Brian Hall (actor)

Brian Hall
Hall as Terry in Fawlty Towers.
Born
Brian Charles Hall

(1937-11-20)20 November 1937
London, England
Died16 September 1997(1997-09-16) (aged 59)
Worthing, England
OccupationActor
Years active1971–1994
SpouseMarlene Hall
Children4

Brian Charles Hall (20 November 1937 – 16 September 1997) was a British actor. He is best remembered for his role as hotel chef Terry Hughes in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers.

Career

Hall began his career on stage, appearing in productions at the Royal Court Theatre and with the Royal Shakespeare Company.[1] On screen, he played many hard-boiled tough guy Cockney roles: his role as the amiable chef Terry in Fawlty Towers was a casting against type. He played leading roles in police drama Softly, Softly: Task Force (1971–72), crime drama McVicar (1980), and sitcom You Must Be The Husband (1987). He also had several guest-starring roles in The Professionals, The Long Good Friday, The Bill, London's Burning, The Sweeney and Minder in Series 1 episode You Gotta Have Friends. He also played the Dad in Billy Webb's Amazing Story by Steve Attridge (1991 BBC)[2]

Personal life and death

Hall was born on 20 November 1937, and had an interest in acting from an early age.[1] He worked as a cab driver before starting a professional acting career.[1]

Hall became friends with John Cleese when they appeared together in Fawlty Towers. Some years after the series had finished, Cleese sent Hall an autographed picture as a joke. Hall wrote back and demanded a "signed Rolls-Royce car" instead. Cleese sent him back a car – a children's toy car.[1]

Hall and his wife, Marlene, had four children. He died at a hospice in Worthing on 16 September 1997, aged 59, after a three-year battle with cancer.[1] Cleese paid tribute, saying: "I am very upset. I was particularly fond of Brian and had several conversations with him this year. I admire profoundly the way in which he dealt with his cancer. I do not know where he found the strength".[3] A year before his death, Hall told the Mirror: "Cancer is a bully and I hate bullies. This old boy cancer will get about as much change out of me as all the other bullies I've met – nothing."[citation needed]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1973 Adolf Hitler – My Part in His Downfall MP Sergeant
1973 Yellow Dog Bertram
1974 From Beyond the Grave Man on Phone Uncredited
1974 Confessions of a Window Cleaner 2nd Removal Man
1974 The Land That Time Forgot Schwartz
1976 Trial by Combat Policeman with Alsatian
1976 Voyage of the Damned Ship Waiter Uncredited
1978 Sweeney 2 Haughton
1979 Fawlty Towers Terry Hughes TV series
1980 Sweet William
1980 McVicar Terry Stokes
1980 The Long Good Friday Alan
1981 Break in the Sun Eddie Green TV series
1983 Up The Elephant And Round The Castle Brian TV series
1991 The Grass Arena George TV series

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Brian Hall". The Times. 1 October 1997. p. 21.
  2. ^ Billy Webb's Amazing Story, BBC Drama, by Steve Attridge
  3. ^ Hughes, Chris (18 September 1997). "Fawlty chef Terry dead". Daily Record. p. 19. Retrieved 28 November 2023 – via Newspapers.com.