Born: 18^th June 1927, London.  Died: 4^th November 1995, London.

Paul Eddington’s acting career began with the Entertainment’s National Service Association (ENSA), during World War II. He was asked to leave when it was discovered that he was a pacifist, based on his Quaker faith. After which he worked in repertory theatre in Sheffield until TV roles began to come his way. He joined the supporting cast of ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’ in Season 2. During Seasons 2 and 3, Paul appeared in a total of 41 episodes in various supporting roles. This gave an indication of his versatility as an actor. He became a main cast member in Season 4 when he was given the role of Will Scarlet, appearing in 23 further episodes. When the series ended, he became a familiar face on television, films and the stage. However it was not until the mid-1970s that he finally became a household name, when he appeared in the BBC sitcom ‘The Good Life’ as Jerry Leadbetter, the long-suffering husband to Penelope Keith’s Margo: neighbours to Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal. This led to his best known role in 1980, that of Jim Hacker in ‘Yes Minister’ and its follow-up ‘Yes, Prime Minister’. He was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1987. Shortly before his death, he had a moving interview with Jeremy Isaacs on the chat-show ‘Face to Face’. Paul Eddington, a diabetic, lost a long battle with T cell lymphoma (a form of skin cancer) in 1995. He was survived by his wife, actress Patricia Scott and their 3 sons and daughter.

Film Roles: -

Sailor Beware (aka Panic in the Parlor) (1956) ... 2^nd Bearded Sailor

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1956-60) (TV Series) ... 64 episodes, 23 as Will Scarlet

Kenilworth (1957) (TV Series) ... Edmund Tressilian - 6 episodes

Rupert OF Hentzau (1957) (TV) ... Count Luzau-Rischenheim

Shut Out the Night (1958) (TV) ... Lister

Jet Storm (1959) ... Victor Tracer

Negative Evidence (1961) (TV) ... Alec Felson

The Spread of the Eagle (1963) (TV Mini-Series) ... Brutus

Ring of Spies (1964) ... Johnnie

Johnson Over Jordan (1965) (TV) ... George Noble

Frontier (1968) (TV Series) .... Hamilton Lovelace

The Devil Rides Out (1968) ... Richard Eaton

Hine (1971) (TV Series) .... Astor Harris

The Last Journey (1972) (TV) ... Lyov

Baxter! (1972) ... Mr. Rawling

Man at the Top (1972) (TV Series) ... Clive Kempson

The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972) ... Vicar

To Sir, with Love (1974) (TV) ... Moran

Special Branch (1974) (TV Series) ... Strand

The Good Life (1975-78) (TV Series) ... Jerry Leadbetter

Yes Minister (1980-84) (TV Series) ... James Hacker - 23 episodes

Children in Need (1980) (TV) ... Himself

Let There Be Love (1982-83) (TV Series) ... Timothy Love - 12 episodes

Home is Where the Heat Is (1982)

Outside Edge (1982) (TV) ... Roger

The Funny Side of Christmas (1982) (TV) ... James Hacker

Blosh (1983) ... Himself

Hay Fever (1984) (TV)

Alice in Wonderland (1985) (TV Series) ... Voice

Yes, Prime Minister (1986-88) (TV Series) ... James Hacker - 16 episodes

The Camomile Lawn (1992) (TV Mini-Series) ... Richard Cuthbertson

The Adventures of Mole (1995) (TV) ... Badger (voice)

The Adventures of Toad (1996) (TV) ... Voice

TV Guest Appearances: -

Dixon of Dock Green - ‘The Rotten Apple’ (1956) ... PC Tom Carr

The Buccaneers - ‘Cutlass Wedding’ (1957) ... Captain La Forte

Sword of Freedom - ‘The Eye of the Artist’ (1957) ... Alfonso

Ivanhoe - ‘The Widow of Woodcote’ (1958) ... Robber

Dixon of Dock Green - ‘A Question of Decibels’ (1959) ... Mr. Birch

Interpol Calling - ‘The Thousand Mile Alibi’ (1960)

The Four Just Men - ‘Crack-Up’ (1960) ... Rusty

Play of the Week - ‘Hay Fever’ (1960) ... Sandy Tyrell

The Days of Vengeance - ‘Goodbye, Dolly Gray’ & ‘A Bunch of Red Roses’ (1960) ... Power

Saturday Playhouse - ‘The Shop at Sly Corner’ (1960) ... John Elliott

Tales of Edgar Wallace - ‘The Man Who Was Nobody’ (1960) ... Franz Reuter

Maigret - ‘Liberty Bar’ (1960) ... Harry Brown

Top Secret - ‘Vendetta’ (1961) ... Victor Chambi

The Seven Faces of Jim - ‘The Face of Genius’ (1961)

The Escape of R.D.7 - episode unknown (1961) ... Michael Rabinowitz

The Cheaters - ‘Carnival Case’ (1962) ... Simpson

Out of This World - ‘Target Generation’ (1962) ... Joe Manx

The Avengers - ‘Immortal Clay’ (1963) ... Richard Marling

Z Cars - ‘Act of Vengeance’ (1963) ... Stan Ferris

It Happened Like This - ‘The Hidden Witness’ (1963) ... John Somerville

Crane - ‘Recoil’ (1964) ... Dr. Stampini

Danger Man - ‘I Am Afraid You Have the Wrong Number’ (1966) ... Captain Schulman

The Avengers - ‘Something Nasty in the Nursery’ (1967) ... Lord William Beaumont

Armchair Thriller - ‘England My England’ (1967) ... Steve Leeds

Half Hour Story - ‘Quick on the Take-Over’ (1967) ... Tim Phipps-Arnold

The Prisoner - ‘Arrival’ (1967) ... Cobb

The Champions - ‘Autokill’ (1969) ... Klein

Fraud Squad - ‘The Biggest Borrower of All’ (1969) ... Joseph Horden

Doomwatch - ‘The Red Sky’ (1970) ... Reynolds

Armchair Theatre - ‘The Prime Minister's Daughter’ (1970) ... Ormston

Ryan International - ‘Dragon's Teeth’ (1970) ... Monsieur Blanck

New Shakespeare - ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream: An Introduction’ (1970)

Catweazle - ‘The Heavenly Twins’ (1971) ... Vadanti

The Ten Commandments - ‘The Nineteenth Hole’ (1971) ... Willy

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes - ‘The Case of the Mirror of Portugal’ (1971) ... Hamer

Justice - ‘A Nice Straightforward Treason’ (1971) ... Cooper

Spy Trap - ‘Lorna’ (1972) ... Driscoll

Villains - ‘George’ (1972) ... Harvey Percival

Armchair Theatre - ‘The Breaking of Colonel Keyser’ (1972) ... Vandenburgh

Van der Valk - ‘The Adventurer’ (1972) ... Wolf Gebhardt

Justice - ‘Malicious Damage’ (1973) ... Kendall Blumenthal

The Morecambe & Wise Show - ‘Christmas Special’ (1973)

The Adventurer - ‘Make It a Million’ (1974) ... Charlesworth

Fall of Eagles - ‘Absolute Beginners’ (1974) ... Plekhanov

Play for Today - ‘Goodbye’ (1975) ... Varley

The Benny Hill Show - episode (1976) ... Himself

Get Some In - episode unknown (1977) ... Squadron-Leader Bush

Jubilee - ‘Cinderella CND’ (1977) ... Mr. Mitchell

Call My Bluff - episode (1977) ... Himself - Panellist

Money-Go-Round - episode (1980)

Call My Bluff - 2 episodes (1981) ... Himself - Panellist

Playhouse - ‘Sin with Our Permission’ (1981) ... Harry Dudley

Give Us a Clue - episode (1981) ... Himself - Contestant

Welcome to Wodehouse - ‘Pig Hoo-o-o-o-ey’ (1982) ... Himself - Reader

Welcome to Wodehouse - ‘Sir Agravaine’ (1982) ... Himself - Reader

Call My Bluff - 2 episodes (1982) ... Himself - Panellist

Sunday Sunday - episode (1983) ... Himself - Guest

Omnibus - ‘Comic Relief’ (1986)

Miss Marple - ‘The Murder at the Vicarage’ (1986) ... Rev. Leonard Clement

On Stage - episode unknown (1987) ... Himself

Aspel & Company - episode (1988) ... Himself - Guest

Minder - ‘The Wrong Goodbye’ (1989) ... Guy Wheeler

Cathedral Classics - episode unknown (1989) ... Himself - Presenter

A Bit of Fry and Laurie - episode (1990) ... Himself

Highway - ‘Stratford-Upon-Avon’ (1990) ... Himself

First Reaction - ‘Paul Eddington’ (1990) ... Himself

That's Showbusiness - episode (1990) ... Himself

Performance - ‘Henry IV’ (1995) ... Justice Shallow

Face to Face - ‘Paul Eddington’ (1995) ... Himself - Interviewee