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Lennard Pearce
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Lennard Pearce (9 February 1915 – 15 December 1984) was an English actor who mostly worked in theatre, though he made some television appearances, and broke through into television during the final few years of his life. Pearce is mainly remembered for the role of "Grandad" in BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses.
Pearce studied drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, in London and performed for the Entertainments National Service Association during World War II.
In the 1950's Pearce starred in many West End plays.
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Lennard Pearce (9 February 1915 – 15 December 1984) was an English actor who mostly worked in theatre, though he made some television appearances, and broke through into television during the final few years of his life. Pearce is mainly remembered for the role of "Grandad" in BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses.
Pearce studied drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, in London and performed for the Entertainments National Service Association during World War II.
In the 1950's Pearce starred in many West End plays. In the early 1960's, he understudied Doolittle in the original West End production of My Fair Lady. After 1965, he appeared in many plays at the National Theatre including Much Ado About Nothing and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. He worked with both Laurence Olivier and Sir Anthony Hopkins on stage. In 1966, Pearce starred in an 18th Century called The Rivals, alongside David Jason, but they wouldn't meet again until 15 years later.
In 1975 Pearce played the Owl in a Winnie the Pooh play at the Phoenix Theatre, in London, and two years later, in 1977, Mr Witherspoon in Arsenic and Old Lace at the Westminster Theatre. He was also a member of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
In 1980 Pearce was in a play at the Bristol Old Vic, when he lost his balance and repeatedly fell asleep. He was diagnosed with critical hypertension, and put on seven different tablets for it, which he took during the rest of his life.
Pearce also appeared in Dixon of Dock Green in 1965, Dr Finlay's Casebook (1967), Sykes (1972) and Coronation Street in May 1969 and April 1977, along with "Play for Today", in both 1966 and 1980. Pearce played Ronald Wardle in Crown Court in February 1984.
Pearce also appeared in an episode of Minder named The Balance of Power, which was shown on Halloween 1984, along with playing Mr Coles in three episodes of a Shroud for a Nightingale in March 1984. Coincidentally, the man who replaced Pearce as the senior member of the Trotter family, Buster Merryfield, also appeared in two episodes of the same series. His final ever TV appearance was on BBC 1's Children in Need, on 23 November 1984.
On 12 December 1984, Lennard Pearce suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to the Whittington hospital and detained, but his condition began to improve. Two days later, John Sullivan, the scriptwriter visited him, and assured Pearce that his place in the programme would be open for him when he recovered. However, Lennard Pearce suffered a second and fatal heart attack, and died instantly, on the night of 15 December 1984. Sullivan was phoned the following morning to be told the news, and he broke it to David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, who were both devastated by Pearce's sudden death.
When Lennard Pearce died, production was underway of the Only Fools and Horses episode "Hole In One" – Scenes he had filmed on location prior to his death were re-shot with Buster Merryfield as the replacement character Uncle Albert, and the episode was put back in the series. The episode "Strained Relations" featured the death of the character Pearce had played.
Pearce was a notable trilby wearer.
Television roles
Comedy
Drama
| Year | Title | Role |
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| 1980 | Hammer House of Horror | Vicar | |
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