| Nicholas Lyndhurst | |
| Birth Name: | Nicholas Simon Lyndhurst |
| Birth Date: | 1961 4, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Emsworth, Hampshire, England |
| Alma Mater: | Corona Theatre School |
| Years Active: | 1973–present |
| Children: | 1 |
| Relatives: | Francis Lyndhurst (grandfather) |
Nicholas Simon Lyndhurst (born 20 April 1961) is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor and became best known for his role as Rodney Trotter in the sitcom Only Fools and Horses (1981–2003). He also had major roles in other sitcoms including Goodnight Sweetheart (1993–1999, 2016) (as Gary Sparrow), Going Straight (1978), Butterflies (1978–1983), The Two of Us (1986–1990), The Piglet Files (1990–1992) and After You've Gone (2007–2008). He starred in the comedy-drama series Rock & Chips (2010–2011) and co-starred in the procedural crime drama series New Tricks (2013–2015). In 2023, he was cast in the revival of the US sitcom Frasier.
Lyndhurst won two National Television Awards for his role in Goodnight Sweetheart, as well as being nominated for a British Comedy Award and three British Academy Television Awards for his role in Only Fools and Horses.
Lyndhurst was born in 1961, to Joe Lyndhurst and Liz Long, and raised in Emsworth, Hampshire. His parents met at the holiday camp run on the farm owned by Lyndhurst's grandfather, Francis Lyndhurst, a theatrical scenery painter and film director, who set up an early film studio at Shoreham Fort, Shoreham-by-Sea. Lyndhurst's parents separated when he was young, reuniting and separating permanently later on. Joe Lyndhurst had had an affair and started a family with another woman by the time Lyndhurst was eight, leaving Lyndhurst and his mother "poverty-stricken".[1] [2] He attended East Wittering Primary School.[3] He then attended the Corona Theatre School in Hammersmith, London,[4] where his friends included Lisa Vanderpump.[5]
Lyndhurst appeared in various television adverts and children's films in the 1970s before winning the starring role of Tom Canty/Prince Edward in a BBC Television version of The Prince and the Pauper,[3] directed by Barry Letts and transmitted in January 1976.[6] Lyndhurst gained increased national recognition two years later in two BBC sitcom roles - Raymond Fletcher, the teenage son of Ronnie Barker's Norman Stanley Fletcher in Going Straight,[3] and Adam Parkinson, a son of Wendy Craig and Geoffrey Palmer in Carla Lane's Butterflies.[3]
Lyndhurst achieved his best-known role in another BBC sitcom, Only Fools and Horses,[7] in which he played Rodney Trotter, the younger brother of the main character, Derek "Del Boy" Trotter, played by David Jason.[8] Only Fools and Horses was first aired in 1981 and increased in popularity until it reached its peak in 1996 with its Christmas Day show in the UK. In a BBC poll in 2004 it was voted Britain's Best Sitcom by television viewers.[9] Lyndhurst appeared in the show from the start until its final airing at Christmas 2003.
In 1986, Lyndhurst had a minor part in the film Gunbus/SkyBandits. The film went straight to video and was never seen in British cinemas. During the mid-1980s and 1990s Lyndhurst also played Ashley Phillips in ITV's The Two of Us, which co-starred Janet Dibley, and MI5 agent Peter "Piglet" Chapman in The Piglet Files, as well as in a number of stage performances.[10]
Between 1993 and 1999, he played the lead character of Gary Sparrow in the time-travelling sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart. At around the same time he was the face and voice on the TV and radio commercials for the telecommunications chain Peoples Phone. Lyndhurst said that he declined an opportunity to play the lead role of Gary in the 1997 British film The Full Monty.[11]
Between 1997 and 1999, Lyndhurst was the public face of the stationery chain store WH Smith, starring in their adverts as all four members of one family.[3] He won a BAFTA for his acting in the adverts.[3] In 1999 he played the villainous Uriah Heep opposite Daniel Radcliffe and Dame Maggie Smith in David Copperfield.[12]
In 2013, he joined the cast as a regular in the BBC police procedural series New Tricks alongside Dennis Waterman and Tamzin Outhwaite.[13] [14]
In 2016 Lyndhurst revived his Goodnight Sweetheart character, Gary Sparrow, in a one-off special episode, which aired on 2 September 2016.[15] In 2017, Lyndhurst played the role of Star Keeper in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel at the English National Opera.[16] In 2019, he played the Governor/Innkeeper in Man of La Mancha for English National Opera at the London Coliseum opposite Kelsey Grammer as Cervantes/Quixote, Danielle de Niese as Aldonza/Dulcinea and Peter Polycarpou as Sancho.[17] In January 2023, Lyndhurst was cast as Alan Cornwall in the new Frasier series.[18]
Lyndhurst lives in West Wittering, West Sussex, with his wife, Lucy, a former ballet dancer.[19] The couple married in Chichester, West Sussex, in 1999. Their son, Archie Lyndhurst (born 4 October 2000), was also an actor appearing in So Awkward.[12] On 22 September 2020, Archie died from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at the age of 19.[20] In a statement, Lyndhurst said he and his wife were "utterly grief stricken and respectfully request privacy".[21]
Lyndhurst's hobbies include underwater diving, beekeeping and piloting his own aeroplanes.[22]
| + | |||
| Year(s) | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Bequest to the Nation | Shot cabin Boy | Uncredited |
| 1983 | Bullshot | Nobby Clark | |
| 1986 | Sky Bandits | Chalky | |
| 2005 | Lassie | Buckle | |
| 2016 | A United Kingdom | George Williams | |
| Year(s) | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Heidi | Peter | 4 episodes | |
| 1975 | Anne of Avonlea | Davy Keith | 6 episodes | |
| 1976 | The Prince and the Pauper | Prince Edward/Tom Canty | 6 episodes | |
| Peter Pan | Tootles | Television film | ||
| 1978 | Going Straight | Raymond Fletcher | 4 episodes | |
| The Tomorrow People | Karl Brandt | 2 episodes | ||
| ITV Playhouse | Westbrook | Episode: "Losing Her" | ||
| BBC2 Play of the Week | Brian Grant | Episode: "Fairies" | ||
| 1978–1983, 2000 | Butterflies | Adam Parkinson | 28 episodes and 1 special | |
| 1979 | Father's Day | Philip | Television film | |
| Two People | Matthew | 2 episodes | ||
| 1980 | The Dick Emery Show | Unknown | Episode: #18.2 | |
| To Serve Them All My Days | Dobson | 4 episodes | ||
| 1981 | Spearhead | Private Wilson | 4 episodes | |
| 1981–2003 | Only Fools and Horses | Rodney Trotter | 64 episodes | |
| 1982 | Arena | Dennis | Episode: "A Genius Like Us: A Portrait of Joe Orton" | |
| Play for Today | Policeman | Episode: "A Mother Like Him" | ||
| Only Fools and Horses Christmas Trees | Rodney Trotter | TV short | ||
| The Funny Side of Christmas | Rodney Trotter Adam Parkinson | Television film | ||
| 1983 | It'll All Be Over in Half an Hour | Various | 3 episodes | |
| The Michael Barrymore Show | Supporting actor | Episode: "26 May 1983" | ||
| 1984 | Round and Round | Patrick | Episode: "Sex" | |
| 1984–1985 | The Lenny Henry Show | Various | 3 episodes | |
| 1986–1990 | The Two of Us | Ashley Philips | 32 episodes | |
| 1987 | The Grand Knockout Tournament | Himself | Television special | |
| 1988 | Ariel Liquid (advertisement) | Mr H | With his co-star, David Jason, as Mrs B | |
| 1990–1992 | The Piglet Files | Peter Chapman | 21 episodes | |
| 1993 | Stalag Luft | 'Chump' Cosgrove | Television film | |
| 1993–1999 & 2016 | Goodnight Sweetheart | Gary Sparrow Colonel Henri Dupont | 59 episodes 2 episodes | |
| 1996 | Gulliver's Travels | Clustril | Episode: #1.1 | |
| 1997 | Only Fools and Horses: Only Fools Cutaway | Rodney Trotter | TV short | |
| 1999 | David Copperfield | Uriah Heep | 2 episodes | |
| 2000 | Thin Ice | Graham Moss | Television film | |
| 2002 | The Life and Times of Aly Martin-Smith | Aly Martin-Smith | Made for TV film | |
| 2003 | Murder in Mind | Alan Willis | 1 episode: "Landlord" | |
| 2006 | The Children's Party at the Palace | Cruella de Vil's Chauffeur (The 101 Dalmatians) | Television special | |
| 2007–2008 | After You've Gone | Jimmy | 25 episodes | |
| 2010–2011 | Rock & Chips | Freddie Robdal | 3 episodes | |
| 2013–2015 | New Tricks | Dan Griffin[23] | 26 episodes | |
| 2014 | Only Fools and Horses: Beckham in Peckham | Rodney Trotter | TV short | |
| 2017 | The Story of Only Fools and Horses | Himself | 6 episodes | |
| 2019 | So Awkward | Johnny | Episode: "Awardatarian" | |
| 2023 | Frasier | Alan Cornwall | 10 episodes |
| Year | Group | Award | Work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | British Academy Television Awards | BAFTA Best Light Entertainment Performance | Only Fools and Horses | [24] [25] | |
| 1991 | [26] | ||||
| 1997 | BAFTA Best Comedy Performance | Only Fools and Horses (Christmas Special) | [27] | ||
| British Comedy Awards | Best TV Comedy Actor | ||||
| National Television Awards | Most Popular Comedy Performer 1997 | Only Fools and Horses | |||
| 1998 | Most Popular Comedy Performer 1998 | Goodnight Sweetheart | [28] | ||
| 1999 | Most Popular Comedy Performer 1999 | ||||