David Jason is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, Detective Inspector Jack Frost in A Touch of Frost, Granville in Open All Hours and Still Open All Hours, and Pop Larkin in The Darling Buds of May, as well as voicing Mr Toad in The Wind in the Willows, the BFG in the 1989 film, and the title characters of Danger Mouse and Count Duckula.
40 Facts About David Jason
2.
In September 2006, Jason topped the poll to find TV's 50 Greatest Stars, as part of ITV's 50th anniversary celebrations.
3.
David Jason was knighted in 2005 for services to acting and comedy.
4.
David Jason's father, Arthur Robert White, was a porter at Billingsgate Fish Market, and his mother, Olwen Jones, was from Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales, and worked as a charwoman.
5.
David Jason gave birth to twin boys at North Middlesex Hospital in Edmonton, London, in February 1940, but Jason's twin brother died during childbirth, making him a twinless twin.
6.
David Jason chose the stage name Jason because he liked Jason and the Argonauts, as the stage name "David White" was already taken, and not in tribute to his dead twin as has sometimes been claimed.
7.
David Jason lived at Lodge Lane, North Finchley, and attended Northfield Secondary Modern school after failing the 11-plus in 1951.
8.
David Jason trained as an electrician for six years, before retiring and becoming a struggling actor.
9.
David Jason's elder brother is the actor Arthur White, born in 1933.
10.
When David Jason was 15 he spent a year working as a mechanic's assistant.
11.
David Jason started his television career in 1964 playing the part of Bert Bradshaw in Crossroads.
12.
Humphrey Barclay, who recruited David Jason to appear in Do Not Adjust Your Set, admired his sense of timing.
13.
David Jason appeared in the BBC comedy series Hugh and I in 1967, which starred Hugh Lloyd and Terry Scott as two friends who lived together in South London.
14.
David Jason appeared in the Randall and Hopkirk episode "That's How Murder Snowballs" as Abel, a framed performer in a major London theatre.
15.
David Jason appeared in The Next Programme Follows Almost Immediately and made appearances on panel games such as The Impressionists as well as his own series, The David Jason Explanation.
16.
David Jason starred with Valerie Leon in a stage comedy "Darling Mr London" which toured in 1975.
17.
David Jason was recruited to appear in Hark at Barker, starring opposite Barker's Lord Rustless, as Dithers, the 100-year old gardener.
18.
David Jason played idealistic employee Granville in the first programme of the comedy anthology Seven of One, called Open All Hours and starring Barker as the curmudgeonly proprietor of a corner shop.
19.
David Jason featured in Barker's Porridge, a prison comedy, as the elderly Blanco in three episodes.
20.
David Jason appeared with Barker in various disguises in The Two Ronnies, including providing the "raspberry" sound effect for The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town.
21.
David Jason starred in London Weekend Television's Lucky Feller, written by Terence Frisby and produced by Humphrey Barclay.
22.
About two brothers in south-east London, the series was in many ways a forerunner to Only Fools And Horses, only David Jason was in the more dopey 'Rodney' role with Peter Armitage playing the cleverer of the two.
23.
The brothers drove around in a comical bubble car, a precursor to the famous Trotters' van; and there was even the joke where, just as he was trying to impress the girl, David Jason casually leaned back against the bar, without his knowing that barman had just lifted it behind his back, and fell through.
24.
David Jason played the lead role of Peter Barnes in the ATV sitcom A Sharp Intake of Breath, alongside Alun Armstrong and Richard Wilson.
25.
David Jason provided the voice of Father Christmas in Father Christmas and the Missing Reindeer, Rola Polar in The Adventures of Dawdle the Donkey, Angelmouse, and did voices in animated films including Wombling Free and The Water Babies.
26.
In 1981, David Jason found his best known role, Del Boy Trotter in the BBC situation comedy Only Fools and Horses, created by John Sullivan.
27.
David Jason is assisted by his brother Rodney and Grandad and, in later episodes, Uncle Albert.
28.
In 1989 David Jason starred as Ted Simcock in the ITV drama series A Bit of a Do, aired from January to December.
29.
In 1999, Jason starred as Captain Frank Beck in BBC's feature-length drama All the King's Men about the Sandringham regiment lost in World War I He earned acclaim for a string of serious roles.
30.
On 16 September 2008, David Jason announced that he would step down from his role as Jack Frost after 16 years.
31.
In 2010, David Jason starred in a made-for-TV movie Come Rain Come Shine with Alison Steadman for ITV about an elderly Millwall supporter.
32.
In December 2021, David Jason made a surprise cameo appearance on the Christmas Special of Strictly Come Dancing in the role of Del Boy to pass on a special message to The Repair Shop's Jay Blades, who was performing to the Only Fools and Horses theme tune.
33.
In 1993, David Jason was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, and 12 years later, in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 2005, he was knighted for services to acting and comedy.
34.
David Jason lived with his long-term girlfriend, Welsh actress Myfanwy Talog, for 18 years and nursed her through breast cancer until she died in 1995.
35.
On 26 February 2001, David Jason became a father at the age of 61 when his girlfriend, 41-year-old Gill Hinchcliffe, gave birth to a baby girl, Sophie Mae, born in Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury.
36.
In 2022 David Jason discovered that he had a daughter, Abi Harris, of whom he had been previously unaware, who was born in 1970 following a brief relationship with actress Jennifer Hill.
37.
David Jason is a patron of the Shark Trust, a United Kingdom registered charity working to advance the worldwide conservation of sharks through science, education, influence and action.
38.
In September 2017, it was reported that a "credible threat was made to his life", although it is not known why David Jason had been targeted.
39.
David Jason has won a total of eighteen awards between 1986 and 2011.
40.
David Jason's hit comedy show, Only Fools and Horses won many awards.