Joseph Anthony Capstick (27 July 1944 – 23 October 2003) was an English comedian, actor, musician and broadcaster.

Life and career

First son of Joe Capstick, a wireless operator in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, and his wife, June, née Duncan, he was born in

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, England, and spent most of his childhood in

Swinton, South Yorkshire Swinton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England on the west bank of the River Don. It has a population of 15,559 (2011). The town is five miles north-northeast of the larger town of Rotherham and direct ...

, near

Mexborough Mexborough is a town in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. Situated between Manvers and Denaby Main, it lies on the River Don close to where it joins the River Dearne, and the A6023 road runs through the town. It is contiguo ...

, also in the West Riding, and for over thirty years he was a presenter on

BBC Radio Sheffield BBC Radio Sheffield is the BBC's local radio station serving South Yorkshire and north Derbyshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital television and via BBC Sounds from studios on Shoreham Street in Sheffield. According to RAJAR, the statio ...

. In the 1970s he presented ''Folkweave'' for BBC Radio 2 and continued to work for that station sporadically until the early 1990s. Outside

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

, he is perhaps better known as one of the policemen in the long-running British sitcom, ''

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 f ...

'', where he played the role until his death in October 2003, with his final appearance on the show broadcast in April 2004.

Biography

A regular performer on the

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

circuit, he recorded many albums. The first was for the

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

based record label Rubber Records (''His Round'' with

Hedgehog Pie Hedgehog Pie were a British folk rock group from the north-east of England, that evolved between 1969 and 1971. Despite frequent line-up changes, they built up a considerable regional and national following and produced three highly regarded a ...

, ''Punch and Judy Man'', ''Tony Capstick Does a Turn'', ''Songs of Ewan MacColl'' with

Dick Gaughan Richard Peter Gaughan (born 17 May 1948) is a Scottish musician, singer and songwriter, particularly of folk and social protest songs. He is regarded as one of Scotland's leading singer-songwriters. Early years Gaughan was born in Glasgow's Roy ...

and Dave Burland and ''There Was This Bloke'' with

Mike Harding Mike Harding (born 23 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, author, poet, broadcaster and multi-instrumentalist. Harding has also been a photographer, traveller, filmmaker and playwright. Early life and education Harding's ...

, Derek Brimstone and Bill Barclay). In 1981, he unexpectedly reached No. 3 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

with "The Sheffield Grinder" / "Capstick Comes Home". It was recorded with the Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band. His recitation, "Capstick Comes Home", was based on the well-known

Hovis Hovis Ltd is a British company that produces flour and bread. The brand originated in Stoke-on-Trent and was first mass-produced in Macclesfield, Cheshire, in 1886. It became part of Rank Hovis McDougall (RHM) in 1962 after a succession of merge ...

wholemeal bread television commercials directed by Ridley Scott. "Capstick Comes Home" also peaked at number 92 in Australia in July 1981. As a comedian, he had an eight-part television series, ''Capstick's Capers'', on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

in 1983. Capstick was also a prolific bit-part actor, with a career including minor roles in the soap operas ''

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, ...

'' and '' Coronation Street''. In the latter he played the recurring character of the

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer ...

Harvey Nuttall. His career at Radio Sheffield came to an end in January 2003. He continued to write a regular column in a local weekly newspaper, the ''Rotherham Advertiser''. Capstick was an author, with Paul Donoghue, of a book on the Appleby Horse Fair.

Death

On 23 October 2003, Capstick was found dead at his cottage in Hoober, near

Wentworth, South Yorkshire __NOTOC__ Wentworth is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. In the 2001 Census the parish had a population of 1,223, increasing to 1,478 at the 2011 Census. The civil parish include ...

, he had suffered an aneurysm following a bout of pneumonia. He was survived by wife Gillian and his two children from his first marriage.

Discography

*''His Round'' (with Hedgehog Pie), 1971 *''Punch and Judy Man'' (with Hedgehog Pie), 1974 *''Does a Turn'', 1978 *''Songs of Ewan MacColl'' (with Dick Gaughan and Dave Burland), 1978 *"Capstick Comes Home" / "The Sheffield Grinder, No. 3

, 1981

Filmography

References

External links

BBC ObituaryBBC list of his work
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Capstick, Tony 1944 births 2003 deaths English male television actors English folk musicians English radio presenters English male comedians English chroniclers English columnists People from Mexborough Actors from Doncaster Actors from Rotherham Actors from Yorkshire BBC Radio 2 presenters 20th-century English comedians