Christopher Winton Beeny (7 July 1941 – 3 January 2020) was an English actor and dancer.
He had a career as a child actor, but was best known for his work as the footman Edward Barnes on the 1970s television series ''
Upstairs, Downstairs'', as Billy Henshaw in the sitcom ''
In Loving Memory'' (
Yorkshire Television
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
), and as the incompetent debt collector and golfer Morton Beamish in ''
Last of the Summer Wine
''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes foll ...
''.
[
]
Early life
Beeny was born in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. He moved to Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
with his family as a young child, spent several years at the Arts Educational School
Arts Educational Schools, or ArtsEd, is an independent performing arts school based in Chiswick in the London Borough of Hounslow.
Overview
ArtsEd provides specialist vocational training at secondary, further and higher education level in mus ...
, and later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...
. As a child, Beeny began his career at the age of six when he danced for the Ballet Rambert.
Beeny's first screen role was in the film ''The Long Memory
''The Long Memory'' is a black-and-white 1953 British crime film directed by Robert Hamer and based on the 1951 novel of the same title by Howard Clewes.
Filmed at locations such as London Waterloo railway station, the North Kent Marshes on t ...
'' (1953). It starred John Mills
Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portra ...
and featured Thora Hird
Dame Thora Hird (28 May 1911 – 15 March 2003) was an English actress and comedian, presenter and writer. In a career spanning over 70 years, she appeared in more than 100 film and television roles, becoming a household name and a Briti ...
, Beeny's future co-star in '' In Loving Memory'' and ''Last of the Summer Wine
''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes foll ...
''.[
]
Television
Beeny played Lenny Grove in the first British television soap, the BBC TV series ''The Grove Family
''The Grove Family'' was a British television series soap opera, generally regarded as the first of its kind broadcast in the UK, made and broadcast by the BBC Television Service from 1954 to 1957. The series concerned the life of the family of ...
'', which was shown on Fridays from 1954 until 1957, (and named after the BBC Studios of Lime Grove Studios
Lime Grove Studios was a film, and later television, studio complex in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England.
The complex was built by the Gaumont Film Company in 1915. It was situated in Lime Grove, a residential street in Shepherd's Bush, and ...
), as well as the feature film of the same, called It's a Great Day
''It's a Great Day'' is a 1955 British comedy film directed by John Warrington. A spin-off of the popular soap ''The Grove Family'', the film stars Ruth Dunning as Gladys Grove, Edward Evans as Bob Grove, and Sid James as Harry Mason. Nancy R ...
.
He gained notice when he appeared in the highly successful period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971–75) as the footman Edward Barnes. He appeared as Geoffrey in the single mother sitcom ''Miss Jones and Son
''Miss Jones and Son'' is a comedy series first broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV in 1977. It starred Paula Wilcox, Christopher Beeny, Charlotte Mitchell and Norman Bird. It was written by Richard Waring (writer), Richard Waring and produced a ...
'' (1977–78), as Tony in the remake of ''The Rag Trade
''The Rag Trade'' is a British television sitcom broadcast by the BBC between 1961 and 1963 and by LWT between 1977 and 1978. Although a comedy, it shed light on gender, politics and the "class war" on the factory floor.
The scripts were wr ...
'' (1977–78) and co-starring (as Billy Henshaw) with Thora Hird
Dame Thora Hird (28 May 1911 – 15 March 2003) was an English actress and comedian, presenter and writer. In a career spanning over 70 years, she appeared in more than 100 film and television roles, becoming a household name and a Briti ...
in a further sitcom, '' In Loving Memory''.
In 2001 he made a guest appearance in ''Last of the Summer Wine
''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes foll ...
'', something which he repeated numerous times until 2009 when he joined the cast as a regular character. He appeared originally as the character Herman Teasdale, who later became Morton Beamish.
In 2006, he played a cameo role in ''Emmerdale
''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...
''. Coincidentally, he played the cousin of the character Noreen Bell
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'' in 2005, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by the soap's executive producer, Keith Richardson.
Max King
Max King, port ...
, who had been played by his ''Upstairs, Downstairs'' colleague Jenny Tomasin
Jenny Tomasin (22 March 1938 – 3 January 2012) was an English actress best known for her roles in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' and ''Emmerdale''.
Early life
Tomasin was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1938 to working class parents. S ...
. Beeny also played cameo roles in BBC TV's ''Sense & Sensibility
''Sense and Sensibility'' is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; ''By A Lady'' appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. It tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor (age 19) a ...
'' and ITV's series '' Honest''.[
]
Theatre
Beeny's theatre appearances included ''Stop the World – I Want to Get Off
''Stop the World – I Want to Get Off'' is a 1961 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley.
According to Oscar Levant, the play's title was derived from graffiti.
Plot
The show, set against a circus backdr ...
''; '' The Long The Short And The Tall''; ''Scapino''; ''How the Other Half Loves
''How the Other Half Loves'' is a 1969 play in two acts by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn. It is a farce following the consequences of an adulterous affair between a married man and his boss’s wife and their attempts to cover their track ...
''; ''Night Must Fall
''Night Must Fall'' is a play, a psychological thriller, by Emlyn Williams, first performed in 1935. There have been three film adaptations, '' Night Must Fall'' (1937); a 1954 adaptation on the television anthology series ''Ponds Theater'' sta ...
''; ''Oliver!
''Oliver!'' is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens.
It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before op ...
''; ''Who Saw Him Die''; '' The Unexpected Guest''; '' Boeing, Boeing''; '' Move Over, Mrs. Markham''; '' Bedroom Farce''; '' Run For Your Wife''; '' Rough Crossing''; ''Present Laughter
''Present Laughter'' is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 but not produced until 1942 because the Second World War began while it was in rehearsal, and the British theatres closed. The title is drawn from a song in Shakespeare's ''T ...
''; ''Brief Encounter
''Brief Encounter'' is a 1945 British romantic drama film directed by David Lean from a screenplay by Noël Coward, based on his 1936 one-act play ''Still Life''.
Starring Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, and Joyce Carey, ...
''; ''Caught In The Net''; '' Crazy For You''; ''Ten Times Table'', and ''Lark Rise to Candleford
''Lark Rise to Candleford'' is a trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels by Flora Thompson about the countryside of north-east Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England, at the end of the 19th century. The stories were previously published s ...
''.
Beeny also toured in the play '' There's No Place Like a Home'' with Gorden Kaye
Gordon Irving Kaye(7 April 194123 January 2017), known professionally as Gorden Kaye, was an English actor, best known for playing womanising café owner René Artois in the television comedy series Allo 'Allo!''.
Early life
Kaye was born o ...
, and in 2011 toured in ''Five Blue Haired Ladies Sitting On A Park Bench''. He appeared in pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
at the Assembly Hall
An assembly hall is a hall to hold public meetings or meetings of an organization such as a school, church, or deliberative assembly. An example of the last case is the Assembly Hall (Washington, Mississippi) where the general assembly of the st ...
, Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...
in late 2011, early 2012.
Beeny's son, James, formed the band Virgin Soldiers in 2009 and co-wrote a production that commemorates the 100th Anniversary of WWI. The production, ''The Dreamers'', premiered at the Assembly Hall Theatre Tunbridge Wells in October 2014, and reached the West End in the summer of 2015. Beeny played the role of The Storyteller in the production.
Personal life
Beeny had two children – a daughter, Johanne and a son, Richard – from his first marriage, and a son, James, from his second marriage to singer Diana Kirkwood, who performed on the BBC's ''Pebble Mill at One
''Pebble Mill at One'' is a British television magazine programme that was broadcast live on weekdays at one o'clock on BBC1, from 2 October 1972 to 23 May 1986, and again from 14 October 1991 to 29 March 1996. It was transmitted from the Pebb ...
'' in the 1970s and 1980s.
He died at his home in Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
on 3 January 2020, aged 78.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
Chris Beeny
(Aveleyman)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beeny, Christopher
1941 births
2020 deaths
English male child actors
English male film actors
English male stage actors
English male television actors
Male actors from Bristol
Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
People educated at the Arts Educational Schools