By Elliott West
“The death of my friend Richard Beckinsale has robbed me of the joy of this award but the pride of winning it still remains”.
Ronnie Barker’s BAFTA tribute.
Introduction
Richard Beckinsale will be remembered as being a television heartthrob and a national treasure. An actor who gelled so perfectly with Ronnie Barker’s Norman Stanley Fletcher in Porridge as Lennie Godber and as the naive medical student, Alan Moore in Rising Damp. A tenant in the dilapidating lodgings of the miser landlord Rigsby played so brilliantly by Leonard Rossiter. Beckinsale had a unique acting style, providing a calming influence to chaotic comedy. An actor with a Nottinghamshire twang, and hair to die for. A goofy smile and eyes that were drowning in laughter. An actor who could turn his hand to anything played a hapless character so well that all whom he worked with, fell in love with. A man with a rainbow-like aura who drew you into his carefully crafted comedy.
A Life in Comedy
Richard Arthur Beckinsale was born to act. Born in Carlton, Nottinghamshire in 1947, Richard first trod the boards at the age of eight in a school production of Snow White. Playing the part of Dopey, he was bumbling from the off, colliding with the stage props. His teacher couldn’t work out whether he was just brilliant or short-sighted. Leaving school at the age of 16 but already bitten by the acting bug, Beckinsale took a job as an upholsterer at a local bus company. However, it was short-lived when he fell asleep on the job and was found at a bus depot five miles away. He then worked as a clerk at the gas board as a pipe inspector at an ironworks. He also worked as an assistant in a grocery business. He went on to study at Nottingham College, doing the drama teacher’s training programme. During this work stint, he took a day off to go for an audition on a drama course. Two years later he won a place at RADA on a second attempt, one of only 31 applicants out of more than 12,500. Although his father Arthur was wary of his son’s career path, saying he needed a trade in something like hairdressing. He topped his salary during this time by working in a bottle factory. Richard found love at an early age and when he was 18 he married Margaret Bradley in 1965. They would go on to have a baby, his first daughter Samantha. The couple divorced in 1971.
Acting Roles
Beckinsale got his first television break in 1969 when he played a policeman in Coronation Street who arrested Ena Sharples. He also had a small part as a young soldier in a 1970 episode of A Family At War. Roles that would draw attention to his acting worth and he would go on to land a leading part in the Granada sitcom The Lovers alongside Paula Wilcox. They would later reprise their roles in a film version in 1973. A part that would earn him a Best Newcomer award in 1971. Yet 1974 was the golden year for Beckinsale landing parts in the hit comedies Porridge and Rising Damp. Roles that both Ronnie Barker and Leonard Rossiter would praise him for. Porridge would rule the television screen from 1974-1977 and Rising Damp from 1974-1977. He would also star in the Porridge spin-off Going Straight Straight in 1977. There would also be a film version of Porridge in 1979.
With appearances on children’s television in Elephants Eggs in a Rhubarb Tree, several films and television series, Richard also had a hit 19-month run in the West End play Funny Peculiar for which he was nominated for a Lawrence Olivier Award. He also starred in the musical Love My Wife. His last role was in the BBC sitcom Bloomers, uncompleted with only five of the six episodes recorded. At the time of filming, Richard had already been lined up for a film version of Rising Damp and was in the middle of filming a television film Bloody Kids.
The End of an Era
During this time, Richard started to feel unwell, suffering from blackouts and dizzy spells. So worried was his about his health that he once dreamt that he had died from a heart attack. However, after visiting his doctor, all they could find was that he had an over-active stomach lining and a high cholesterol level. He started to feel tired and after attending a party for The Two Ronnies, he returned to his home in Sunningdale, Berkshire.
In a final phone call to a friend, he complained of having pains in his arms and chest. However, he made light of it and fell asleep. He died in his sleep after suffering a massive heart attack at the tender age of 31 on 19 March 1979. A death that a later post-mortem revealed was caused by a congenital defect. At the time of his death, he was married to his second wife Judy Loe whom he had married in 1977 and had a second daughter, Kate, now a Hollywood actress. Richard was laid to rest at Mortlake Crematorium.