by Joe Cushnan

 

Actors certainly like success and many have a desire for fame and fortune on top. But possibly above and beyond those long-term career desires, the joy of having at least one major claim to renown is welcome, especially if the actor wants to be remembered. Wilfrid Brambell has two on his CV. The one that tops the other is his role as Albert in the long-running BBC ‘rag and bone’ sitcom, Steptoe & Son, which ran for 57 episodes from 1962 to 1974.

The show spawned two feature films, Steptoe & Son (1972) and Steptoe & Son Ride Again (1973), with all the Steptoes co-starring Harry H. Corbett, and all of the big and small screen episodes written by the comedy gold writers, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The writers won the 1963 and 1964 Writers’ Guild of Great Britain awards. Brambell did not receive any awards but Corbett bagged a BAFTA in 1963.

The other memorable role for Brambell was playing Paul McCartney’s grandad in A Hard Day’s Night (1964), the wacky Beatles flick. Apart from Paul, John, George and Ringo as the main attractions, Brambell had a relatively major part. But there was much more to him than these two significant performances. He was a jobbing actor if ever there was one.

Henry Wilfrid Brambell was born on 22 March, 1912, in Rathgar, Dublin. He died twenty years ago, at 72. He was the youngest of three sons born to Henry, a Guinness employee, and Edith, an opera singer. His parents separated when Wilfrid was around seven years old, and he went to live with his father in Dun Laoghaire.

He attended Kingstown Grammar School. Moving forward, young Wilfrid joined the Abbey School of Acting, which provided opportunities for appearances at the Abbey and Gate Theatres, and eventually he became a semi-professional actor for more than a dozen years. In those years, he was employed by The Irish Field paper. He was known as a quiet but humorous young man.

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