sing, the latter starring Barbara Windsor and James Booth.

He also performed in First World War musical satire Oh, What A Lovely War.

Murphy was a jobbing actor before appearing in TV shows including The Avengers and Z-Cars, with Man About The House being his breakthrough role.

He also appeared in ITV sitcom The Incredible Mr Tanner in 1981 and BBC’s L For Lester in 1982.

In 1993, he starred in the first major stage version of The Invisible Man, based on the science fiction classic by HG Wells.

In the Noughties, he portrayed Maurice in The Booze Cruise alongside Martin Clunes and Neil Pearson, and from 2011 he appeared in The Cafe.

He appeared in a host of other TV shows, including comedy series The Catherine Tate Show, Benidorm and This Is Jinsy.

In later years, he voiced the character Mr Lovelybuns for the animated series Claude, based on Alex T Smith’s best-selling books.

Murphy had shot scenes for a comedy series in November last year and was due to start filming for a feature film, with a working title of The Last Goodbye, directed by Jason Figgis, about “life late in life”, his agent said.

Mr Bowington said Regan still plans to star in the film but they will “need to take a breath first” before casting her co-star because he said “Brian is not easily replaced”.

Murphy is survived by his wife and two sons.

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2 more07:37 - 4 Feb 2025

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File photo dated 08/02/77 of (left-right) John Inman, Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy in London. The actor Brian Murphy, best known for starring in sitcoms Man About The House and George And Mildred, has died aged 92, according to reports. Issue date: Tuesday February 4, 2025.

07:37 - 4 Feb 2025

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File photo dated 11/02/79 of Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce in London. The actor best known for starring in sitcoms Man About The House and George And Mildred, has died aged 92, according to reports. Issue date: Tuesday February 4, 2025.

07:37 - 4 Feb 2025

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File photo dated 24/08/76 of Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce in London. The actor best known for starring in sitcoms Man About The House and George And Mildred, has died aged 92, according to reports. Issue date: Tuesday February 4, 2025.

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