Obituary: Buster Merryfield

ONE OF the most loved character actors on television, Buster Merryfield played Uncle Albert, the white-haired bewhiskered Navy veteran of Only Fools and Horses who always began his stories with the phrase, "Durin' the war . . ." as he regaled Del Boy (David Jason) and Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) with tales of his seagoing days. Among the most successful and acclaimed of all television sitcoms, Only Fools and Horses started in 1981, but Merryfield joined the show in the third series, when the actor playing Grandad (Lennard Pearce) died and a new character was needed to maintain a triangle of central characters.

Merryfield came to acting late, having worked for NatWest bank for 40 years and rising to become a bank manager before retiring. He was born in Battersea, south-west London, in 1920, but would never reveal his real name. "I have a real name," he said, "but I'll never divulge it. I was Buster at school, Buster when I met my wife and all through our 56 years of marriage." A schoolboy boxing champion in 1936, he worked in a bank prior to war service, when the Army capitalised on his fine physique by making him a PT and jungle warfare instructor.

Already interested in the theatre, he also served as an entertainments officer, organising shows for the troops, but after the war it was back to banking. "I was married, with a young daughter on the way," he later explained, "and it would have been stupid to go into acting." He later recalled that his boss was not happy when Merryfield first grew his famous whiskers, telling him he looked like "a ruddy gorilla". "I've had the beard on and off since the war - I think I was one of the first people in the bank to have one." The beard was to play an important part in his later life.

He was always active in amateur dramatics, and after taking early retirement from the bank at 57 he joined a repertory company where he played several minor roles, but it was a pantomime appearance in which he was spotted, beard flowing, by a BBC representative, that changed his life. He recalled:

They were looking for a naval connection, and I must have looked the part. The producer of Fools and Horses explained to me that Lennard Pearce, who played Del's grandpa, had died. I didn't want to step into dead man's shoes, but they assured me that I would be an entirely new character. All they wanted to know was whether I could put on a Cockney accent. Being brought up as a working-class kid in Battersea, I didn't have a problem.

I met David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, who gave me the once-over and two days later I was picking out my duffel coat, cap and scarf and saying my first words as Uncle Albert. I was nervous as hell. Fluffed my lines. Then David came in and got his words in a twist - in front of a live audience. "What are you lot laughing at," he joked. "You got in for nuffink, dint ya?" The audience fell about. We all relaxed. That's when I realised that David had seen how tense I was and deliberately messed things up to put me at my ease.

Though regarded now with enormous affection, Only Fools and Horses was not initially a success in the ratings. But the BBC was noted at that time for persevering with shows in which it had confidence, and the series' writer John Sullivan had previously turned out a hit with Citizen Smith. The second season did little better, but when it was repeated, word-of- mouth had spread, viewing figures were enormous and the show became a massive hit, the public warming to the lovable rogues Derek "Del" Trotter, his brother Rodney and their crusty Grandad (whose place was later taken by Merryfield's Uncle Albert).

Sullivan and his producer on Citizen Smith, Ray Butt, had both worked in street markets, and between them had fashioned the idea of a show about the sort of salesmen who sell dodgy items from suitcases, and on the basis of a pilot script called Readies, the BBC's Head of Comedy, John Howard Davies, commissioned a series. The business philosophy of its principal characters is summed up by the inscription emblazoned on their delapidated Reliant Robin three-wheeler - "New York, Paris, Peckham".

The rapport between its two leads, David Jason (cast after Enn Reitel and Jim Broadbent turned the part down) and Nicholas Lyndhurst, was particularly potent, and the shifty, boastful Uncle Albert, who shares their council flat in Nelson Mandela House, topped a superb gallery of supporting players in the series. The show's popularity led to the making of annual Christmas specials, and the weekly episodes were expanded from 30 minutes to 50, then 60.

The series ended in 1996 with three hour-long episodes in which Del and Rodney find that an antique watch Del has had for years is in fact a rarity that sells at auction for over pounds 6m. The final episode was watched by over 24 million viewers, a record figure for any television programme except state or royal events.

Merryfield later stated that it was difficult to admit that the show had ended for good. "OK, they became millionaires, but there's always the suspicion that they will lose it all and end up back in Nelson Mandela House. Myself, David and Nicholas keep in touch. We're all natural sort of blokes. And I suppose it's that which has been the show's greatest asset." He added, "You know, I've figured it out. I always said I wanted to do 40 years in a bank. A few years in the war. About 20 years as an actor. Five years to write a book and then another 10 years as a painter. By the time that's all done I will be about 102."

He achieved his ambition to write a book when his autobiography, During the War and Other Encounters (1996), was published, and he continued to seek work as an actor. "Who knows what's round the corner," he said, adding, "Of course, I'm in the enviable position of being an actor with a pension. The most pleasurable thing is that I can walk down any street and people smile at me and say, `There's Uncle Albert.' That's magic."

Tom Vallance

Buster Merryfield, actor: born 27 November 1920; married (one daughter); died Poole, Dorset 23 June 1999.