Wilfrid Brambell

Acting

Wilfrid Brambell

Born March 22, 1912 · Dublin, Ireland

Died January 18, 1985 · aged 72

Henry Wilfrid Brambell (22 March 1912 – 18 January 1985) was an Irish television and film actor and comedian, best remembered for his role in the television series Steptoe and Son. He also performed alongside The Beatles in their debut film A Hard Day's Night, playing the fictional grandfather of Paul McCartney.

Known For

A Hard Day's NightA Hard Day's Night · 1964
A Hard Day's Night
★ 7.31964
MovieComedyMusic
Capturing John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in their electrifying element, 'A Hard Day's Night' is a wildly irreverent journey through this pastiche of a day in the life of The Beatles during 1964. The band have to use all their guile and wit to avoid the pursuing fans and press to reach their scheduled television performance, in spite of Paul's troublemaking grandfather and Ringo's arrest.
Cry WolfCry Wolf · 1968
Cry Wolf
★ 6.31968
MovieDramaFamily
A highly imaginative boy involves his friends in a series of false alarms, with the result that nobody will come to his aid when he is involved in a dangerous situation.
Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green KnightSword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight · 1984
Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
★ 5.21984
MovieAdventureFantasy
Gawain was a squire in King Arthur's court when the Green Knight burst in and offered to play a game with a brave knight. Gawain journeys across the land, learning about life, saving damsels, and solving the Green Knight's riddle.
Witchfinder GeneralWitchfinder General · 1968
Witchfinder General
★ 6.51968
MovieDramaHistory
England, 1645. The cruel civil war between Royalists and Parliamentarians that is ravaging the country causes an era of chaos and legal arbitrariness that allows unscrupulous men to profit by exploiting the absurd superstitions of the peasants; like Matthew Hopkins, a monster disguised as a man who wanders from town to town offering his services as a witch hunter.
Odd Man OutOdd Man Out · 1947
Odd Man Out
★ 7.31947
MovieCrimeDrama
Belfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.
The Three Lives of ThomasinaThe Three Lives of Thomasina · 1963
The Three Lives of Thomasina
★ 6.81963
MovieFantasyDrama
Thomasina the cat brings a family together through her mysterious death and reappearance.
Steptoe & Son Ride AgainSteptoe & Son Ride Again · 1973
Steptoe & Son Ride Again
★ 6.71973
MovieDramaComedy
Albert Steptoe and his son Harold are rag-and-bone men, complete with horse and cart to tour the neighbourhood. They also live amicably together at the junk yard. Always on the lookout for ways to improve his lot, Harold invests his father's life savings in a greyhound who is almost blind and can't see the hare. When the dog loses a race and Harold has to pay off the debt, he comes up with another bright idea. Collect his father's life insurance. To do this his father must pretend to be dead.
The Terence Davies TrilogyThe Terence Davies Trilogy · 1983
The Terence Davies Trilogy
★ 6.51983
MovieDrama
In stark black and white, Terence Davies excavates the life of his fictional alter ego, Robert Tucker, in a narrative that slips between childhood, middle age and death, shaping the raw materials of his own life into a rich tapestry of experiences and impressions.

Filmography

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San Ferry AnnSan Ferry Ann · 1965
San Ferry Ann
★ 6.41965
MovieComedy
A motley crew of British characters ride The San Ferry Ann to the shores of France where they embark on a weekend of calamity. The campervan family led by Dad and Mum (David Lodge and Joan Sims) create chaos from the moment they set their tires on the shore resulting in frequent run-ins with the Gendarme, while Lewd Grandad (Wilfred Brambell) finds his own misadventures with a newly acquainted friend, a mad German ex-soldier (Ron Moody). Also aboard for the ride is a saucy hitchhiker (Barbara Windsor) who causes a few heads to turn including that of a fellow traveller (Ronnie Stevens) who pursues her affection with comic results. By the end of this weekend the French may well be wishing to say 'au revoir' to these trouble-making tourists. San Ferry Ann is a humorous take on the tradition of the British get-away. A classic sound effect comedy that sits with the likes of similarly praised titles such as 'The Plank', 'Futtock's End' and 'Rhubarb Rhubarb'.

Grandad

Sunday Night TheatreSunday Night Theatre · 1950
Sunday Night Theatre
★ 3.51950
SeriesDrama
Sunday Night Theatre was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, partly because of technical limitations in this era, and the theatrical basis of early television drama. Some of the earliest collaborations between Rudolph Cartier and Nigel Neale were produced for this series, including Arrow to the Heart and Nineteen Eighty-Four. The Sunday night drama slot was subsequently renamed The Sunday-Night Play which ran for four seasons between 1960 and 1963. ITV transmitted its own unrelated run of Sunday Night Theatre between 1971 and 1974.

Old Man / Thin Prisoner