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Tributes are paid to the actor Richard Briers

Tributes are paid to the actor Richard Briers

TRIBUTES have been paid to the actor Richard Briers who has passed away at the age of 79.

Mr. Briers, who was a cousin of the actor Terry Thomas, will be best remembered for his role as Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life (see below). The series, which also starred Felicity Kendall, Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington, ran between 1975 and 1978.

His earlier career had included roles in a number of films, including Bottoms Up (1960) and Murder She Said (1961), and in television shows which included Marriage Lines and Bird on the Wing.

He had also worked on shows made for children, including Jackanory and Roobarb and Custard which he narrated.

After The Good Life he went on to star in another successful TV sitcom, Ever Decreasing Circles. Other TV work in recent years included Monarch Of The Glen.

However, in the late 1980s he returned to the stage after joining Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Renaissance Theatre Company and going on to play a number of challenging roles including King Lear.

He also appeared as Bardolph in Branagh’s 1989 film of Henry V and as Don Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing (1993).

His final roles were in two films which were released in 2012 — Run For Your Wife and Cockneys vs Zombies.

Only weeks before his death, Mr. Briers revealed he was suffering from a serious lung condition. He blamed his condition on having smoked for most of his life.

Among the many tributes to be paid to the much loved actor, who was awarded the O.B.E. in 1989, was one from Sir Kenneth Branagh. He said: “Richard was a national treasure, a great actor and a wonderful man. He was greatly loved and he will be deeply missed.”

Mr. Briers passed away at his home in London. He is survived by his wife Ann Davies and their two daughters.

To view an excerpt from The Good Life, click here.

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