Wilfrid Brambell

Wilfrid Brambell
In 1966 (photo by Duffy)
Born	Henry Wilfrid Brambell (1912-03-22)22 March 1912 Dublin, Ireland
Died	18 January 1985(1985-01-18) (aged 72) Westminster, London, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1930–84
Spouse(s)	Mary Josephine Hall (m. 1948-1955; divorced)

Henry Wilfrid Brambell (22 March 1912 – 18 January 1985) was an Irish film and television actor best known for his role in the British television series Steptoe and Son. He also performed alongside the Beatles in their film A Hard Day's Night, playing Paul McCartney's fictional grandfather.

Brambell was born in Dublin, the youngest of three sons born to Henry Lytton Brambell (1870-1937), a cashier at the Guinness Brewery, and his wife, Edith Marks (1879-1965), a former opera singer. The family surname was changed from Bramble by Wilfrid's grandfather Frederick William Brambell. His two older brothers were Frederick Edward Brambell (1905-1980) and James Christopher Marks 'Jim' Brambell (1907-1992).

His first appearance was as a child, entertaining the wounded troops during the First World War. On leaving school he worked part-time as a reporter for The Irish Times and part-time as an actor at the Abbey Theatre before becoming a professional actor for the Gate Theatre. He also did repertory at Swansea, Bristol and Chesterfield. In the Second World War he joined the British military forces entertainment organisation ENSA.

Brambell had roles in film and television films from 1947, first appearing in Odd Man Out as a tram passenger (uncredited) in 1947. His television career began during the 1950s, when he was cast in small roles in three Nigel Kneale/Rudolph Cartier productions for BBC Television: as a drunk in The Quatermass Experiment (1953), as both an old man in a pub and later a prisoner in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954) and as a tramp in Quatermass II (1955). All of these roles earned him a reputation for playing old men, though he was only in his forties at the time. He appeared as Bill Gaye in the 1962 Maurice Chevalier/Hayley Mills picture, In Search of the Castaways. He was heard in the original soundtrack of The Canterbury Tales, which was one of the quickest selling West End soundtrack albums of all time. He also released two 45-rpm singles, "Second Hand"/"Rag Time Ragabone Man", which played on his Steptoe and Son character, followed in 1971 by "Time Marches On", his tribute to the Beatles, with whom he had worked in 1964 (and met many times). It featured a Beatles-esque guitar riff with Brambell reciting words about the Beatles splitting up. The B-side was "The Decimal Song" which, at the time of Britain adopting decimal currency, was politically charged. He played Paul McCartney's fictitious grandfather in the Beatles' 1964 film, A Hard Day's Night.