Clive Swift
| Clive Swift | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Clive Swift |
| Born | ) 9 February 1936 Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK |
| Medium | Television |
| Nationality | British |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Genres | Character comedy |
| Influences | Barry Humphries |
| Spouse | Margaret Drabble (1960–75) |
Clive Walter Swift (born 9 February 1936) is an English character comedy actor and songwriter. He is best known for his role as character Richard Bucket in the British television series Keeping Up Appearances, but has played many other notable film and television roles, including that of Roy in the British television series The Old Guys.
Contents |
Life and career []
Swift was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, the son of Lily Rebecca (née Greenman) and Abram Sampson Swift.[1] His older brother, David Swift, is also an actor. Both brothers were educated at Clifton College and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where Clive read English literature. He was previously a teacher at LAMDA and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
In the 1970s, he appeared as Doctor Black in two of the BBC's M.R. James adaptations: The Stalls of Barchester and A Warning to the Curious. He is most noted for his performance in Keeping Up Appearances, starring as Richard Bucket, the long-suffering husband of Hyacinth. He also starred in the BBC adaptation of The Barchester Chronicles and appeared in the Doctor Who story Revelation of the Daleks. On 25 December 2007, he appeared in a Doctor Who Christmas special as Mr Copper. He also played Sir Ector, the adoptive father of King Arthur in John Boorman's 1981 film Excalibur.
Swift was formerly married to novelist Margaret Drabble (1960–75). He is the father of one daughter, Rebecca, who runs the Literary Consultancy in London's Free Word Centre and two sons, Adam Swift, an academic, and Joe Swift, a TV gardener.
As well as acting, he is a songwriter. Many of his songs are included in his show, Richard Bucket Overflows: An Audience with Clive Swift, which toured the UK in 2007 and Clive Swift Entertains, performing his own music and lyrics, which toured the UK in 2009. He also played the part of the Reverend Eustacius Brewer in Born and Bred, which aired on BBC 1 from 2002–05.
Film []
- A Midsummernights Dream (1968)
- Death Line (1972)
- Frenzy (1972)
- The National Health (1973)
- Man at the Top (1973)
- Romeo and Juliet (1976)[2]
- Excalibur (1981)
- A Passage to India (1984)
- Gaston's War (1997)
- Othello (2004)
Television []
- Hustle (TV series) as Yusef
- The Old Guys as Roy
- Bless Me Father as art dealer
- Born and Bred as Reverend Brewer
- Peak Practice as Norman Shorthose
- Aristocrats (TV mini-series) as King George II
- Keeping Up Appearances as Richard Bucket
- Heartbeat as Victor Kellerman
- Doctor Who
- Revelation of the Daleks as Jobel
- Voyage of the Damned as Mr Copper
- Waugh on Crime as Inspector Waugh
- Beasts – "The Dummy" as Bunny
- First Among Equals as Alec Pimkin
- Inspector Morse – The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn as Doctor Bartlett
- The Liver Birds – as Jim Royle
- Stalls of Barchester
- Barchester Chronicles
- A Warning to the Curious
- South Riding
- The Pickwick Papers (1985 television series)
- The Pickwick Papers (2009 – present)
Radio []
- Oblomov as the Doctor
- The Right Time
- From Fact to Fiction – The Orchard as the Narrator
- Measure for Measure as Escalus
- "Jorrocks's Jaunts and Jollities" as Nash
- "The Price of Fear – Remains to be Seen" as Fred Trebor
Stage []
- Cymbeline (1962) as Cloten
Television roles []
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | The Nesbitts Are Coming | Ernie Nesbitt |
| 1985 | The Pickwick Papers | Tracy Tupman |
| 1985/2007 | Doctor Who | Jobel/Mr. Copper |
| 1990 to 1995 | Keeping Up Appearances | Richard Bucket |
| 2009 to August 2010 | The Old Guys | Roy Bowden |