Raymond Adamson
Character & Episode: Jack Lacey in Murder Ain't What It Used To Be!
Born: 07/07/1920, Beckenham, Kent, England (as Raymond John Adamson)
Died: 25/03/2002, Kent, England

The son of an Irishman who moved to London, Raymond Adamson started his active stage career soon after the Second World War, spending his first three years touring with the West of England Theatre Company. From 1949 until the mid-1950s he was member of a repertory theatre in Bristol. Subsequently, he understudied Anthony Quayle in the production of the Eugene O'Neill play Long Day’s Journey into Night at the Globe Theatre and on tour, and played in other West End productions.

Raymond's earliest appearances on television came during the mid-1950s in such productions as David Copperfield (1956), The Man Who Was Two and Destination Downing Street (both in 1957). Later, Raymond featured in many well-remembered series including The Saint (1963 and 1966), The Avengers (four separate one-off roles between 1962 and 1969) and Within These Walls (1974-5). Often he would portray policemen or lawmen, figuring in roles of this type in productions such as Oliver Twist (1962), Out of This World (1962), Dixon of Dock Green (1966), The Baron (1966) and New Scotland Yard (1972). He also played a senator in Bergerac in the early 1980s. His final screen credit was as an auction porter in Seen a Ghost, an episode of the detective series Wycliffe in 1997.

On film, Raymond featured in The Man Inside (uncredited, 1958), A Man for All Seasons (uncredited, 1966), It! (1967) and Blue Juice (1995). He also featured in the short film The Orchard End Murder (1981).

Raymond’s career spanned a period of fifty years, making nearly one hundred screen appearances in this time. In addition to his acting career, he also produced the plays in repertory theatre, directed and wrote adaptations for radio, and saw print as a drama critic. He also had wide experience as an adjudicator through his membership of the Guild of Drama Adjudicators.

In his personal life, Raymond was twice married.

Lewis Alexander
Character & Episode: Audience Member in That's How Murder Snowballs
Born: 27/08/2010, Bedford, Bedfordshire, England (as Herbert Alexander Lewis)
Died: 23/10/2010, Felpham, West Sussex, England

Seen in a great many background roles in British television and film, Lewis Alexander is distinguished by being one of the few people to figure in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) who reached the grand old age of 100. A Bedfordshire native, he was born Herbert Alexander Lewis on August 27th 1910.

When not engaged in his regular work as an electrician, Lewis had a sideline career as a background artiste, gaining uncredited minor parts in British films and television shows from 1964 or thereabouts. A distinguished-looking gentleman with a noble bearing and an immaculately trimmed moustache, Lewis was most often cast as party guests, government officials, or patrons in either casinos or restaurants. In Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) he appears as a member of the audience at the Palace Theatre and, unusually for an extra, is afforded a close-up, albeit a brief one.

Lewis appeared in several ITC series including Espionage, Gideon's Way, Danger Man, The Prisoner, UFO, The Persuaders!, Jason King and at least nine episodes of The Saint. His film work included appearances in A Shot in the Dark (1964), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), Casino Royale (1967), The Tamarind Seed (1974) and four roles in Carry On films - Carry On Don't Lose Your Head (1967), Carry On Again Doctor (1969), Carry On Girls (1973) and Carry On Emmannuelle (1978).

Lewis often appeared on screen alongside his wife and fellow background player Aileen Lewis (1914-2014), and indeed that's just what he did in That's How Murder Snowballs. The couple married in 1936 and their appearances in film and television drew to a close in the mid-1980s.

Lewis died a centenarian on October 23, 2010 in Felpham, West Sussex, England. He was survived by wife Aileen, who herself lived to 99 years of age.

Tony Allen
Character & Episode: Third Ghost in The Trouble With Women /
Man in Identity Parade in Could You Recognise the Man Again?

Tony Allen worked as a bit part actor for a number of years, mainly in non-speaking roles. His earliest television appearance seems to have been in The Saint in 1964. In 1971 he played an irate driver in an episode of Please Sir! and the following year was one of the monks in Carry On Abroad. Later in 1977 he played Bill the driver in several episodes of the successful Seventies cop series The Sweeney alongside John Thaw and Dennis Waterman. One of his final screen appearances was as a French detective in the film The Great Riviera Bank Robbery (1979). As is common practice where TV and film 'extras' are concerned, he was never credited on screen for his work.

However, his screen appearances were only a sideline for Tony, who was also a talented tailor. From the early Eighties, Tony worked in the costume and wardrobe department on feature films, starting with Chariots of Fire (1981, on which he was credited as a tailor). Often credited for such work as Anthony Allen, he worked as wardrobe assistant on several further films, including Return to Oz (1985) and High Spirits (1988), before moving into television, where he first worked as an assistant costume designer on Peak Practice (6 episodes, 1994). He was engaged as wardrobe assistant on an episode of the popular detective series Inspector Morse in 1987 and returned to the show two years later as wardrobe master, responsible for costumes on 24 episodes between 1989 and 2000. Another series that also starred Morse actor John Thaw, Kavanagh QC, a courtroom drama, also provided costume work for Tony between 1995 and 2001. He retired in 2002 and died several years later.

Neal Arden
Character & Episode: 2nd Poker Player in The Trouble With Women
Born: 27/12/1909, Fulham, London, England (as Arthur Neal Aiston)
Died: 04/06/2014, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England

It is believed Neal Arden must be one of the oldest actors to have lived, as he was 104 when he died in 2014. He was a dependable character actor, well-known on radio and in theatre. He was born the son of Arthur Aiston, a music hall comedian, and Ruby Neal, a dancer. After joining his father in the variety halls as a child, he was educated at the Royal Masonic School in Bushey, Hertfordshire. He left school aged 16 to work in a factory making spectacles, and then spent three years as an officer in the British South Africa Mounted Police in Rhodesia.

He made his screen debut in the 1934 film Princess Charming. Other film credits over the years included the wartime anti-Nazi thriller Pimpernel Smith (1941, produced and directed by its star, Leslie Howard), John Wesley (1954) and The Shakedown (1960). His most substantial role was in Norman Walker's Life of St Paul (1938), in which he played the saint from beardless youth to bewhiskered old age. During the Second World War, Neal worked for the BBC's African Service, broadcasting on short wave from London. After the war, as well as Housewives' Choice, he ran his own musical radio show, Quiet Rhythm, which aired late on Sunday nights for 19 years. Though not so well-known as Housewives' Choice, it built up a loyal following. In the 1950s, Neal also wrote many scripts for the new Independent Television and record reviews for newspapers and magazines.

From 1968, he embarked on a new career as a hard-working charity fundraiser, first as appeals secretary for the Abbeyfield Society, then as appeals director for 13 years of the National Kidney Research Fund. Other charities with which he was involved included National Cancer Relief, the National Deaf Children's Society, Mencap and the National Autistic Society. Among other things, he raised more than £300,000 by compiling and selling recordings of songs and speeches by famous performers and musicians who agreed to forgo their royalties.

In his personal life, Neal was twice married. His first marriage was to Dorothy Brown in 1942. The couple had two children: Rosalind, who tragically died in a lift accident aged six, and a son, Richard. The relationship ended in divorce in 1951. After Dorothy's death, Neal married his second wife Julia Byfield in 1959, with whom he had a daughter, Carolyn, and a son, David. In 2005, he published his autobiography, A Man of Many Parts. One of his last acting roles was in the popular BBC drama serial I, Claudius as Cestis in 1976. Over the course of his career he notched up just over sixty television and screen appearances.

Graham Armitage
Character & Episode: Young Stage Director in It's Supposed To Be Thicker Than Water
Born: 24/04/1936, Manchester, Lancashire, England
Died: 06/03/1999, Johannesburg, South Africa

Graham Armitage graduated from RADA in 1952, shortly before making his debut in the BBC Television play Without The Prince (transmitted live on 16th September 1952). For the next twenty years he appeared on screen, mainly on television, being a cast regular in a number of shows long forgotten, such as United! and Mr Rose (though the latter has enjoyed a small revival since being released on DVD). Other notable roles came in programmes including The Saint, The Avengers and several appearances on The Dick Emery Show. He travelled to South Africa in 1973 to play in the Noel Coward revue Cowardy Custard and subsequently stayed on, soon becoming a well-known figure on local television and stage. His last appearance was in 1999 in the South African family movie Alec to the Rescue, in which he played the part of a vicar.

Robin Askwith
Character & Episode: Call Boy (Jimmy) in That's How Murder Snowballs
Born: 20/10/1950, Southport, Lancashire, England

As a boy, Robin Askwith overcame polio and attended Merchants Taylor School in Rickmansworth, though he was expelled after jokingly trying to rob a post office. Whilst at school Robin learned to play the drums and appeared in several school productions. He later took a place at Bristol University to study English and drama. He first appeared on television in a margarine advert and his film career began in 1968 with Otley, in which he played one of the children. His first proper acting role was in If..., made in the same year and starring Malcolm McDowell. The film has attained cult status for its attack on the upper-class society and its violent ending.

Other work followed and in 1969 he appeared in That's How Murder Snowballs. Over the next few years he steadily gained more work, including the children’s series Here Come The Double Deckers! (1970), Father, Dear Father (1971), The Fenn Street Gang (1971) and Bless This House (1972). In 1973 he appeared in Carry On Girls as a photographer called Larry Prodworthy who photographs Margaret Nolan topless on Brighton beach (doubling for its single entendre film equivalent, Fircombe). It would be his only work in the famous comedy series.

In 1974 he landed the role of Timothy Lea in the Confessions film series, which remains his most famous work. Robin was not the first choice as Richard Beckinsale (of Rising Damp), Richard O'Sullivan (Man About the House) and Dennis Waterman (The Sweeney) had already turned the role down. He made four of these comedy sex romps: Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974), Confessions of a Pop Performer (1975), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976) and Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977). In each film, he co-starred with Anthony Booth, famed for his 1966 to 1975 turn as Alf Garnett's "Scouse git" son-in-law in Till Death Us Do Part. Robin's longtime girlfriend actress Linda Hayden (1953- ) also appeared in two of the Confessions films. Due to the popularity of these films, Robin recorded a single record called Confessions which reached number 39 in the charts in 1977 and he even sang this song on Marc Bolan's television show, Marc.

The Confessions films made Robin a cult figure, though in the long term they arguably did his career more harm than good, as he became typecast. He appeared in other bawdy sex comedies that were less successful, such as Queen Kong (1976), Leslie Thomas' Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977) and Let’s Get Laid (with glamour model Fiona Richmond, 1978). His later works include 13 episodes as Dave Deacon in Bottle Boys (1984 to 85) and in 2013-14 he even appeared in several episodes of Coronation Street.

Askwith continues to act, with stage roles accounting for the greater part of his work in recent years, including a spin-off from the Confessions films, called The Further Confessions of a Window Cleaner. He did however feature in the 2012 film adaptation of Ray Cooney's stage farce Run for Your Wife. He has also performed in several pantomimes. He has written an entertaining autobiography called The Confessions of Robin Askwith (Ebury Press, 1999). For several years, Robin has lived on the island of Gozo in Malta. He has been married twice, firstly to actress Leonie Mellinger (1959-) and latterly to Mary Wilson. He has his own website - www.robinaskwith.com.

Roger Avon
Character & Episode: Uniformed Policeman in Money to Burn
Born: 23/11/1914, Jarrow, Durham, England
Died: 21/12/1998, London, England

A busy and well respected supporting actor, Roger Avon amassed more than one hundred and fifty film and television appearances and worked right up to his death in 1998 at the age of 84. Roger started his career as a film projectionist in 1928 when aged just 14. Originally starting in theatre, he went on to play walk-on and other small film roles shortly after the Second World War, but his first on-screen movie credit did not arrive until 1955, when he featured in the comedy film Fun at St. Fanny’s, with the film also featuring a very young Ronnie Corbett. Roger appeared in many television shows including Hancock’s Half Hour, Dad’s Army, Bless This House, When the Boat Comes In. Department S, Doctor Who, Our Friends in the North and latterly Blackadder the Third.

Amongst his numerous film credits contributions include Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D., The Likely Lads, Mutiny on the Buses, Quatermass and the Pit and Curse of the Crimson Altar.

In his personal life, Roger was married to dancer Rhoda Oatway from 1955 until his death in 1998, and the couple had a son, Crispin (born 1961) and a daughter, Melanie (born 1965). In 1984 Roger had a triple heart bypass operation and took two years to recover before returning to work, his last project being the TV series Grafters, which featured Robson Green - Roger died suddenly, shortly after completing filming.

Felix Aylmer OBE

Character & Episode: Joshua Crackan in It's Supposed To Be Thicker Than Water
Born: 21/02/1889, Corsham, Wiltshire, England (as Felix Edward Aylmer Jones)
Died: 02/09/1979, Pyrford, Woking, Surrey, England

Felix Aylmer was born in Wiltshire the son of Lilian (Cookworthy) and Thomas Edward Aylmer Jones. Felix was educated at King James' Grammar School, Almondbury, where he was a boarder from 1897 to 1900. He then went to Oxford and was educated at Magdalen College. It was while at Oxford that Felix started his acting career, becoming a member of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. He trained under the Victorian-era actress and director Rosina Filippi before securing his first professional engagement at the London Coliseum in 1911. His career was interrupted by the First World War in which he served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. After the war he resumed his stage career and made his screen debut in 1930. He would remain a popular character actor for the next forty years, notching up well over one hundred and fifty film and television appearances and remaining busy in theatre throughout his career.

He is fondly remembered for playing doddering old characters, his turn as Joshua Crackan being a typical example. One of his most notable film appearances was in 1944 when he played the Archbishop of Canterbury in The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France, Laurence Olivier's Shakespeare adaptation that is more commonly known as Henry V. He would later work again with Olivier and "the Bard" on Hamlet (1948) and would portray the Archbishop of Canterbury once more in Becket (1964). In 1950 he was awarded an OBE and then in 1965 he was appointed a Knight Bachelor for his services to drama. By the Sixties he had started to become more prominent on television, and he is well remembered for his role as Father Anselm in Oh! Brother (1968-1970), an ecclesiastical comedy series that featured Derek Nimmo. Felix often played wise old men, such as Merlin in Knights of the Round Table (1953). He even gave elocution lessons to the young Audrey Hepburn. His voice was frequently mimicked by comedians such as Peter Sellers and Kenneth Williams.

Felix was President of Equity from 1950 to 1969. In his personal life, Felix was married for fifty years to actress Cecily Byrne (1889-1975). The couple had two children, Jennifer and David. Their son David (1929-1964) was also an actor, and, tragically, committed suicide.