Richard Beckinsale
Richard Beckinsale as Lennie Godber in Porridge
Born	July 6, 1947 Carlton, Nottinghamshire, England
Died	19 March 1979 (age 31) Sunningdale, Berkshire, England
Spouse(s)	Margaret Bradley (1966-1971) Judy Loe (1977 until his death)
Notable roles	Lennie Godber in Porridge Alan Moore in Rising Damp

Richard Beckinsale (6 July 1947 – 19 March 1979) was an English actor who is most famous for his role as Lennie Godber in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge. He is the father of the actresses Samantha Beckinsale and Kate Beckinsale. Image File history File links Lenniegodber. ... Lennie Godber was a character in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge. ... Porridge is a British BBC television sitcom (1974–1977), written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale. ... July 6 is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 178 days remaining. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England_(bordered). ... Location within the British Isles Carlton is a suburb to the east of the city of Nottingham. ... Nottinghamshire (abbreviated Notts) is an English county in the East Midlands, which borders South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ... For the song by the Smashing Pumpkins, see 1979 (song). ... This page is about the town. ... Berks redirects here. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... Judith M. Loe (known as Judy Loe), (born March 6, 1947 in Urmston, Manchester, England) is an English actress. ... Lennie Godber was a character in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge. ... Porridge is a British BBC television sitcom (1974–1977), written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale. ... Rising Damp was a UK television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, first broadcast from 1974 to 1978. ... July 6 is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 178 days remaining. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ... For the song by the Smashing Pumpkins, see 1979 (song). ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... Actors in period costume sharing a joke while waiting between takes during location filming An actor or actress is a person who acts, or plays a role, in a dramatic production. ... Lennie Godber was a character in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion... A British sitcom is a situation comedy (sitcom) produced in the United Kingdom. ... Porridge is a British BBC television sitcom (1974–1977), written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and starring Ronnie Barker. ... Samantha Beckinsale (born 23 July 1966) is an English actress most famous for her role in Londons Burning. ... Kate Beckinsale (born July 26, 1973 in London, England) is an English actress. ...

Early days

Richard Beckinsale was born in Carlton, Nottinghamshire in 1947, and going school at 15 with ambitions to become an actor, so while working in numerous manual jobs he gained some experience by enrolling at a Nottingham adult drama class. As a consequence, he won a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, turning professional in 1968. He then moved to Crewe to, like most newly-graduated actors at the time, begin in repertory theatre and then made his television debut in 1969 as a police officer in Coronation Street, in which he had to arrest veteran character Ena Sharples. Location within the British Isles Carlton is a suburb to the east of the city of Nottingham. ... Nottinghamshire (abbreviated Notts) is an English county in the East Midlands, which borders South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. ... RADAs theatre in London The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in Bloomsbury, London, is generally regarded as the most prestigious drama school in the world. ... Map sources for Crewe at grid reference SJ705557 Crewe is a town in south Cheshire, in the north west of England. ... Coronation Street is Britains longest-running television soap opera, first broadcast on Friday December 9, 1960, in the Granada region of ITV. The programme is consistently the highest-rated programme on British television. ... Ena Sharples was one of the original characters of the long-running British soap opera, Coronation Street. ...

Sitcom star of the 70s

Beckinsale acquired his first starring role in 1970 as Geoffrey in the sitcom The Lovers, opposite fellow newcomer Paula Wilcox. The show was a success without being a runaway triumph, and did enough to put both lead performers in the public eye. It also, like many sitcoms of the time, spawned a movie version. 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... The Lovers was a British television sitcom starring Richard Beckinsale and Paula Wilcox as a courting couple, Geoffrey and Beryl. ... Wilcox with her Man About The House co-star Richard OSullivan Paula Wilcox (born 13 December 1949 in Manchester) is an English actress. ...

There followed a purple patch when he was appearing in two of British TV's most successful sitcoms at the same time. On ITV, he was playing naive medical student Alan Moore in Rising Damp (officially voted ITV's best-ever sitcom in the Britain's Best Sitcom survey of 2004) while also starring in Porridge. Shortly after his 30th birthday, Beckinsale was surprised by Eamonn Andrews with the famed 'big red book' for an appearance on This Is Your Life - the youngest such 'victim' at the time. A term of literary criticism, purple prose is used to describe passages, or sometimes entire literary works, written in prose so overly extravagant, ornate or flowery as to break the flow and draw attention to itself. ... It has been suggested that Channel 3 (UK) be merged into this article or section. ... Rising Damp was a UK television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, first broadcast from 1974 to 1978. ... Britains Best Sitcom was a poll conducted in 2003 and 2004 by the BBC to identify the United Kingdoms best situation comedy. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was a Irish born television presenter in the United Kingdom. ... This Is Your Life was a television documentary series hosted by Ralph Edwards, which originally aired in the United States from 1952 to 1961, and again from 1972 on NBC. It originated as a radio show airing from 1948 to 1952 on NBC Radio. ...

Beckinsale quit Rising Damp in 1977, the same year that Porridge was brought to a natural end after his character of Godber was released from his prison sentence in the final episode. He subsequently starred alongside Barker in Going Straight, a spin-off of Porridge in which the two criminal characters are seen on the outside rebuilding their lives. Going Straight was a BBC sitcom which emerged as a direct spin-off from Porridge, starring Ronnie Barker as prisoner Norman Stanley Fletcher, newly released from the fictional Slade prison where Porridge had been set. ...

At the beginning of 1979, Beckinsale filmed a movie version of Porridge. It was to be his last completed work.

Death

On 19 March 1979, Beckinsale died of a massive heart attack in his sleep, at his home in Sunningdale Berkshire. He was alone in the house at the time as his wife was in hospital and his five year old daughter was staying with relatives. Beckinsale had expressed worries about his cholesterol to director friend Stephen Frears over dinner just days earlier, but he seemed healthy and fit and had no cardiac problems in his medical records. March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ... For the song by the Smashing Pumpkins, see 1979 (song). ... Acute myocardial infarction (AMI or MI), commonly known as a heart attack, is a disease state that occurs when the blood supply to a part of the heart is interrupted. ... This page is about the town. ... Berks redirects here. ... Cholesterol is a sterol (a combination steroid and alcohol) and a lipid found in the cell membranes of all body tissues, and transported in the blood plasma of all animals. ... Stephen Frears in Sweden, 1989 promoting his movie Dangerous Liaisons. ...

He had told his wife he was feeling ill on the day she went into hospital, although at the time they both put it down to nerves. When visiting his wife in hospital the day before he died, he said he was feeling tired, but otherwise appeared to be in good health. Newspaper reports at the time also said that before he went to bed that night, he had phoned a couple of friends, and during the conversation, as well as repeating that he had been feeling tired, he also complained of pains in his chest and left arm, but he seemed in good spirits, and laughed off the pain.

Porridge co-star Ronnie Barker commented on Beckinsale's premature death saying: "He was so loved. He hadn't done much but he was so loved that there was a universal sort of grief that went on." Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker OBE (September 25, 1929 – October 3, 2005), popularly known as Ronnie Barker and (as a writer) Gerald Wiley , was an English comic actor and writer. ...

Unfinished work

Beckinsale was an in-demand actor on stage and screen throughout his adult life. At the time of his death, he had almost completed shooting a sitcom called Bloomers - he was due in to rehearse and record the final episode on the day he died. The five completed episodes of this series were aired posthumously later in the year. Bloomers was a sitcom which starred Richard Beckinsale as a florist. ...

He was also filming a movie, Bloody Kids, which then had to be re-cast: This role marked a change in direction for Beckinsale, being a more hard-nosed character than those he had played before. Three days after his death, Going Straight won a BAFTA award. A clearly distressed Barker delivered a brief but emotional acceptance speech in tribute to his co-star. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organization that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ...

Plans had been drawn up to make a movie of Rising Damp - Beckinsale's other big sitcom success - and ultimately the movie was made in 1980. Christopher Strauli was recruited to replace Beckinsale, although the character's name and personality was changed. 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Christopher Strauli (born Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England, April 13th 1946) is a British actor. ...

Legacy and private life

In 2001, a documentary was broadcast on ITV in tribute, called The Unforgettable Richard Beckinsale. It featured interviews with his widow — the actress Judy Loe — as well as his father, brother, closest schoolfriend and two daughters. Also contributing were his co-stars, Barker and Rising Damp's Don Warrington. It has been suggested that Channel 3 (UK) be merged into this article or section. ... A widow is a woman whose spouse has died. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... Judith M. Loe (known as Judy Loe), (born March 6, 1947 in Urmston, Manchester, England) is an English actress. ... Don Warrington is an actor, originally from Trinidad and Tobago where he was born in 1952, who has been a familiar face on British television and stage for thirty years. ...

Beckinsale twice married - firstly to Margaret Bradley, with whom he had a daughter, Samantha Beckinsale (also an actress), in 1966. They divorced in 1971. He then married Loe in 1977, four years after the birth of their daughter, Kate. Beckinsale's maternal grandfather was Burmese. Samantha Beckinsale (born 23 July 1966) is an English actress most famous for her role in Londons Burning. ...

As a tribute to Beckinsale, pop star Robbie Williams wrote a song about him and his daughter Samantha titled "Baby Girl Window"^{[citation needed]}. Robbie Williams (born Robert Peter Williams on February 13, 1974) is a Grammy Award-nominated, fifteen time BRIT Award-winning English singer/songwriter. ...

External links

• Extensive fan site
• Richard Beckinsale at the Internet Movie Database
• Richard Beckinsale at TV.com
• Biography on Porridge fan site
• Richard Beckinsale Memorial at Find A Grave