Colin Skipp (8 August 1939 – 19 November 2019) was a British actor, best known for playing
Tony Archer Tony Archer may refer to:
* Tony Archer (musician)
Anthony John Archer (born 14 July 1938, Dulwich, London) is an English jazz double-bassist.
Archer studied cello as a schoolboy before settling on upright bass. He joined Don Rendell's group ...
in the BBC 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 ...
'' for 46 years.
Skipp won a scholarship to 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 ...
, and studied alongside actor
Charles Collingwood, who plays
Brian Aldridge in ''The Archers''.
Skipp had played the character of Tony Archer for 46 years (1967–2013), on the date of his retirement, making him the seventh longest continuously serving radio soap actor. He decided to retire after having several heart attacks and major heart surgery.
The role was taken over in January 2014 by the actor
David Troughton
David Troughton (born 9 June 1950) is an English actor. He is known for his Shakespearean roles on the British stage and for his many roles on British television, including Dr Bob Buzzard in ''A Very Peculiar Practice'' and Ricky Hanson in ''Ne ...
.
In 2004, he directed the stage play ''The Sound of Julie'' at the
Charles Cryer Theatre
The Charles Cryer Theatre is a studio theatre located in the High Street in Carshalton in the London Borough of Sutton. The theatre is named after the man who led the campaign to open the Secombe Theatre in neighbouring Sutton.
It was opened by ...
,
Carshalton
Carshalton () is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalton ...
, a dramatisation of the life of actress
Julie Andrews
Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
. Skipp's daughter, Nova, was in the title role.
On 21 November 2019, the BBC's social media accounts for ''The Archers'' announced that Skipp had died. He was 80 years old.
His former co-star Pat Gallimore, who plays Tony's wife Pat, called him "a good friend and generous colleague", and said "Colin was a very fine actor who brought truth and integrity to the role of Tony."
See also
*
List of longest-serving soap opera actors
Soap operas, a serialised drama produced for radio, television and internet streaming, are specifically and uniquely known for their ensemble casts and long-running characters. Many of these characters have stayed in their respective series for d ...
References
External links
*
1939 births
2019 deaths
English male radio actors
The Archers
20th-century British male actors
21st-century British male actors
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