1. Paul Clark Eddington was an English actor who played Jerry Leadbetter in the television sitcom The Good Life and politician Jim Hacker in the sitcom Yes Minister and its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister.
18 Facts About Paul Eddington
1. 2.
Paul Eddington was a four-time BAFTA TV and two-time Olivier Award nominee.
3.
The family were Quakers; Albert Paul Eddington being related to the Somerset shoemaking Clark family and the scientist Sir Arthur Paul Eddington.
4.
Paul Eddington's father had been "emotionally shattered" on his return from the First World War, which led to Eddington being a lifelong pacifist.
5.
Paul Eddington worked for Sheffield Repertory Theatre, a theatre company based at Sheffield Playhouse.
6.
Paul Eddington had a leading role in "Liberty Bar", a 1960 episode of the BBC version of Maigret, playing Harry Brown, an Australian entrepreneur.
7.
Paul Eddington had roles in episodes of The Avengers, The Prisoner and the final episode of The Champions.
8.
Paul Eddington was a main cast member of the television series Frontier.
9.
Paul Eddington had a supporting role in Hammer Films' The Devil Rides Out, an episode of Van der Valk in 1972, and appeared as a "straight man" in a 1976 episode of The Benny Hill Show.
10.
Paul Eddington appeared in most episodes of the ATV series Hine.
11.
Paul Eddington appeared as civil servant Strand in the last series of Special Branch.
12.
Paul Eddington was cast as Jerry Leadbetter, a neighbour of the main characters, and Penelope Keith played his wife, Margo.
13.
Paul Eddington's profile was raised further when he played the title role of Jim Hacker in the comedy series Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.
14.
Paul Eddington was shortlisted four times for the BAFTA award for Best Light Entertainment Performance for the series, but he lost out to his co-star Nigel Hawthorne on each occasion.
15.
Paul Eddington was reunited with another Good Life co-star Richard Briers in a run of the play Home in 1994.
16.
Paul Eddington read extracts from Sir Winston Churchill's A History of the English-Speaking Peoples for the award-winning BBC Radio series This Sceptred Isle; he died midway through the production, and his place was taken by Peter Jeffrey.
17.
Paul Eddington was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1987 New Year Honours.
18.
Paul Eddington had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, known as mycosis fungoides, when he was 28.