16 Facts About Wilfrid Brambell

Henry Wilfrid Brambell was an Irish television and film actor, best remembered for playing the grubby rag-and-bone man Albert Steptoe alongside Harry H Corbett in the long-running BBC television sitcom Steptoe and Son.

Wilfrid Brambell achieved international recognition in 1964 for his appearance alongside the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night, playing the fictional grandfather of Paul McCartney.

Wilfrid Brambell had roles in film and television from 1947, his first being an uncredited appearance in Odd Man Out as a tram passenger.

Wilfrid Brambell played Jacob, an immigrant from eastern Europe selling newspapers in Paris, in an episode of Maigret entitled "A Man of Quality", first broadcast on 12 December 1960.

Wilfrid Brambell appeared in the short film series Scotland Yard in the episode, "The Grand Junction Case".

Wilfrid Brambell was heard on the original London cast recording of the long-running West End stage musical The Canterbury Tales in which he starred at London's Phoenix Theatre.

Wilfrid Brambell played Bert Thomson, an Irish widower, in the film Holiday on the Buses; the character in question started a close friendship with Stan Butler's mother, Mabel.

Wilfrid Brambell notably spoke with a distinct received pronunciation accent, in strong contrast to both his Cockney Steptoe accent and his native Irish accent, which he would use where the role dictated.

In 1965, Wilfrid Brambell told the BBC that he did not want to do another series of Steptoe and Son, and in September that year, he travelled to New York City to appear in the Broadway musical Kelly at the Broadhurst Theatre.

John Sullivan considered him for the role of Grandad in Only Fools and Horses, but decided against it as he thought Wilfrid Brambell was too closely associated with Steptoe.

Wilfrid Brambell appears throughout the full 24-minute piece, but he does not speak a single word.

In 1982, Wilfrid Brambell appeared on BBC News paying tribute to Corbett, after the latter's death from a heart attack.

Wilfrid Brambell was married to Mary Josephine Hall from 1948 to 1955.

In 1962 Wilfrid Brambell was arrested and accused of persistently importuning in a toilet in Shepherd's Bush, but was conditionally discharged.

Wilfrid Brambell died of cancer at his home in Westminster, London, aged 72, on 18 January 1985.

Wilfrid Brambell was cremated on 25 January 1985 at Streatham Park Cemetery, where his ashes were scattered.