Barry Joseph Evans (18 June 1943 – 9 February 1997) was an English actor best known for his appearances in British

sitcoms A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

such as '' Doctor in the House'' and '' Mind Your Language''.

Biography

Early life

Born in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, Surrey, and orphaned as a baby, Evans was educated at the orphanage boarding schools run by the Shaftesbury Homes, first at Fortescue House School in

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boro ...

in a

Dr Barnardo's Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each year running around 900 local services, aimed at helping these same group ...

Home, and then at Bisley Boys' School in

Bisley, Surrey Bisley is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. It is midway between Woking (to the east) and Camberley (to the west). The village had a population of 3,965 in ...

. His acting ability was recognised at an early age and he often played the leading roles in school plays. He briefly lived in Yalding before moving to London. Evans attended the Italia Conti Academy and later won a

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...

Scholarship to study at the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

Career

One of his first film credits was the lead role in

Clive Donner Clive Stanley Donner (21 January 1926 – 6 September 2010)Ronald Berganbr>Obituary: Clive Donner '' The Guardian'', 7 September 2010 was a British film director who was part of the British New Wave, directing films such as ''The Caretaker ...

's film '' Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush'' (1968) where he was cast as Jamie McGregor, a teenager who finds it difficult to lose his virginity. ''

Photoplay ''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For mo ...

'' magazine called Evans a "bright and exciting new actor", and ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid ...

'' described his screen debut as "brilliant". ''Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush'' represented a breakthrough in a number of technical features: the script, the photography and the filming techniques. Jamie McGregor speaks his thoughts out loud. The soundtrack mainly contained songs performed by The Spencer Davis Group and

Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

. The film was listed to compete at the

1968 Cannes Film Festival The 21st Cannes Film Festival was to have been held from 10 to 24 May 1968, before being curtailled due to the turmoil of May 1968 in France. Background This edition was marked by the previous controversy around the Langlois affair. On February ...

, but the Festival was cancelled that year. The film saw the beginning of a long-lasting friendship between Barry Evans and the director,

, whom Evans regarded as one of his best friends. He worked with Donner again in 1969 in the historical epic ''

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bo ...

''. In 1969, Evans appeared alongside

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 4 October 1998) was a British actor, photographer and film director. He began his acting career as a child in England, and then in the United States, in ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1 ...

in an episode of the series ''

Journey to the Unknown ''Journey to the Unknown'' is a British anthology television series, produced by Hammer Film Productions and 20th Century Fox Television. It aired on ABC from September 26, 1968, to January 30, 1969.Doctor in the House'' (1969–70), based on Richard Gordon's series of novels, which had already been turned into a feature film series. Evans starred as the young student doctor Michael Upton, to whom Evans felt he bore no similarities. Following the show's success he starred in the sequel to the series, '' Doctor at Large'' (1971). Evans enjoyed working with his fellow actors

George Layton George Layton (born 2 March 1943) is an English actor, director, screenwriter and author best known for three television roles – junior doctor Paul Collier in the comedy series '' Doctor in the House'' and its sequels '' Doctor at Large'', '' ...

Geoffrey Davies Geoffrey Davies (born 15 December 1942 in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire) is an English actor. Biography The son of an accountant, Davies was educated at grammar school and studied at art college to be a commercial artist before becoming an ...

, Robin Nedwell and Richard O'Sullivan, and he later described these as the best years of his life. Work on the "Doctor" series was extremely intense and left him no time to take on other roles; he therefore declined to appear in the later sequels. However, in a 1977 interview he stated that he had been "incredibly stupid" to turn the series down. In 1971, Evans played the character of Eli Frome in Pete Walker's low-budget thriller ''

Die Screaming, Marianne ''Die Screaming, Marianne'' (also ''Die, Beautiful Marianne'') is a 1971 British thriller film produced and directed by Pete Walker. Although Walker's films were mostly in the horror or sexploitation genres, this is a straight thriller, with mi ...

'', alongside Susan George. In 1976, he had the lead role in Stanley Long's sex comedy ''

Adventures of a Taxi Driver ''Adventures of a Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 British sex comedy film directed by Stanley Long and starring Barry Evans, Judy Geeson and Adrienne Posta. There were two sequels, '' Adventures of a Private Eye'' and '' Adventures of a Plumber's Mate ...

''. Unlike in ''Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush'', in which the viewer partakes in Jamie's thoughts, Evans's character breaks the fourth wall throughout the film. Although the film was successful, Evans decided not to appear in the sequels, but he starred in the similarly themed ''

Under the Doctor ''Under the Doctor'' is a 1976 British sex comedy directed by Gerry Poulson and starring Barry Evans, Liz Fraser and Hilary Pritchard. The screenplay concerns a Harley Street doctor who enjoys a number of dalliances with three of his female ...

'' the same year. Evans also did some theatre work, but this did not prove financially worthwhile, and he spent several spells claiming benefits. He wrote to

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

, "and told them ... I was still alive". This led to what became his best-known comedy role, as Jeremy Brown in the ITV sitcom '' Mind Your Language'' (1977–79, 1986), which was a humorous look at an evening class tutor teaching English to foreign students. The series was written by TV scriptwriter Vince Powell, and was adapted for American TV as ''

What a Country! ''What a Country!'' is an American sitcom starring Garrett M. Brown and Yakov Smirnoff that aired in first-run syndication from September 27, 1986, to May 23, 1987. The series is based on the British sitcom ''Mind Your Language'' and was inte ...

'' in 1986. In the same year it was briefly revived in Britain for a further 13 episodes.

Later career

In 1982–83, Evans played Dick Emery's trusted assistant Robin Bright in the comedy thriller series '' Legacy of Murder''. By the latter half of the 1980s, Evans's youthful appearance was working against him and he found it difficult to obtain mature acting roles in keeping with his age. His last role was as Bazzard in the 1993 film adaptation of ''

The Mystery of Edwin Drood ''The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' is the final novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in 1870. Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, it focuses more on Drood's uncle, John Jasper, a precentor, choirmaster and opium ...

''. By the mid–1990s, Evans was working as a minicab driver in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire ...

Death

In February 1997, police discovered Evans' body in his living room after going to the house to tell him that they had recovered his stolen car, which had been reported missing the day before. The cause of his death has never been confirmed. The coroner found a blow to Evans's head and also found high levels of alcohol in his system. A short

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wi ...

was found on a table next to his body and a spilt packet of aspirin tablets was found on the floor, bearing a pre-

decimalisation Decimalisation or decimalization (see spelling differences) is the conversion of a system of currency or of weights and measures to units related by powers of 10. Most countries have decimalised their currencies, converting them from non-decimal ...

price tag (i.e., before 1971), indicating that the pack was at least 26 years old; although the coroner concluded that he had not taken any of them. An open verdict was eventually given. An 18-year-old man was arrested but later released without charge due to insufficient evidence. Evans was cremated at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

Legacy

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

commemorating Evans, erected by The Heritage Foundation, is situated at 8 Buckland Crescent in

Belsize Park Belsize Park is an affluent residential area of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden (the inner north-west of London), England. The residential streets are lined with mews houses and Georgian and Victorian villas. Some nearby localities ar ...

, north west London. He lived at this address from 1960 until the early 1980s. A memorial charity lunch in aid of Barnardo's was held in honour of Evans and ''Mind Your Language'' writer Vince Powell at the Marriot Hotel near Marble Arch in central London.

TV credits

Filmography

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Barry 1943 births 1997 deaths 20th-century English male actors Actors from Guildford Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama English male television actors Golders Green Crematorium Male actors from Surrey Unsolved deaths