Arnold Yarrow

Arnold Yarrow (born Arnold Stein; 17 April 1920 – 9 December 2024) was a British actor, screenwriter and novelist best known for his brief role as bricklayer Benny Bloom in television soap opera ''EastEnders''. Like the character, he was Jewish. Yarrow's other scriptwriting work included episodes of ''Crown Court'', ''Warship'' and '' Softly, Softly: Task Force''.

Early life

Arnold Stein was born on 17 April 1920 in Mile End, London, to furrier father Jack Stein and mother Leah (née Montlake). His father died in 1928 and his mother subsequently married Philip Yarrow, a doctor. After the marriage, Arnold, along with his three brothers and sister, changed their surname to Yarrow. The family lived in East London, and after leaving school aged 14, Yarrow embarked on a career in advertising.

On the outbreak of the Second World War, he served as an infantryman and travelled to India and China, becoming an officer in the Royal Corps of Signals. After the war, Yarrow was posted to Germany, and became the administrator of a small theatre. He directed plays and ran the company as a weekly repertory.

Career

Yarrow returned to the UK and enrolled at the Northern Theatre School in Bradford, West Yorkshire, under the direction of Esme Church. He became a professional actor in 1948. He worked with York repertory company and toured Shakespeare with the Dolphin theatre company. Yarrow then joined Bernard Miles' Mermaid theatre in London, in 1953. His roles included Adam in ''As You Like It'' and the Porter in ''Macbeth''. In 1955, he spent a year working as an administrator and senior stage manager at the Library theatre, Manchester.

After a brief spell in Manchester, Yarrow moved back to London, winning Tavistock Rep's playwriting competition for his play '' Ripple in Texas''. The production was professionally produced by Oldham Coliseum repertory theatre and later dramatised for the Home Service. In 1958, he made his West End debut with the Repertory Players at the Lyric, Shaftesbury Avenue, London.

In 1959, he won the ATV drama award, winning £500 and the broadcast of his play ''The Tip-Off'', which was broadcast in 1960. In 1968, Yarrow became script editor for the series '' Softly, Softly''. He then wrote episodes of '' Softly, Softly: Task Force'' from 1969 to 1976, ''Barlow at Large'' in 1971, and then ''Crown Court'' in 1974 and ''Warship'' in 1976 among others.

In front of the camera, Yarrow was also known to ''Doctor Who'' fans for his portrayal of diminutive Exxilon leader Bellal in the 1974 serial ''Death to the Daleks''. He remains the longest lived person associated with the Whoniverse. In 1988, he appeared in ''EastEnders'' as Benny Bloom, a retired bricklayer and love interest to Ethel Skinner. Yarrow subsequently wrote ten episodes of the soap opera between 1992 and 1993.

His other television appearances included roles in '' Crane'', '' Ghost Squad'', ''Coronation Street'', ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'', ''The Onedin Line'' and '' London's Burning'', as well as a part in the 1993 film ''Son of the Pink Panther''.

Yarrow also wrote radio plays including ''After Moscow'' in 1980 and '' His Master’s Voice'' in 1983. In 1984, he was part of a European tour of ''School for Scandal'' starring Donald Sinden and Dulcie Gray. For the remainder of the 1980s, Yarrow joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, taking parts such as Justice Shallow in ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' to Verges in ''Much Ado About Nothing''. In 1986, he performed a four-hour recital of all of Shakespeare’s sonnets to secure funding for his own play, ''Stitch'', about an exploitative East End sweatshop.

As well as acting and scriptwriting, Yarrow wrote numerous books such as TV tie–ins like ''Softly Softly Casebook'' and ''Softly Softly Murder Casebook'' as well as his own novels ''Death is a Z'' and ''The Grease–Paint Monkey''.

Personal life and death

Yarrow had moved from London to Faversham, Kent by the 1980s. He was involved in the Marlowe theatre, Canterbury, and ran drama classes for the Workers’ Educational Association.

Yarrow subsequently moved to Herne Bay, Kent. He was Jewish. He turned 100 in April 2020, and died in Herne Bay on 9 December 2024, aged 104.

Filmography

As story editor

As script editor

As writer

As actor

Film

Television

References

External links

*

Arnold Yarrow
at Theatricalia

HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY ARNOLD YARROW – Interviewed by Toby Hadoke

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yarrow, Arnold
1920 births
2024 deaths
British male television actors
British male film actors
20th-century British screenwriters
British men centenarians
Royal Shakespeare Company members
Jewish British male actors
Male actors from London
Jewish centenarians
Jewish British writers
British male novelists
Writers from London
20th-century British novelists
20th-century British male writers
20th-century British male actors
21st-century British male actors