'Likely Lad' actor Rodney Bewes dies aged 79

'Likely Lad' actor Rodney Bewes dies aged 79

Postby dutchman » Tue Nov 21, 2017 8:43 pm

Rodney Bewes, who has died aged 79, found fame as the aspirational Bob in the BBC sitcom The Likely Lads

Image

Teaming Bewes with fellow actor, James Bolam, it regularly drew audiences of more than 20 million.

It turned out to be the peak of Bewes' career and he later found himself reduced to playing a series of less distinguished roles.

Rodney Bewes was born in Bingley, Yorkshire, on 27 November 1937.

His family later moved to Luton in Bedfordshire where his schooling was often interrupted by ill-health.

He answered a newspaper letter from a BBC producer asking for children to appear in the Corporation's Children's Hour.

By the age of 14 he had appeared in a number of BBC TV productions including a role as Joe in a 1952 adaptation of The Pickwick Papers. He also secured a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art's preparatory school.

He managed to secure some small stage roles, as well as parts in TV productions including Dixon of Dock Green, Emergency Ward 10 and Z Cars.
Aspirational

He made his film debut in 1962 in Prize of Arms, a yarn about a gang which attempts to rob an army payroll convoy. The film is notable for early performances by a number of later well-known actors including Tom Bell, Jack May, Michael Ripper and Fulton Mackay.

A year later he secured the role of Arthur Crabtree in Billy Liar, alongside his friend, Tom Courtenay.

In 1973 he teamed up with James Bolam again for Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, a sequel to the original series.

The series saw Bolam's character Terry return from his time away in the army to discover that Bewes's Bob has bought his own house, secured a managerial job and is engaged to the boss's daughter.

Off stage the pair enjoyed a warm relationship. "We were great friends," said Bewes. "When my babies were born, his was the first house I went to."

Bewes' acting career never again scaled the heights of Likely Lads. There were bit parts in the films Jabberwocky and The Wildcats of St Trinians and he was able to use his abilities as a serious actor in a 1980 TV adaptation of the Restoration play, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore.

Earlier in his career he had appeared in productions of She Stoops to Conquer and there was a role in a 1984 production of George Gascoigne's play Big in Brazil at the Old Vic Theatre in London, with Prunella Scales and Timothy West.

In the same year he also appeared in a Doctor Who story entitled Resurrection of the Daleks. It was one of his last significant appearances on the small screen.

:bbc_news:


From memory the original Likely Lads wasn't a comedy but more of a deadpan drama, it was only the sequel which was played for laughs.
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Re: 'Likely Lad' actor Rodney Bewes dies aged 79

Postby rebbonk » Tue Nov 21, 2017 8:53 pm

I must admit to liking The Likely Lads.

R.I.P.
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Re: 'Likely Lad' actor Rodney Bewes dies aged 79

Postby Melisandre » Tue Nov 21, 2017 10:17 pm

Me to Rebbonk

R.I.P.
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