Nicholas Smith (actor)
| Nicholas Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Nicholas John Smith 5 March 1934 Banstead, Surrey, England |
| Died | 6 December 2015 (aged 81) Sutton, London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1960-2010 |
| Television | Are You Being Served? |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Smith |
| Children | Catherine Russell |
Nicholas John Smith (5 March 1934 – 6 December 2015) was an English actor. He was known for his role in the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served?, in which he played Mr. Rumbold, the manager of the fictional Grace Brothers department store.
Smith, the son of a chartered surveyor, attended a preparatory school and St. John's School, Leatherhead. He learned to play musical instruments, studied singing and trained as an actor at RADA. He then appeared in repertory theatres, on the West End stage, at the Bristol Old Vic and on Broadway.
Smith's earliest TV roles were as a non-speaking extra in various ITV programmes. He had his first speaking role in the BBC's Doctor Who serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964). Smith persuaded the serial's director, Richard Martin, to expand the role so that his character, Wells, appeared in three of the serial's six episodes instead of only one or two as originally scripted. This was followed by small roles in many other adventure series, such as The Saint, The Avengers, The Champions and Ace of Wands. In 1969 he made the cast list of one of televisions great period dramas, 'The First Churchills' in which he played the historical figure of Titus Oates.
Are You Being Served? began with a pilot episode in 1972, with Smith playing Mr. Cuthbert "Jug Ears" Rumbold, the manager of the menswear and ladieswear departments in a large fictional London store called Grace Brothers.
Smith remained with the programme until the end of its run in 1985, as well as appearing in the spin-off film in 1977 and the sitcom's sequel, Grace & Favour (also known as Are You Being Served? Again! in the United States), in 1992 and 1993. Following the death of Frank Thornton on 16 March 2013, Smith was the last surviving member of the original cast of Are You Being Served? The only other principal actor who survives is Mike Berry, who was brought in as "Mr. Spooner" when Trevor Bannister left the series.
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