Christopher Beeny obit

Christopher Beeny: Upstairs, Downstairs actor dies at 78

 

He was not on the list.

Christopher Beeny, known for roles in Upstairs, Downstairs and BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine, has died at the age of 78, his son has confirmed.

Beeny played the cheeky footman, chauffeur and butler Edward Barnes in Upstairs, Downstairs in the 1970s.

He also appeared as incompetent debt collector Herman, who changed his name to Morton, in Last of the Summer Wine.

Beeny began his career as a child actor in the UK's first TV soap opera, The Grove Family, in the mid-1950s.

He also starred as a hapless undertaker opposite Dame Thora Hird in the sitcom In Loving Memory, which ran on ITV from 1979-86.

The actor's son Rick Blackman wrote on Twitter: "I have some sad news to impart. On Friday 3rd of January my old dad Christopher Beeny died at his home in Kent. He was 78. Comforted to know he was not alone at the end and was in his armchair".

Filmography

Film

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1953    The Long Memory            Mickey

The Kidnappers            Jan Hooft Jr.          

1954    Child's Play      Horatio Flynn   

1955    Man of the Moment            Boy            Uncredited

It's a Great Day            Lennie Grove  

1960    A French Mistress            Stephenson    

1963    Doctor in Distress            Medical Student            Uncredited

Bitter Harvest            Youth in Shopping Centre

1984    Pop Pirates            Crawford        

Television

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1953    The Queen's Admiral            Pepito            TV film

1954-1957            The Grove Family            Lennie Grove   Series regular

1960            Probation Officer            Johnny            1 episode

1960-1961            Emergency Ward 10            Nicholas Rhys  2 episodes

1961            Spycatcher      Batman            Episode: "Logic and Lives"

ITV Television Playhouse            Chris            Episode: "Different Drum"

Yorky  Bobbie            Episode: "The Actress"

1962    Dixon of Dock Green            Jonty            Episode: "A Path Through the Jungle"

BBC Sunday-Night Play            Chad            Episode: "Undercover Cat"

Outbreak of Murder Ken Mitchell            Series regular

1963    The Plane Makers            Maurice Frame            2 episodes

ITV Play of the Week   Monte Marsh            Episode: "For King and Country #1: Out There"

Taxi!    'Taff' Evans            Episode: "A Long Way to Go"

1969-1986            In Loving Memory            Billy Henshaw            Series regular

1970    Softly, Softly: Taskforce            Daley            Episode: "Sunday, Sweet Sunday"

1971    The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes Sparks            Episode: "The Affair of the Avalanche Bicycle & Tyre Co. Ltd."

1971-1975            Upstairs, Downstairs            Edward Barnes  Series regular

1972    The Regiment            Corporal Hobbert            Episode: "A Gentleman's War"

1973            Armchair Theatre            Lance Corporal            Episode: "The Square of Three"

1974    Crown Matrimonial            John, the Page            TV film

1975    The Sweeney            Photographer            Episode: "Night Out"

My Old Man            Darts captain 1 episode

1976            Whodunnit?            Goodwin            Episode: "The Final Verdict"

1977-1978            Miss Jones and Son            Geoffrey          Series regular

The Rag Trade            Tony

2006            Emmerdale      Gilbert Duff      1 episode

2008    Sense and Sensibility            Doctor

Honest Wilson

2008-2010            Last of the Summer Wine    Morton Beamish            Series regular