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Clive Walter Swift (9 February 1936 – 1 February 2019) was an English actor and songwriter. A classically trained actor, his stage work included performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but he was best known to television viewers for his role as Richard Bucket in the BBC sitcom ''
Keeping Up Appearances ''Keeping Up Appearances'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It originally aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995 with two specials airing in 1997 and 2008 on PBS. The central character is an eccentric and snobbish middle class s ...
''. He played many other television and film roles.


Life and career

Swift was born in
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
on 9 February 1936, the son of Abram Sampson Swift, who owned a furniture shop in
Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Historically part of Lancashire, Bootle's ...
, and Lily Rebecca, née Greenman. His elder brother
David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
was also an actor. Both were educated at
Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...
and
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...
, where Clive read English literature. He was previously a teacher at
LAMDA LaMDA, which stands for Language Model for Dialogue Applications, is a family of conversational neural language models developed by Google. The first generation was announced during the 2021 Google I/O keynote, while the second generation was ...
and 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 Senat ...
. His family was
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
. He appeared as Snug in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1968 film production of ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' as part of a cast that included
Diana Rigg Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 193810 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series '' The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in ''On H ...
, Helen Mirren and
Ian Richardson Ian William Richardson (7 April 19349 February 2007) was a Scottish actor. He portrayed the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's '' House of Cards'' (1990–1995) television trilogy. Richardson was also a leading S ...
. During the 1970s, he appeared as Doctor Black in two of the
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 exam. ...
...
's
M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...
adaptations In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the ...
: ''
The Stalls of Barchester ''The Stalls of Barchester'' is the first of the BBC's ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' strand, first broadcast on BBC 1 at 11.00pm on 24 December 1971. Based on the story "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral" from the 1911 collection ''More Ghost ...
'' and ''
A Warning to the Curious "A Warning to the Curious" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, included in his book '' A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories'' first published in 1925. The tale tells the story of Paxton, an antiquarian and archaeologist w ...
'', as well as the BBC adaptation of ''
The Barchester Chronicles ''The Barchester Chronicles'' is a 1982 British television serial produced by Jonathan Powell for the BBC. It is an adaptation by Alan Plater of Anthony Trollope's first two Chronicles of Barsetshire, ''The Warden'' (1855) and ''Barchester Towe ...
''. He is best known for his role on ''
Keeping Up Appearances ''Keeping Up Appearances'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It originally aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995 with two specials airing in 1997 and 2008 on PBS. The central character is an eccentric and snobbish middle class s ...
'' as Richard Bucket, the long-suffering husband of
Hyacinth Hyacinth or Hyacinthus may refer to: Nature Plants * Hyacinth (plant), genus ''Hyacinthus'' ** '' Hyacinthus orientalis'', common hyacinth * Grape hyacinth, '' Muscari'', a genus of perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia * Hyacinth bean, ''L ...
. Swift made two appearances in '' Doctor Who'', in the 1985 story ''
Revelation of the Daleks ''Revelation of the Daleks'' is the sixth and final serial of the 22nd season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on 23 and 30 March 1985. This was the final serial t ...
'' and the 2007
Christmas special Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared in in literature and Christmas music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptatio ...
. Around the time of his second appearance, he gave a "grumpy" interview to '' Doctor Who Magazine'' in which he bemoaned "not getting paid" to promote his episode, and belittled the show. He also played
Sir Ector Sir Ector , sometimes Hector, Antor, or Ectorius, is the father of Sir Kay and the adoptive father of King Arthur in the Matter of Britain. Sometimes portrayed as a king instead of merely a lord, he has an estate in the country as well as pro ...
, the adoptive father of King Arthur in John Boorman's 1981 film ''
Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...
''. In addition to acting, he was a songwriter. Many of his songs were included in his shows ''Richard Bucket Overflows: An Audience with Clive Swift'', which toured the UK in 2007, and ''Clive Swift Entertains'', in which he performed his own music and lyrics, which toured the UK in 2009. He also played the part of the Reverend Eustacius Brewer in ''
Born and Bred ''Born and Bred'' was a British light-hearted drama series aired on BBC One which ran from 21 April 2002 to 3 August 2005. It was created by Chris Chibnall and Nigel McCrery. Initially the cast was led by James Bolam and Michael French as a ...
'', which aired on BBC One from 2002 to 2005. His last performance was in an episode of '' Midsomer Murders'' in 2017, after which he retired.


Personal life and death

Swift was married to novelist Margaret Drabble from 1960 until their divorce in 1975. He was the father of one daughter, Rebecca (who died in April 2017), known for running
The Literary Consultancy The Literary Consultancy (TLC) is a UK-based editorial consultancy service that was founded in 1996, becoming the first service of its kind to offer "professional, in-depth editorial advice and assessment to anyone writing in the English languag ...
in London, and two sons, Adam Swift, an academic, and
Joe Swift Joseph Samuel Swift (born 25 May 1965) is an English garden designer, journalist and television presenter. Television career Swift is a regular presenter and designer on the BBC's ''Gardeners' World'', co-presenter on the Royal Horticultural So ...
, a garden designer, journalist and television presenter. Swift died at home on 1 February 2019, just 8 days prior of his 83rd birthday, following a short illness. Paying tribute to Swift, fellow actor
James Dreyfus James Dreyfus (born 9 October 1968) is an English actor most notable for roles on television sitcoms '' The Thin Blue Line'' as Constable Kevin Goody, and '' Gimme Gimme Gimme'' as Tom Farrell. Dreyfus is most recently known for a role as Rever ...
said he "loved this extremely talented, subtle actor". His ''Keeping Up Appearances'' co-star Patricia Routledge said: "Clive was a skillful and inventive actor with wide experience, as his successful career proved," and that she was very sad to hear of her former co-star's death.


Filmography


Film


Television


Radio

*''
Oblomov ''Oblomov'' ( ru , link=no, Обломов; ) is the second novel by Russian writer Ivan Goncharov, first published in 1859. Ilya Ilyich Oblomov is the central character of the novel, portrayed as the ultimate incarnation of the superfluous man, ...
'' as the Doctor (2005) *''The Right Time'' (2008) *'' Measure for Measure'' as Escalus (2004) *''Jorrocks's Jaunts and Jollities'' as Nash (2011) *'' The Price of Fear – Remains to be Seen'' as Fred Treiber (2012) * "Vivat Rex" as Lord Talbot in "Henry VI" by William Shakespeare, in episodes 15–16, BBC (1977)


Stage

*''
Cymbeline ''Cymbeline'' , also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerning the early Celti ...
'' (1962) as Cloten *''The Physicists'' (1963) as Inspector Richard Voss (
Aldwych Theatre The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels. History Origins The theatre was constructed in th ...
) *'' The Tempest'' (1966) as Caliban (
Prospect Theatre Company The Prospect Theatre Company was an English company founded, as Prospect Productions, in 1961. Based at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge from 1964 until 1969, the company, with Toby Robertson as artistic director and Richard Cottrell as associate dire ...
)


References


External links


Clive Swift
at the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
*
Obituary
at Bbc.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, Clive 1936 births 2019 deaths 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge British Jews British male comedy actors English male film actors English male radio actors English male Shakespearean actors English male stage actors English male television actors Horizon (British TV series) Male actors from Liverpool Jewish English male actors People educated at Clifton College Royal Shakespeare Company members Clive