Chris Gittins

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(4 July 1902 – 21 August 1988) Chris Gittins at IMDb
/ref> was a British character actor who played the role of Walter Gabriel in the long-running

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

radio series ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural settin ...

''.Smethurst, William (1996) ''The Archers; the true story: the history of radio's most famous programme''. London: Michael O'Mara Gittins was born in Stourbridge,

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, where he also died. He was the son of a gas fitter who became involved with the theatre as an actor, producer and director, later alternating between the theatre and radio. His first radio part was on 13 November 1935. He specialised in

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

and The Midlands accents. As well as ''The Archers'' and radio plays he took part in ''

Children's Hour ''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Childre ...

'' and the

British Forces Broadcasting Service The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselv ...

. He played the role of Walter Gabriel, a

tenant farmer A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...

, in ''The Archers'' for 35 years from 1953 to 1988, and was known nationally for the character's phrases "Oh dear, oh lor" and "Me old pal, me old beauty". He also appeared in several TV series including '' Hilda Lessways'' (1959) and ''

Swizzlewick ''Swizzlewick'' was a twice weekly 1964 BBC comedy drama series about the day-to-day events of a corrupt local council in a fictional Midlands town.Steve Fieldin''A State of Play: British Politics on Screen, Stage and Page, from Anthony Trollope t ...

'' (1964). He died as a widower, leaving one daughter. He was awarded the

in 1984.

Notes

1902 births 1988 deaths Members of the Order of the British Empire The Archers English male radio actors {{UK-radio-bio-stub