Lennard Pearce

Leonard Pearce
Leonard Pearce
	Pearce as Grandad in Only Fools and Horses
Born	31 October 1915; Paddington, London, England
Died	15 December 1984 (aged 69); Archway, London, England
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1930s–1984
Television	Only Fools and Horses (1981–1984)

Leonard Pearce (31 October 1915 – 15 December 1984) was an English actor who worked in theatre and television. He was perhaps best known for playing Grandad in the BBC television series Only Fools and Horses, from 1981 until his death in December 1984.

Early life

Born in Paddington as the youngest of five children, Pearce's father Sidney was killed in action during World War I. He trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.^[1]

Career

Theatre

As a young actor in the 1930s, Pearce joined a performance tour in Germany. According to Nicholas Lyndhurst, one theatrical performance was attended by senior members of the Nazi Party.^[2] At the end of the show, party officials came backstage to congratulate the cast, and Pearce shook hands with Adolf Hitler.^[2] Lyndhurst claimed that Pearce said that he regretted not taking the opportunity to kill Hitler.^[2]

During World War II, Pearce performed for the Entertainments National Service Association. In the early 1960s, he understudied for Stanley Holloway as Alfred P. Doolittle in the original West End production of My Fair Lady.^[3] After 1965, he appeared in many plays at the National Theatre,^[3] including Much Ado About Nothing and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.^[3] He worked with both Laurence Olivier and Anthony Hopkins on stage. In 1966, Pearce starred in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Rivals alongside David Jason, but Pearce and Jason did not meet again until 15 years later.^[3]

In 1975, Pearce played Owl in a theatre adaptation of Winnie the Pooh at the Phoenix Theatre in London, and two years later, Mr. Witherspoon in Arsenic and Old Lace at the Westminster Theatre.^[3] He was also a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.^[3]

Television

Pearce's television work includes Dixon of Dock Green (1965), Dr. Finlay's Casebook (1967),^[4] Sykes (1972) and Coronation Street in May 1969 and April 1977, along with The Wednesday Play ("Cathy Come Home", 1966). Pearce also appeared in a Crown Court broadcast in February 1984.^[4]

In 1981, Pearce began his role as Grandad in the first three series of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses.^[1] He appeared in a 1984 episode of Minder named "The Balance of Power" and played Mr. Coles in three episodes of Shroud for a Nightingale in March 1984.^[4] Pearce's last television appearance was on Children in Need, broadcast on BBC1 on 23 November 1984.^[4]

Health problems and death

In 1980, while Pearce was a cast member of a play running at the Bristol Old Vic, he began to lose his balance and would frequently fall asleep. He was diagnosed with critical hypertension^[1] and was prescribed medication. A heavy smoker for many years, Pearce was in poor health while filming the first episode of Series 4 of Only Fools and Horses.^[5] He suffered a heart attack on 12 December 1984 and was rushed by ambulance to Whittington Hospital, where his condition improved.^[5] Two days later, Only Fools and Horses scriptwriter John Sullivan visited Pearce and assured him that his place in the programme would be left open for him when he recovered.^[5] After he was discharged, Pearce died instantly on 15 December after suffering a second heart attack at his flat in Archway. He was 69 years old.

Sullivan heard the news the following morning and informed Pearce's Only Fools and Horses costars David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, who were devastated by Pearce's sudden death, as were the entire crew.^[5]

When Pearce died, production had begun for the Only Fools and Horses episode "Hole in One."^[6] The episode was rewritten around Grandad's death, and scenes that had been filmed on location with Pearce were reshot with Buster Merryfield as the replacement character Uncle Albert.^[6] The episode "Strained Relations" begins in the wake of the death of the Grandad character.^[6]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1961	The Wind of Change	Market trader	Uncredited
1976	Face of Darkness	Edward Langdon

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1957–1958	Our Miss Pemberton	Edward Simpson	6 episodes
1959	The Case Before You	Victor Hardwick	Episode: #1.1
1964	Melissa	Detective Sergeant Heston	Episode: "Part 4"
1964	No Hiding Place	1st Ambulance man	Episode: "Aftertaste"
1958–1964	Armchair Theatre	Albert Waite Bill Brough	2 episodes
1964	Thorndyke	Shenston	Episode: "The Puzzle Lock"
1965	The Sullavan Brothers	Prison officer Gunter	Episode: "Put Them Away for Keeps"
1965	Undermind	Gregson	Episode: "Test for the Future"
1965	Blackmail	George Dickson - Night Watchman	Episode: "Kill Me"
1965	Dixon of Dock Green	Mr. Kemp	Episode: "Act of Violence"
1966	The Newcomers	Man in Courtroom	Episode: #1.75
1966	Emergency-Ward 10	Dr. Hammond, MOH	Episode: #1.936
1966	The Wednesday Play	Ratepayer	Episode: "Cathy Come Home"
1969	Market in Honey Lane	Jasper Tewkes	Episode: #3.52
1969	The First Lady	Gierson	Episode: "To Hell with Purity"
1969	Coronation Street	Mr. Bracegirdle	Episode: #1.876
1967–1969	Dr. Finlay's Casebook	Consultant John Dow Pearson	3 episodes
1970	A Family at War	Cowking	Episode: "Hope Against Hope"
1970	Nearest and Dearest	Doctor	Episode: "Make Yourself at Home"
1971	Take Three Girls	Fulton	Episode: "Coda and Resolution"
1971	Advent of Steam	Trundell	Episode: "The Iron Horse: Part 1"
1971	Under and Over	Secretary	Episode: "The Chaotic Ceilidh"
1972	Softly, Softly: Task Force	Pearson	Episode: "The Amateur"
1972	Sykes	Club Member	Episode: "Uncle"
1974	Marked Personal	Mr. Potts	2 episodes
1974	Antony and Cleopatra	Cleopatra's Schoolteacher	TV movie
1975	Zigger Zagger	Headmastr	Episode: #1.1
1976	Victorian Scandals	Detective Sergeant Simmonds	Episode: "The Fruits of Philosophy"
1976	Within These Walls	Mr. Kearny	Episode: "The Mystery"
1977	Seven Faces of Woman	Customer in pub	Episode: "She: The Barfly"
1980	Hammer House of Horror	Rector	Episode: "Witching Time"
1980	Play for Today	Patient	Episode: "Name for the Day"
1981	Second Chance	Registrar	Episode: "April II"
1981	Bless Me, Father	Clerk of the Court	Episode: "Porgy and Bess"
1981	Diamonds	Priest	Episode: "My End is my Beginning"
1982	Only Fools and Horses: Christmas Trees	Grandad Trotter (Edward "Ted" Trotter)	TV Short
1982	The Funny Side of Christmas	Grandad Trotter (Edward "Ted" Trotter)	TV movie
1981–1983	Only Fools and Horses	Grandad Trotter (Edward "Ted" Trotter)	22 episodes
1984	Miracles Take Longer	Elderly man	Episode: #2.3
1984	Crown Court	Ronald Wardle	Episode: "Mother Figures: Part 1"
1984	Shroud for a Nightingale	Mr. Coles	3 episodes
1984	Minder	George	Episode: "The Balance of Power"
1984	Only Fools and Horses: Licensed to Drill	Grandad Trotter (Edward "Ted" Trotter)	Video