Trevor Byfield Explained

Trevor Byfield
Birth Name:Trevor Mills Byfield
Birth Date:20 October 1943
Birth Place:Redditch, Worcestershire, England
Occupation:Actor
Yearsactive:1967–2017
Children:2
Other Names:Zig Byfield, Ziggy Byfield

Trevor Mills Byfield (20 October 1943 – 11 October 2017)[1] was a British character actor particularly well known for his roles on British television. In many of his later roles he was credited as Zig Byfield.

Theatre work

Prior to his work in television and film he appeared in several stage musicals under the name Ziggy Byfield. These included the 1970s production of Hair, where he appeared alongside Joan Armatrading, Richard O'Brien, Paul Nicholas and Floella Benjamin.[2] He also appeared later in Richard O’Brien's The Rocky Horror Show.[3]

Television work

Byfield featured in many popular British television programmes over several decades, these included Heartbeat, EastEnders, Casualty, Holby City, Coronation Street, Family Affairs, Doctors, Only Fools and Horses, Inspector Morse (as the title character in the episode "Who Killed Harry Field?"), One Foot in the Grave, Birds of a Feather, The Professionals, Minder, Spooks, Lovejoy, So Haunt Me and New Tricks.[4] [5] [6] He appeared in seventeen episodes of The Bill in fourteen different roles.

Personal life

Byfield married Janet Offor in 1966 and they had two children together, but subsequently divorced.

Accident

In January 2009 he suffered a broken hip and ribs as well as a collapsed lung, when a tractor that he was driving lost control on a road and hit trees before rolling down an embankment during filming of the ITV show Heartbeat near Grosmont. Four crew members were also hurt. Byfield was airlifted to hospital.[7]

Death

Byfield died from pneumonia on 11 October 2017, aged 73.

Partial filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1982Who Dares Wins Baker
1983Slayground Sams
1989The Wolves of Willoughby Chase Train Driver
1995GoldenEye Train Driver
1999Nasty Neighbours Car Salesman
1999 Brian
2000Distant Shadow John Clay
2009Dead Man Running The Mark

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1980MinderBilly1 episode
1987Yesterday's DreamsDon Ackford6 episodes
1991LovejoyJeff DiamondSeries 2 Episode 4 – Montezuma's Revenge
1991Inspector MorseHarry FieldSeries 5 Episode 3:
1991Only Fools and HorsesEricSeries 7 Episode 3 – Stage Fright
1991MinderBilly Meadows1 episode
1992One Foot in the GraveSalmon1 episode
2003–2010Waking the DeadJohn Nesbitt2 episodes
2000A Touch of FrostGeorge English1 episode
2003–2012DoctorsTom Irving / Buster Bevan / Tony Raynor3 episodes (including final acting role)
2003Holby CityJohn Palmer1 episode
2004HeartbeatDon Megson1 episode
1989–2008The Billvarious characters17 episodes
2008New TricksClive Evans1 episode
2008CasualtyDon Harrikent1 episode
2009LewisBone1 episode
2009HeartbeatHarry Brown1 episode
2010EastEndersReg2 episodes

Notes and References

  1. News: Hayward. Anthony. Trevor 'Ziggy' Byfield obituary. The Guardian. 18 October 2017. 19 October 2017.
  2. Web site: Programme, 'Hair', Birmingham Hippodrome – Hippodrome Heritage.
  3. Web site: Obituary: Trevor 'Ziggy' Byfield | Obituaries. 15 November 2017.
  4. Web site: Trevor Byfield. https://web.archive.org/web/20170426091205/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba7fcead6. dead. 26 April 2017.
  5. Web site: Trevor Byfield. aveleyman.com.
  6. Web site: Obituary: Trevor 'Ziggy' Byfield – Obituaries – The Stage. 15 November 2017.
  7. News: Heartbeat actor hurt in on-set accident . 30 January 2009 . . 4 June 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090202142031/http://www.whitbygazette.co.uk/news/Heartbeat-actor-hurt-in-onset.4927640.jp . 2 February 2009 .