Nicholas Lyndhurst
Encyclopedia
Nicholas Simon Lyndhurst (born 20 April 1961) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Rodney Trotter
in Only Fools and Horses
, Gary Sparrow in Goodnight Sweetheart
, and as Adam Parkinson in Carla Lane
's series Butterflies
. Lyndhurst also prominently starred as Ashley Philips in The Two of Us, as Fletch's
son Raymond in Going Straight
, the sequel to the classic British sitcom Porridge
, Jimmy Venables in After You've Gone, and Freddie 'The Frog' Robdal in the Only Fools and Horses prequel Rock & Chips.
. He appeared in a succession of television commercials and children's films in the late 1970s, and first gained national recognition at the age of seventeen in the sitcom Butterflies
written by Carla Lane
, in which he played the character Adam Parkinson. He then played Raymond Fletcher the teenage son of Norman Stanley 'Fletch' Fletcher
played by Ronnie Barker
in Going Straight
before achieving national stardom in the series Only Fools and Horses
in which he played Rodney Trotter
, the younger brother of the main character Derek "Del Boy" Trotter
. In Only Fools and Horses Nicholas was immortalised by the catchphrase aimed at his character 'Rodney, "you plonker".
This programme started as a small comedy in 1981 and rapidly grew in popularity until it reached its peak in 1996 with its Christmas Day show in the UK. Lyndhurst has appeared in the show since the very start, right up to its most recent airing at Christmas 2003. '[Only Fools and Horses reached No.1 British sitcom ever in the BBC
poll in 2003/04.
During the 1990s, Lyndhurst also appeared in ITV
's The Two of Us with Janet Dibley
and The Piglet Files
, as well as in a number of stage performances.
Between 1993 and 1999, he played the complex lead character of Gary Sparrow in the fantasy sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart
. At around the same time, he was the face and voice on the TV and radio
commercial
s for the telecommunications chain People's Phone. In 1995, he was offered the role in The Full Monty
playing lead role Gary but declined.
Between 1997 and 1999, Nicholas Lyndhurst was the public face of the stationery chain store WH Smith, starring in their adverts as all four members of one family. He won a BAFTA
for his acting in the adverts. In 1999, he played the villainous Uriah Heep
opposite Daniel Radcliffe
and Maggie Smith
in David Copperfield
.
In 2006, he appeared as Cruella de Vil
's chauffeur, Reg Farnsworth, at the Children's Party at the Palace
.
In 2007, Lyndhurst returned to the BBC
with his first new sitcom in thirteen years, After You've Gone, in which he plays a divorced dad moving back into the marital home to look after his daughter (Dani Harmer
) and son (Ryan Sampson
) together with his mother in law, played by Celia Imrie
, after his ex wife goes to work as a recovery nurse on a third world disaster relief mission.
Lyndhurst played Freddie Robdal, the 1960s gangster father of Rodney Trotter in the prequel to Only Fools and Horses - Rock & Chips. The show centres around Del Boy, Robdal and Joan Trotter in early 1960s Peckham. It was first broadcast on 24 January 2010, with another special transmitted on 29 December 2010, and the final episode in Easter 2011.
with his wife Lucy, a former ballet dancer (married in Chichester
, West Sussex
, 1999), and their son, Archie Bjorn Lyndhurst (born Westminster
), Lyndhurst has a passion for outdoor activities, including flying aeroplane
s, surfing
and deep sea diving. He is also a keen beekeeper
.
Rodney Trotter
Rodney Charlton Trotter is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst.-Personality:Rodney's personality was based on the experiences of series creator John Sullivan, who also had an older sibling and, like Rodney, claimed to have been a dreamer and...
in Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
, Gary Sparrow in Goodnight Sweetheart
Goodnight Sweetheart
Goodnight Sweetheart is a sitcom that ran for six series on BBC1 from 1993 to 1999. It stars Nicholas Lyndhurst as Gary Sparrow, an accidental time traveller who leads a double life after discovering a time portal allowing him to travel between the London of the 1990s and the same area during the...
, and as Adam Parkinson in Carla Lane
Carla Lane
Carla Lane, OBE is an English television writer responsible for many successful sitcoms, including The Liver Birds , Butterflies , and Bread ....
's series Butterflies
Butterflies (TV series)
Butterflies is a British sitcom written by Carla Lane broadcast on BBC2 from 1978–83.The situation is the day-to-day life of the Parkinson family in a bittersweet style. There are both traditional comedy sources and more unusual sources such as Ria's unconsummated relationship with the...
. Lyndhurst also prominently starred as Ashley Philips in The Two of Us, as Fletch's
Norman Stanley Fletcher
Norman Stanley "Fletch" Fletcher is the main character in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge, and the less-successful spin-off, Going Straight...
son Raymond in Going Straight
Going Straight
Going Straight is a BBC sitcom which was a direct spin-off from Porridge, starring Ronnie Barker as Norman Stanley Fletcher, newly released from the fictional Slade Prison where the earlier series had been set....
, the sequel to the classic British sitcom Porridge
Porridge (TV series)
Porridge is a British situation comedy broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977, running for three series, two Christmas specials and a feature film. Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it stars Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale as two inmates at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland...
, Jimmy Venables in After You've Gone, and Freddie 'The Frog' Robdal in the Only Fools and Horses prequel Rock & Chips.
Career
Born on 20 April 1961, Nicholas was a child student at Corona Theatre SchoolCorona Theatre School
Corona Stage Academy was a successful British drama school founded by Rona Knight in the mid 1940s. The school started in Chiswick before later moving to 16 Ravenscourt Avenue, Hammersmith in 1955. The school produced many top names of the British stage and screen, but it closed in 1989 following...
. He appeared in a succession of television commercials and children's films in the late 1970s, and first gained national recognition at the age of seventeen in the sitcom Butterflies
Butterflies (TV series)
Butterflies is a British sitcom written by Carla Lane broadcast on BBC2 from 1978–83.The situation is the day-to-day life of the Parkinson family in a bittersweet style. There are both traditional comedy sources and more unusual sources such as Ria's unconsummated relationship with the...
written by Carla Lane
Carla Lane
Carla Lane, OBE is an English television writer responsible for many successful sitcoms, including The Liver Birds , Butterflies , and Bread ....
, in which he played the character Adam Parkinson. He then played Raymond Fletcher the teenage son of Norman Stanley 'Fletch' Fletcher
Norman Stanley Fletcher
Norman Stanley "Fletch" Fletcher is the main character in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge, and the less-successful spin-off, Going Straight...
played by Ronnie Barker
Ronnie Barker
Ronald William George "Ronnie" Barker, OBE was a British actor, comedian, writer, critic, broadcaster and businessman...
in Going Straight
Going Straight
Going Straight is a BBC sitcom which was a direct spin-off from Porridge, starring Ronnie Barker as Norman Stanley Fletcher, newly released from the fictional Slade Prison where the earlier series had been set....
before achieving national stardom in the series Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
in which he played Rodney Trotter
Rodney Trotter
Rodney Charlton Trotter is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst.-Personality:Rodney's personality was based on the experiences of series creator John Sullivan, who also had an older sibling and, like Rodney, claimed to have been a dreamer and...
, the younger brother of the main character Derek "Del Boy" Trotter
Del Boy
Derek Edward Trotter, better known as "Del Boy", is the fictional lead character in the popular BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses and one of the main characters of its prequel, Rock & Chips...
. In Only Fools and Horses Nicholas was immortalised by the catchphrase aimed at his character 'Rodney, "you plonker".
This programme started as a small comedy in 1981 and rapidly grew in popularity until it reached its peak in 1996 with its Christmas Day show in the UK. Lyndhurst has appeared in the show since the very start, right up to its most recent airing at Christmas 2003. '[Only Fools and Horses reached No.1 British sitcom ever in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
poll in 2003/04.
During the 1990s, Lyndhurst also appeared in ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's The Two of Us with Janet Dibley
Janet Dibley
Janet Dibley is an English actress. She is best known for her role the 1980s sitcom The Two of Us. She currently appears as Dr...
and The Piglet Files
The Piglet Files
The Piglet Files is a British sitcom produced by LWT .The show consisted of three series totaling twenty-one episodes that ran between 1990 and 1992....
, as well as in a number of stage performances.
Between 1993 and 1999, he played the complex lead character of Gary Sparrow in the fantasy sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart
Goodnight Sweetheart
Goodnight Sweetheart is a sitcom that ran for six series on BBC1 from 1993 to 1999. It stars Nicholas Lyndhurst as Gary Sparrow, an accidental time traveller who leads a double life after discovering a time portal allowing him to travel between the London of the 1990s and the same area during the...
. At around the same time, he was the face and voice on the TV and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
commercial
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
s for the telecommunications chain People's Phone. In 1995, he was offered the role in The Full Monty
The Full Monty
The Full Monty is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber, and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy...
playing lead role Gary but declined.
Between 1997 and 1999, Nicholas Lyndhurst was the public face of the stationery chain store WH Smith, starring in their adverts as all four members of one family. He won a BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
for his acting in the adverts. In 1999, he played the villainous Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep is a fictional character created by Charles Dickens in his novel David Copperfield.The character is notable for his cloying humility, obsequiousness, and insincerity, making frequent references to his own "'umbleness". His name has become synonymous with being a yes man...
opposite Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe is an English actor who rose to prominence playing the titular character in the Harry Potter film series....
and Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...
in David Copperfield
David Copperfield (1999 film)
David Copperfield is a two part BBC television drama adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield, adapted by Adrian Hodges. The first part was shown on Christmas Day and the second on Boxing Day in 1999...
.
In 2006, he appeared as Cruella de Vil
Cruella de Vil
Cruella de Vil is a fictional character and the iconic villain in Dodie Smith's 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians, Disney's 1961 animated film adaptation One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and Disney's live-action film adaptations 101 Dalmatians and 102 Dalmatians. In all her incarnations,...
's chauffeur, Reg Farnsworth, at the Children's Party at the Palace
Children's Party at the Palace
The Children's Party at the Palace was an event organized by Peter Orton of Hit Entertainment and David Johnstone of DJI consult, held at Buckingham Palace Garden on 25 June 2006 in honour of the 80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. The event, which had the theme British children's literature, was...
.
In 2007, Lyndhurst returned to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
with his first new sitcom in thirteen years, After You've Gone, in which he plays a divorced dad moving back into the marital home to look after his daughter (Dani Harmer
Dani Harmer
Danielle Jane "Dani" Harmer is an English television actress and singer. Harmer is best known as the title character in the UK television programme The Story of Tracy Beaker/Tracy Beaker Returns, and as Molly Venables in the BBC sitcom After You've Gone...
) and son (Ryan Sampson
Ryan Sampson
Ryan Oliver Sampson is an English actor best known for playing Alex Venables in the British sitcom After You've Gone, where he played the son of Jimmy Venables, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst....
) together with his mother in law, played by Celia Imrie
Celia Imrie
Celia Diana Savile Imrie is an English actress. In a career starting in the early 1970s, Imrie has played Marianne Bellshade in Bergerac, Philippa Moorcroft in Dinnerladies, Miss Babs in Acorn Antiques, Diana Neal in After You've Gone and Gloria Millington in Kingdom...
, after his ex wife goes to work as a recovery nurse on a third world disaster relief mission.
Lyndhurst played Freddie Robdal, the 1960s gangster father of Rodney Trotter in the prequel to Only Fools and Horses - Rock & Chips. The show centres around Del Boy, Robdal and Joan Trotter in early 1960s Peckham. It was first broadcast on 24 January 2010, with another special transmitted on 29 December 2010, and the final episode in Easter 2011.
Personal life
He lives in SussexSussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
with his wife Lucy, a former ballet dancer (married in Chichester
Chichester (district)
Chichester is a largely rural local government district in West Sussex, England. Its council is based in the city of Chichester.-History:The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of the municipal borough of Chichester and the Rural Districts of...
, West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, 1999), and their son, Archie Bjorn Lyndhurst (born Westminster
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
), Lyndhurst has a passion for outdoor activities, including flying aeroplane
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
s, surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
and deep sea diving. He is also a keen beekeeper
Beekeeper
A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees for the purposes of securing commodities such as honey, beeswax, pollen, royal jelly; pollinating fruits and vegetables; raising queens and bees for sale to other farmers; and/or for purposes satisfying natural scientific curiosity...
.
Television
| Year(s) | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Heidi Heidi Heidi is a Swiss work of fiction, published in two parts as Heidi's years of learning and travel and Heidi makes use of what she has learned.It is a novel about the events in the life of a young girl in her grandfather's care, in the Swiss Alps... |
Peter | |
| 1975 | Anne of Avonlea Anne of Avonlea -Plot introduction:Following Anne of Green Gables , the book covers the second chapter in the life of Anne Shirley. This book follows Anne from the age of 16 to 18, during the two years that she teaches at Avonlea school. It includes many of the characters from Anne of Green Gables, as well as new... |
Davy Keith | |
| 1976 | The Prince and the Pauper The Prince and the Pauper The Prince and the Pauper is an English-language novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada before its 1882 publication in the United States. The book represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction... |
Prince Edward/Tom Canty | |
| 1976 | Peter Pan Peter Pan Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with... |
Tootles | |
| 1978 | The Tomorrow People The Tomorrow People The Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran between 1973 and 1979. The series was re-imagined in 1992, Roger Price acting as executive producer... |
Karl Brandt | 1 episode: "Hitler's Last Secret" |
| 1978 | Going Straight Going Straight Going Straight is a BBC sitcom which was a direct spin-off from Porridge, starring Ronnie Barker as Norman Stanley Fletcher, newly released from the fictional Slade Prison where the earlier series had been set.... |
Raymond Fletcher | 4 episodes |
| 1978 | Play of the Week Play of the Week Play of the Week is an American anthology series of televised stage plays which aired in NTA Film Network syndication from October 12, 1959 to May 1, 1961... : Fairies |
Brian Grant | |
| 1978–83, 2000 | Butterflies Butterflies (TV series) Butterflies is a British sitcom written by Carla Lane broadcast on BBC2 from 1978–83.The situation is the day-to-day life of the Parkinson family in a bittersweet style. There are both traditional comedy sources and more unusual sources such as Ria's unconsummated relationship with the... |
Adam Parkinson | 4 series and 1 special |
| 1979 | Fathers Day | Philip | Television film |
| 1980 | To Serve Them All My Days To Serve Them All My Days (TV series) To Serve Them All My Days is a British television adaptation of the 1972 novel by R. F. Delderfield. 13 episodes 50 minute in length were first shown by the BBC in 1980 and 1981.... |
Dobson | 4 episodes |
| 1981 | Spearhead Spearhead (TV series) Spearhead is a British television series. Produced by Southern Television and broadcast on the ITV network, it ran for a total of three series and 19 episodes from 1978 to 1981. It featured the daily lives of a group of soldiers in 'B' Company, 1st Battalion Royal Wessex Rangers, a fictional... |
Private Wilson | 4 episodes |
| 1981–96, 2001–03 | Only Fools and Horses Only Fools and Horses Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003... |
Rodney Trotter Rodney Trotter Rodney Charlton Trotter is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst.-Personality:Rodney's personality was based on the experiences of series creator John Sullivan, who also had an older sibling and, like Rodney, claimed to have been a dreamer and... |
7 series and 15 specials |
| 1982 | Play for Today Play for Today Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted... : A Mother Like Him |
Young Police Constable | |
| 1986–90 | The Two of Us | Ashley Philips | 4 series |
| 1990–92 | The Piglet Files The Piglet Files The Piglet Files is a British sitcom produced by LWT .The show consisted of three series totaling twenty-one episodes that ran between 1990 and 1992.... |
Peter Chapman | 3 series |
| 1993 | Stalag Luft | Chump Cosgrove | |
| 1993–99 | Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight Sweetheart is a sitcom that ran for six series on BBC1 from 1993 to 1999. It stars Nicholas Lyndhurst as Gary Sparrow, an accidental time traveller who leads a double life after discovering a time portal allowing him to travel between the London of the 1990s and the same area during the... |
Gary Sparrow | 6 series |
| 1996 | Gulliver's Travels Gulliver's Travels (TV miniseries) Gulliver's Travels is a U.S. TV miniseries based on Jonathan Swift's novel of the same name, produced by Jim Henson Productions and Hallmark Entertainment. This miniseries is notable for being one of the very few adaptations of Swift's novel to feature all four voyages. The miniseries aired in the... |
Clustril | |
| 1999 | David Copperfield David Copperfield (1999 film) David Copperfield is a two part BBC television drama adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield, adapted by Adrian Hodges. The first part was shown on Christmas Day and the second on Boxing Day in 1999... |
Uriah Heap | 2-part television serial |
| 2003 | Murder in Mind | Alan Willis | 1 episode: "Landlord" |
| 2007–08 | After You've Gone | Jimmy Venables | 3 series |
| 2010–11 | Rock & Chips | Freddie Robdal | 3 episodes |
Film
- Bequest to the NationBequest to the Nation (film)Bequest to the Nation is a 1973 British historical drama film directed by James Cellan Jones and starring Glenda Jackson, Peter Finch, Michael Jayston and Margaret Leighton. It is based on the 1970 Terence Rattigan play A Bequest to the Nation. The film depicts the relationship between Admiral Lord...
- BullshotBullshot (film)Bullshot is a 1983 film, based on the stage play "Bullshot Crummond". The name comes from a parody of the 1929 film, on which it is loosely based, Bulldog Drummond....
- Endless Nights
- Gunbus
- LassieLassie (2005 film)Lassie is a 2005 family-based film directed by Charles Sturridge. When a family hits financial crisis, they have no choice but to sell Lassie...