35 Facts About Bernard Cribbins

Bernard Joseph Cribbins was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over eight decades.

Bernard Cribbins made his final appearance posthumously in the 60th anniversary special "Wild Blue Yonder".

Bernard Joseph Cribbins was born on 29 December 1928 in the Derker area of Oldham, Lancashire, the son of First World War veteran John Edward Cribbins and Ethel, a cotton weaver.

Bernard Cribbins had two sisters, alongside whom he grew up close to poverty.

Bernard Cribbins described his father, who was of Irish descent, as a "jack of all trades" who dabbled in acting.

Bernard Cribbins left school at the age of 13 and found a job as an assistant stage manager at a local theatre club, where he took on some small acting roles, and then served an apprenticeship at the Oldham Repertory Theatre.

Bernard Cribbins made his first West End theatre appearance in 1956 at the Arts Theatre, playing the two Dromios in A Comedy of Errors, and co-starred in the first West End productions of Not Now Darling, There Goes the Bride and Run for Your Wife.

Bernard Cribbins appeared in films from the early 1950s, mainly comedies.

Bernard Cribbins was the narrator of the British animated children's television series The Wombles from 1973 to 1975 and played the character of the Water Rat in a BBC Radio adaptation of The Wind in the Willows.

Bernard Cribbins was the celebrity storyteller in more episodes of Jackanory than any other personality, with a total of 114 appearances between 1966 and 1991.

Bernard Cribbins narrated the audio tape of the Antonia Barber book The Mousehole Cat.

From 1974 to 1976, Bernard Cribbins narrated Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings.

Bernard Cribbins provided the voice of Buzby, a talking cartoon bird that was the mascot for the Post Office.

The other voice artist was Brian Wilde; Wilde voiced the owl and Bernard Cribbins voiced the robin.

In 1981, Music for Pleasure released a Swallows and Amazons audio book on tape cassette, read by Bernard Cribbins, abridged by Edward Phillips.

From 1987 to 1991, Bernard Cribbins starred as Jimmy Bright alongside Frank Thornton as Russell Farrow in Mind Your Own Business on BBC Radio 2, which starred Annette Crosbie.

Bernard Cribbins provided the voiceover work for A Passion For Angling, starring Chris Yates and Bob James.

Bernard Cribbins was the star of the ITV series Bernard Cribbins.

Besides voicing The Wombles, Bernard Cribbins was a regular on BBC children's television in the 1970s as host of performance panel game Star Turn and Star Turn Challenge.

Bernard Cribbins starred in the BBC's 1975 Christmas production Great Big Groovy Horse, a rock opera based on the story of the Trojan Horse shown on BBC2 alongside Julie Covington and Paul Jones.

Bernard Cribbins regularly appeared on BBC TV's The Good Old Days recreating songs made famous by the great stars of Music Hall.

Bernard Cribbins starred as Jack in the series Old Jack's Boat, set in Staithes, and broadcast on the CBeebies channel starting in 2013.

On 9 May 2015, Bernard Cribbins gave a reading at VE Day 70: A Party to Remember in Horse Guards Parade, London which was broadcast live on BBC1.

Bernard Cribbins made his final on screen appearance as Wilfred Mott in the second 60th anniversary episode Wild Blue Yonder in December 2023; although he was due to appear in the third of the three episodes and more material had been written for him, Cribbins was too ill and so this became his only scene.

In November 2018, it was announced that Bernard Cribbins would portray Private Godfrey in a series of re-creations of lost episodes from the BBC sitcom Dad's Army.

However, Bernard Cribbins left the production in February 2019 citing "personal reasons".

In January 2007, Bernard Cribbins had a guest role as glam rock promoter Arnold Korns in Horror of Glam Rock, a Doctor Who audiodrama by Big Finish Productions.

In 2022, Bernard Cribbins was reported to be returning to Doctor Who alongside David Tennant and Catherine Tate for the programme's 60th anniversary specials.

In 2009, Bernard Cribbins was honoured for his work in children's television with a Special Award at the British Academy Children's Awards which was presented by former co-star Catherine Tate, who portrayed his character's granddaughter in Doctor Who.

Bernard Cribbins was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

Bernard Cribbins received his OBE from the Princess Royal at an investiture in the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle on 3 November 2011.

Bernard Cribbins was named "British Icon of the Week" on 23 December 2020 by BBC America.

In 1955, Bernard Cribbins married Gillian McBarnet, an assistant stage manager; the couple remained together until her death on 11 October 2021.

Bernard Cribbins was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009, but said in 2018 that he was "in good health" at the age of 90 with the exception of a "nagging back condition".

Bernard Cribbins narrated the 1993 BBC Two documentary series A Passion for Angling and the 2008 documentary series Catching the Impossible; in the latter, he fished onscreen alongside expert angler Martin Bowler.