Bill Maynard

Bill Maynard was one of the most professionally diverse figures in the entertainment industry. Having established himself as a top-line comedy performer, his first straight play was 'You Too Can Have a Body' at the Connaught, Worthing, in 1956. The play subsequently transferred to the West End. Numerous stage performances followed including Archie Rice in 'The Entertainer', Inspector Truscott in 'Loot', Fred Midway in 'Semi Detached', Davis in 'The Caretaker', Big Daddy in 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' and Charles Dickens in his own one-man show called 'A Face For All Occasions'. He toured the south of the country in a revival of the old Whitehall farce, 'One For The Pot' and has appeared in many pantomimes.

His many film roles included Mercadier in 'Robin and Marion', Hinchcliffe in 'It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet', many of the 'Carry On' films and the series of 'Confession' films.

He is best known for his highly successful television series which included 'Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt', Paradise Island', 'The Life of Riley' and more recently 'Heartbeat'. He has also played characters in 'Till Death Us Do Part' and 'Coronation Street'. He visited Wolverhampton in 1984 when he appeared at the Grand Theatre, in Peter Terson's 'Strippers'.