Paul Barber (actor)

Template:Short description Template:About-otherpeople Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Paul Barber (born Patrick Barber, 18 March 1951)<ref>Barber, Paul. Foster Kid: A Liverpudlian childhood. (Autobiography)</ref> is an English actor from Toxteth, Liverpool.<ref name="making"/> In a career spanning more than 45 years, he is best known for playing Denzil in Only Fools and Horses and Horse in The Full Monty. He also had two small parts in Coronation Street, first as Nelson in 2004 then as Billy Arrowsmith in 2008.

Early life

Barber was taken into care at the age of seven, following the death of his mother, Margret, from tuberculosis.<ref name="care">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His mother was from Middlesbrough. His father died when Patrick (or Paddy as he was then known) and his brothers Brian, Paul, Mike and sisters Claudette and Lorraine were very young.<ref name="care"/> Whilst he was in care, he was abused both physically and mentally.<ref name="care"/> He notes that he has suffered like others, but channelled his emotions into acting.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Acting career

Barber began on the stage in the musical Hair.<ref name="making">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His first major TV role was as Sam "Lucky" Ubootu in the 1974 ITV Playhouse production Lucky, set in Liverpool and made by Granada TV.<ref name=":BFI:" /> He then played the flamboyant but vicious gang boss Malleson in a Play for Today episode and Series 1 of the off-beat BBC Birmingham-based series Gangsters from 1975 to 1976.<ref name="diamond"/> He played Louis St John in four episodes of I Didn't Know You Cared from 1976 to 1978. A later starring role was alongside Philip Whitchurch in the mid-1980s ITV comedy series The Brothers McGregor.<ref name="diamond">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Barber has worked extensively in British TV, such as in To the Manor Born (1979) as a Jamaican steel band musician;<ref name="diamond"/> Minder (1980) as Willie Reynolds in episode Don't Tell Them Willie Boy was Here; Only Fools and Horses (1981–2003);<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Boys from the Blackstuff (1982); and as Malcolm in The Front Line;<ref name="diamond"/>

In 1991, he played Earl Preston, a football coach, in the BBC Screen One television play, Alive and Kicking.<ref name="diamond"/> In 1995, he appeared as ill-fated social worker Ian McVerry in an episode of Cracker opposite Robbie Coltrane, John Simm and Liam Cunningham, and he played Greg Salter in Brookside (1994).<ref name="diamond"/>

Barber made a guest appearance in the first episode of The Green Green Grass— a spin-off from Only Fools and Horses.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was best known for his role in Only Fools and Horses, and still attends fan conventions for the show.

In 2008, he had a small part in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street playing a club owner, Nelson, an acquaintance of Vernon Tomlin.<ref name="diamond"/>

In Terry Pratchett's Going Postal (2010) he played a pin-fanatic shop owner.<ref name=":BFI:">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also starred in White Van Man as Hooky Pete in February 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2012, Barber played the role of Captain in Sky 1's Sinbad.<ref name="diamond"/> In 2014, He appeared as Captain Jack Parrot in Death in Paradise on 18 February 2014.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Barber also appeared as Fieldhouse in Home from Home in the 2016 pilot episode, and he appeared again in the 2018 series.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2017, Barber guest-starred in two episodes of the CBBC Tracy Beaker spin-off series The Dumping Ground as a homeless man, George.<ref name="diamond"/>

The following year, Barber appeared in two episodes of Casualty as Ernest Maxwell, reprising the role in 2019. He had previously appeared in Casualty a number of times as other characters.<ref name="diamond"/>

Film work

He had small roles in the big-screen version of Porridge (1979) and The Long Good Friday (1980).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Barber's best known role was playing one of the stripping steelworkers in the 1997 film The Full Monty.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He reunited with Full Monty co-star Robert Carlyle and Samuel L. Jackson in the Liverpool-based crime film The 51st State (2001).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2002, He played the role of Luther in the drama The Hidden City.<ref name="diamond"/> In 2006, he starred in the feature film Dead Man's Cards, Barber again returned to Merseyside, playing the part of Paul, the head doorman at a Liverpool club.<ref name=":BFI:" />

In the 2014 film One Night in Istanbul, Barber plays a cabbie who is down on his luck and with his friend, Tommy, strikes a deal with a local gangster that allows them to take their young sons to watch Liverpool Football Club play in Turkey.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Paul Barber was cast alongside fellow UK comedy stars Alexei Sayle and Ricky Tomlinson in 2017's Gloves off.<ref name="diamond"/> He also appears in the 2022 crime action thriller film Renegades<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and stars in the 2024 horror film The Baby in the Basket.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

Barber was awarded an honorary doctorate from Liverpool John Moores University in July 2011 for 'outstanding contribution to the performing arts'.<ref name="ljmu">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="tox"/> He lives in Clacton, Essex.<ref name="tox">Template:Cite news</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	The Quality Connection	Jim	Short film
1979	Porridge	Morgan
1980	The Long Good Friday	Erroll
	The Terence Davies Trilogy	(segment: Madonna and Child)	Trilogy of short films
1983		(segment: Death and Transfiguration)
1993	U.F.O.	Doctor Who (voice)
1994	Priest	Charlie
1997	The Full Monty	Horse
2000	Wild About Harry	Professor Simmington
2001	The 51st State	Frederick
2002	Mad Dogs	Jimmy Joyce
2003	The Virgin of Liverpool	Winston Churchill
2004	French Fries on the Golden Front	Clown	Short film
2006	Splinter	Dan
	Dead Man's Cards	Paul
2010	Mam	The Chemist	Short film
2011	The Turtle & the Nightingale	Liam's Dad
2012	The Boxer	Joe
2013	The Magnificent Eleven	Trainer
	The Pugilist's Son	Jimmy Gotts	Short film
	The Grendel Toots	Paul
2014	One Night in Istanbul	Gerry
2016	Souls	Barrie	Short film
2017	Gloves Off	Albert
2018	A Stitch in Time	Ant	Short film
2019	Down	Dennis
2020	Hickory Dickory Dock	Winston
2022	Renegades	Harris
2023	The One Note Man	Florist	Short film
2024	The Baby in the Basket	Amos

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974	ITV Playhouse	Sam 'Lucky' Ubootu	Episode: Lucky
1975	Play for Today	Malleson	Episode: Gangsters
	Z-Cars	Gambler	Episode: "Eviction"
1976	Gangsters	Malleson	6 episodes
1976–1978	I Didn't Know You Cared	Louis St. John
1978	Crown Court	Lennie Jackson	Episode: "Does Your Mother Know You're Out?"
	Mixed Blessings	Man in robe	Episode: "The Housewarming"
1979	To the Manor Born	Mackenzie McLeod	Episode: "The Summer Hunt Ball"
	Return of the Saint	Winston	Episode: "The Obono Affair"
1980	Minder	Willie Reynolds	Episode: "Don't Tell Them Wille Boy Was Here"
	Cribb	George Williams	Episode: "Wobble to Death"
1981	The Chinese Detective	Ned	Episode: "Ice and Dust"
1982	Boys from the Blackstuff	Docks – Scotty	Episode: "Moonlighter"
	Muck and Brass	Louis Delano	Episode: "Open Government"
1982–1985	The Front Line	Malcolm	6 episodes
1983–1996, 2001–2003	Only Fools and Horses	Denzil Tulser	18 episodes
1984	Charlie	2nd Electrician	Episode: "If You're Not Part of the Solution, You're Part of the Problem"
1985–1988	The Brothers McGregor	Wesley McGregor	26 episodes
1987	Carrott Confidential	Various Characters	1 episode
1989	All Change	Driver (Series Two)	TV series
1990	Boon	Angus	Episode: "Trouble in the Fields"
	ScreenPlay	Drugs Counsellor	Episode: "Needle"
	Chancer	Gerald	11 episodes
1991	Screen One	Earl Preston	Episode: "Alive and Kicking"
	Taking the Floor	Security Guard 2	Episode: "Dancing in the Dark"
1991–2019	Casualty	Ernest Maxwell/Carl Myers/Cliff Sidwell ...	11 episodes
1993	The Lodge	Winston	Episode: "Worthy Causes"
1993–1995	The Bill	Ade Fellowes/Ted	2 episodes
1994	99-1	Bobby Fletcher	Episode: "Doing the Business"
1995	The Big One	Security Guard	TV film
	Cracker	Ian McVerry	Episode: "Best Boys: Part One"
1997	The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling	Adderley	1 episode
	The Drew Carey Show	Paul Barber	Episode: "The Dog and Pony Show"
1999	Harbour Lights	Cordell Johnson	Episode: "Baywatch"
2000	Taggart	Jimmy McEvoy	Episode: "Football Crazy"
2002	Nice Guy Eddie	Big Dawn	2 episodes
	Holby City	Sean Meacher	Episode: "Gamblers"
	The Hidden City	Luther	TV film
	Babyfather	Landlord	1 episode
	Single Voices	Godfrey	Episode: "Little Pinch of Chilli"
2003–2018	Doctors	Gary Alan/Ned Heath	2 episodes
2004–2008	Coronation Street	Nelson/Billy Arrowsmith	3 episodes
2005	The Green Green Grass	Denzil Tulser	Episode: "Keep on Running"
2006	The Street	First Patient	Episode: "Stan"
	Dalziel and Pascoe	Clive Griffin	2 episodes
2007	Liverpool Nativity	Landlord	TV film
2008	The Invisibles	Young Nick	6 episodes
	Caught in a Trap	Donald	TV film
2010	Terry Pratchett's Going Postal	Dave Pins	2 episodes
2012	Sinbad	Captain	Pilot
	Preston Passion	Simon	TV film
	White Van Man	Hooky Pete	Episode: "Charity"
2013	The Slammer	The Balloonatic	Episode: "The Balloonatic"
2014	Death in Paradise	Captain Jack	1 episode
2017	The Dumping Ground	George	2 episodes
2018	Home from Home	Fieldhouse	5 episodes
	The Card Room Chronicles	Charlie	Episode: "Card Room Chronicles"
2019	Moving On	Geoff	Episode: "A Walk in My Shoes"
	The Small Hand	Brother Thierry	TV film
	A Very British Christmas	Paul
2021	Matchmakers	Gladstone	6 episodes
2021	Call The Bailiffs: Time To Pay Up	Narrator	6 episodes
2023	The Full Monty	Barrington "Horse" Mitchell	TBC

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0053448

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• Rare British Television Reviews – The Front Line
• BBC article