Bill Maynard
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Walter Frederick George Williams (born 8 October 1928 in Heath End, Farnham, Surrey) more commonly known as Bill Maynard, is a British comedian and actor.
| Bill Maynard | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 October 1928 Heath End, Farnham, Surrey) England |
| Years active | 1957–Present |
He attended Kibworth Beauchamp Grammar School and started as a variety performer, taking his professional surname from an advertising board (billboard) for Maynard's Wine Gums, a popular British confectionery. He placed fourth in the UK heat of the 1957 Eurovision Song Contest. With Terry Scott he appeared at Butlins Holiday Camp in Skegness and was teamed with him in the TV series Great Scott, It's Maynard!.
He was at first best known on TV for his role as Selwyn Froggitt in the sitcom Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt! and for playing Fred Moffatt in The Gaffer. In 1973, Maynard teamed up with BBC television actor and comedian Ronnie Barker in the (original) 'Football Blues' which aired as Spanners Eleven and was part of a series called Seven of One. In 1975 he had a film role as Yorkshire farmer Hinchcliffe in It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet. In 1992, he played Claude Jeremiah Greengrass in the popular and long running television series Heartbeat until 2001, and its spinoff series The Royal until about 2004. He is also known for small roles in some of the Carry On Films.
In the 1980s, Maynard stood against Tony Benn in a by-election at Chesterfield as an Independent Labour candidate. It was his only foray into politics and was purely to try to prevent Benn winning the seat and thus reentering Parliament as an MP. Benn won the seat; Maynard took fourth place.
Maynard wrote his autobiography 'The Yo-Yo Man' and having originally retired from acting in 2001 following a series of strokes he made a return and comeback to radio presenting in March 2003 for BBC Radio Leicester where he had last worked in 1968. His show airs every Sunday afternoon from 2-4 pm. Unfortunately Bill was unceremouniously sacked from this show on 5th Feb 2008. Although no reason was given by BBC Radio Leicester the general feeling of Leicestershire folk was Bill's unwillingness to conform to the PC Brigade and his honest outspokeness.
He is a vegetarian. His son is Maynard Williams.
[edit] Television Roles
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Seven of One | Councillor Todd |
| 1975 | The Sweeney | Quirk |
| 1975 | The Life Of Riley | Frank Riley |
| 1976 to 1977 | Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt! | Selwyn Froggitt |
| 1977 | Paradise Island | Rev Alexander Goodwin |
| 1978 | Selwyn | Selwyn Froggitt |
| 1981 to 1983 | The Gaffer | Fred Moffatt |
| 1984 | Minder | Barney Todd |
| 1985 to 1992 | In Sickness and in Health | Bert Luscombe |
| 1990 | Oddball Hall | Copperthewaite |
| 1991 | Screen One - Filipina Dreamgirls | George Trout |
| 1992 to 2000 | Heartbeat | Claude Greengrass |
| 2002 | Dalziel and Pascoe | Councillor Cyril Steel |
| 2003 | The Royal | Claude Greengrass |
[edit] External links
- Bill Maynard at the Internet Movie Database
- Bill Maynard at tv.com
- [1] Bill Maynard's "Stock Car Racing is Magic" lyrics]
- Bill Maynard's "Stock Car Racing is Magic" recording
