Patrick Murray (actor)

Patrick Noel Murray (17 December 1956 – 29 September 2025) was a British actor. He was most notable for his role as Mickey Pearce in Only Fools and Horses from 1983 to 2003. He also had roles in ITV Playhouse (1977), Scum and Quadrophenia (1979), Breaking Glass (1980), Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), Bergerac (1983), Dempsey and Makepeace (1986), and The Firm (1989).

Early life and career

Patrick Noel Murray was born in Greenwich on 17 December 1956, to Juana Romero, a Spanish dancer and Patrick Murray, an Irish tunnel miner.<ref name="Independent">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Inside">Template:Cite news</ref> He attended St Thomas the Apostle College. He started acting in stage plays when he turned 15 after seeing a theatrical agency advert.<ref name="Hayward-2025">Template:Cite news</ref>

One of his first roles was in the television series The Terracotta Horse, playing the character David Jackson, which earned him some initial recognition.<ref name="SOP">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1977, he appeared in the television play Scum, playing the character Dougan alongside Ray Winston's Carlin. Following the BBC's banning of the broadcast due to excessive violence, its director, Alan Clarke, remade the play into a feature film of the same name in 1979, where Murray was one of the six original cast members to reprise their roles.<ref name="Hayward-2025" /> Following this, Murray would continue to make small appearances in films, such as in Quadrophenia (1979) alongside Sting, Toyah Willcox, Michael Elphick and Timothy Spall,<ref name="quad">Template:Cite web</ref> in Breaking Glass (1980), and as the bellboy in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983).<ref name="Hayward-2025" />

Murray's longest role was as Mickey Pearce in 20 episodes of Only Fools and Horses between 1983–2003, starring alongside David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst.<ref name="brit">Template:Cite web</ref> First mentioned in episodes starting in 1981 before making a physical appearance in the 1983 Healthy Competition, according to Murray, the character was conceived as a "Del Boy-lite". Murray was auditioned for the role after producer Ray Butt had noticed him in a television advertisement for Pizza Hut. He started working on the show three days after his audition.<ref name="Hayward-2025" /> His role as Mickey has since been described as a fan-favourite of the series,<ref name="pk">Template:Cite news</ref> and would regularly appear at Only Fools fan conventions;<ref name="Graph">Template:Cite web</ref> his popularity caused him to make regular appearances in the show up to its finale in Christmas 2003.<ref name="Hayward-2025" /> This role led to him being offered a variety of guest appearances in television series such as The Upper Hand,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Return of Shelley, The Bill (in two different roles) and Dempsey and Makepeace, as well as in the 1989 film The Firm,<ref name="Hayward-2025" /> alongside Gary Oldman.<ref name="firm">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2013, Murray appeared Vikingdom as Alcuin,<ref name="Vik">Template:Cite web</ref> a wizard saved by the characters Sven (Craig Fairbrass); Brynna (Natassia Malthe); and Yang (Jon Foo).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2015, he made a brief return to acting, featuring in the television series Endeavour,<ref name="NME">Template:Cite web</ref> and in the short film The Profession of Violence.<ref name="SOP" /> His final role was as the cockney gangster Frank Bridges in the TV series Conditions,<ref name="Hayward-2025" /> co-starring alongside Fenella Fielding.<ref name="Graph" /> Originally filmed in 2019 during his brief return to acting,<ref name="Hayward-2025" /> the appearance is set to air posthumously as the series has yet to have a release date.<ref name="SOP" />

Personal life and death

Murray married Shelley Wilkinson in 1981; the couple had three sons before divorcing in 1996. In 2016, he married Anong in Thailand, and they later had one daughter.<ref name="Hayward-2025" />

In 2017, returning to England, Murray gave up acting and became a taxi driver in order to comply with minimum income rules for citizens who wished to bring non-European spouses to England, to allow his wife and daughter to settle in England with him.<ref name="mirror"/><ref name="record">Template:Cite web</ref> They later managed to obtain a visa.<ref name="ED"/>

In 2018, Murray was planning to take part in a bus trip that would raise money for Demelza, a children's hospice. However, the trip was called off at the last minute as Murray revealed he was receiving treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).<ref name="mirror">Template:Cite web</ref> The trip would have included him entertaining 70 fans while travelling from Leysdown-on-Sea in Kent to Margate.<ref name="mirror"/> Murray wanted to complete the trip at a later date.<ref name="mirror"/>

In January 2021, Murray revealed that he was diagnosed with lung cancer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Subsequent scans also found a tumour in his liver, for which he had surgery to remove half of his liver.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In May 2022, after a transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), he announced that he had been given the all-clear on his lung cancer and treatment had been successful.<ref name="ED">Template:Cite web</ref> However, in April 2023, he revealed the lung cancer had returned and spread.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Murray died from lung cancer in Rochester, Kent, on 29 September 2025, at the age of 68.<ref name="pk" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Template:Abbr
1976	The Moon Over the Alley	Ronnie Gusset	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1978	The Class of Miss MacMichael	Boysie	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1979	Scum	Dougan	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Quadrophenia	Des	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1980	Breaking Glass	Injured boy	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1983	Curse of the Pink Panther	Bellboy	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1984	Haunters of the Deep	Jack	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1989	The Firm	Nunk	<ref name="Graph" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2013	Vikingdom	Alcuin	<ref name="Vik" />
2023	The Profession of Violence	Martin C	<ref name="SOP" />

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Abbr
1973	Centre Play	Colin	Series 1 Episode 1: "Places Where They Sing"	<ref name="RU">Template:Cite web</ref>
1973	New Scotland Yard	Jimmy Lampard	Series 32 Episode 6: "Property, Dogs & Women"	<ref name="Inside" />
1973	The Terracotta Horse	David Jackson	6 episodes	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1977	Scum	Dougan	Television play	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1977, 1980	ITV Playhouse	Bobby / Telephone man	Two episodes: S9 E9 & S12 E12	<ref name="NS">Template:Cite web</ref>
1978	Premiere	Mul		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1979	Turning Year Tales	College	"Big Jim and the Figaro Club"	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1980	Keep It in the Family	Blackie	S2.E3 "Games People Play"	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1983–1996, 2001–2003	Only Fools and Horses	Mickey Pearce	20 episodes	<ref name="brit" />
1983	Down in the Valley	Valley person	Television film	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1983	Bergerac	Barman	S3.E2 "A Hole in the Bucket"	<ref name="NS" />
1985	Florence Nightingale	Young Soldier	Television film	<ref name="RU" />
1986	Dempsey and Makepeace	Launderette Manager	Episode: "Out of Darkness"	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1987	Pulaski	Reporter	S1 E2 "The Price of Fame"	<ref name="RU" />
1988	Crossbow	Garth's Son	S2 E2 "Birthright"	<ref name="RU" />
1988	The Return of Shelley	William	S7	<ref name="RU" />
1990–1996	The Upper Hand	Joey		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1993	Lovejoy	Dave the Dealer	Episode: "They Call Me Midas"	<ref name="Yahoo">Template:Cite web</ref>
1994, 1997	The Bill	Barry Eaton / Harvey Cook	"Big Eagle Day" S10 E51; "Hunt" S13 E99	<ref name="Yahoo" />
2015	Endeavour			<ref name="NME" />
2019	Conditions	Frank Bridges	13 episodes	<ref name="Hayward-2025" /><ref name="Graph" />

External links

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