Paul Barber (actor)

English actor

This article is about the actor. For other people named Paul Barber, see Paul Barber (disambiguation).

Paul Barber

Barber in 2018

Born|

Patrick Barber

(1951-03-18) 18 March 1951 (age 73)

Toxteth, Liverpool, England

Occupation| Actor
Years active| 1974–present
Notable work| Only Fools and Horses

Paul Barber (born Patrick Barber, 18 March 1951)[1] is an English actor from Toxteth, Liverpool.[2] In a career spanning more than 45 years, he is best known for playing Denzil in Only Fools and Horses and Horse in The Full Monty. He also had two small parts in Coronation Street, first as Nelson in 2004 then as Billy Arrowsmith in 2008.

## Early life

[edit]

Barber was taken into care at the age of seven, following the death of his mother, Margret, from tuberculosis.[3] His mother was from Middlesbrough. His father, died when Paul (or Paddy as he was then known) and his brothers Brian, Paul, Mike and sisters Claudette and Lorraine were very young.[3] Whilst he was in care, he was abused both physically and mentally.[3] He notes that he has suffered like others, but channelled his emotions into acting.[4]

## Acting career

[edit]

Barber began on the stage in the musical Hair.[2] His first major TV role was as Sam "Lucky" Ubootu in the 1974 ITV Playhouse production Lucky, set in Liverpool and made by Granada TV.[5] He then played the flamboyant but vicious gang boss Malleson in the off-beat BBC Birmingham-based series Gangsters from 1975 to 1978.[6] He played Louis St John in four episodes of I Didn't Know You Cared from 1976 to 1978. A later starring role was alongside Philip Whitchurch in the mid-1980s ITV comedy series The Brothers McGregor.[6]

Barber has worked extensively in British TV, such as in To the Manor Born (1979) as a Jamaican steel band musician;[6] Minder (1980) as Willie Reynolds in episode Don't Tell Them Willie Boy was Here; Only Fools and Horses (1981–2003);[7] Boys from the Blackstuff (1982); and as Malcolm in The Front Line;[6]

In 1991, he played Earl Preston, a football coach, in the BBC Screen One television play, Alive and Kicking.[6] Three years later, he appeared as ill-fated social worker Ian McVerry in an episode of Cracker opposite Robbie Coltrane and Liam Cunningham, and he played Greg Salter in Brookside (1994).[6]

Barber made a guest appearance in the first episode of The Green Green Grass— a spin-off from Only Fools and Horses.[8] He was best known for his role in Only Fools and Horses, and still attends fan conventions for the show.

In 2008, he had a small part in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street playing a club owner, Nelson, an acquaintance of Vernon Tomlin.[6]

In Terry Pratchett's Going Postal (2010) he played a pin-fanatic shop owner.[5] He also starred in White Van Man as Hooky Pete in February 2012.[9]

In 2012, Barber played the role of Captain in Sky 1's Sinbad.[6] In 2014, He appeared as Captain Jack Parrot in Death in Paradise on 18 February 2014.[10]

Barber also appeared as Fieldhouse in Home from Home in the 2016 pilot episode, and he appeared again in the 2018 series.[11] In 2017, Barber guest-starred in two episodes of the CBBC Tracy Beaker spin-off series The Dumping Ground as a homeless man, George.[6]

The following year, Barber appeared in two episodes of Casualty as Ernest Maxwell, reprising the role in 2019. He had previously appeared in Casualty a number of times as other characters.[6]

## Film work

[edit]

He had small roles in the big-screen version of Porridge (1979) and The Long Good Friday (1980).[12]

Barber's best known role was playing one of the stripping steelworkers in the 1997 film The Full Monty.[13] He reunited with Full Monty co-star Robert Carlyle and Samuel L. Jackson in the Liverpool-based crime film The 51st State (2001).[14]

In 2002, He played the role of Luther in the drama The Hidden City.[6] In 2006, he starred in the feature film Dead Man's Cards, Barber again returned to Merseyside, playing the part of Paul, the head doorman at a Liverpool club.[5]

In the 2014 film One Night in Istanbul, Barber plays a cabbie who is down on his luck and with his friend, Tommy, strikes a deal with a local gangster that allows them to take their young sons to watch Liverpool Football Club play in Turkey.[15]

Paul Barber was cast alongside fellow UK comedy stars Alexei Sayle and Ricky Tomlinson in 2017's Gloves off.[6] He also appears in the 2022 crime action thriller film Renegades[16] and stars in the 2024 horror film The Baby in the Basket.[17]

## Personal life

[edit]

Barber was awarded an honorary doctorate from Liverpool John Moores University in July 2011 for 'outstanding contribution to the performing arts'.[18][19] He lives in Clacton, Essex.[19]

## Filmography

[edit]

### Film

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1977  | The Quality Connection | Jim  | Short film
1979  | Porridge | Morgan  | Film
1980  | The Long Good Friday | Erroll  | Film
The Terence Davies Trilogy | (segment: Madonna and Child)  | Trilogy of short films
1983  | (segment: Death and Transfiguration)  | Trilogy of short films
U.F.O. | Doctor Who (voice)  | Film
1994  | Priest | Charlie  | Film
1997  | The Full Monty | Horse  | Film
2000  | Wild About Harry | Professor Simmington  | Film
2001  | The 51st State | Frederick  | Film
2002  | Mad Dogs | Jimmy Joyce  | Film
2003  | The Virgin of Liverpool | Winston Churchill  | Film
2004  | French Fries on the Golden Front  | Clown  | Short film
2006  | Splinter  | Dan  | Film
Dead Man's Cards | Paul  | Film
2010  | Mam | The Chemist  | Short film
2011  | The Turtle & the Nightingale  | Liam's Dad  | Short film
2012  | The Boxer  | Joe  | Short film
2013  | The Magnificent Eleven | Trainer  | Film
The Pugilist's Son  | Jimmy Gotts  | Short film
The Grendel Toots  | Paul  | Short film
2014  | One Night in Istanbul | Gerry  | Film
2016  | Souls  | Barrie  | Short film
2017  | Gloves Off  | Albert  | Film
2018  | A Stitch in Time  | Ant  | Short film
2019  | Down  | Dennis  | Short film
2020  | Hickory Dickory Dock  | Winston  | Short film
2022  | Renegades | Harris  | Film
2023  | The One Note Man | Florist  | Short film
2024  | The Baby in the Basket | Amos  | Film

### Television

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1974  | ITV Playhouse | Sam 'Lucky' Ubootu  | 1 episode
1975  | Play for Today | Malleson  | 1 episode
Z-Cars | Gambler  | 1 episode
1976  | Gangsters | Malleson  | 6 episodes
1976–1978  | I Didn't Know You Cared | Louis St. John  | 6 episodes
1978  | Crown Court | Lennie Jackson  | 3 episodes
Mixed Blessings | Man in robe  | 1 episode
1979  | To the Manor Born | Mackenzie McLeod  | 1 episode
Return of the Saint | Winston  | 1 episode
1980  | Minder | Willie Reynolds  | 1 episode
Cribb | George Williams  | 1 episode
1981  | The Chinese Detective | Ned  | 1 episode
1982  | Boys from the Blackstuff | Docks – Scotty  | 1 episode
Muck and Brass | Louis Delano  | 1 episode
1982–1985  | The Front Line | Malcolm  | 6 episodes
1983–2003  | Only Fools and Horses | Denzil Tulser | 18 episodes
1984  | Charlie | 2nd Electrician  | 1 episode
1985–1988  | The Brothers McGregor | Wesley McGregor  | 26 episodes
1987  | Carrott Confidential | Various Characters  | 1 episode
1989  | All Change | Driver (Series Two)  | TV series
1990  | Boon | Angus  | 1 episode
ScreenPlay | Drugs Counsellor  | 1 episode
Chancer | Gerald  | 11 episodes
1991  | Screen One | Earl Preston  | 1 episode
Taking the Floor | Security Guard 2  | 1 episode
1991–2019  | Casualty | Ernest Maxwell/Carl Myers/Cliff Sidwell ...  | 11 episodes
1993  | The Lodge | Winston  | 1 episode
1993–1995  | The Bill | Ade Fellowes/Ted  | 2 episodes
1994  | 99-1 | Bobby Fletcher  | 1 episode
1995  | The Big One | Security Guard  | TV film
Cracker | Ian McVerry  | 1 episode
1997  | The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling | Adderley  | 1 episode
The Drew Carey Show | Paul Barber  | 1 episode
1999  | Harbour Lights | Cordell Johnson  | 1 episode
2000  | Taggart | Jimmy McEvoy  | 1 episode
2002  | Nice Guy Eddie | Big Dawn  | 2 episodes
Holby City | Sean Meacher  | 1 episode
The Hidden City | Luther  | TV film
Babyfather | Landlord  | 1 episode
Single Voices | Godfrey  | 1 episode
2003–2018  | Doctors | Gary Alan/Ned Heath  | 2 episodes
2004–2008  | Coronation Street | Nelson/Billy Arrowsmith  | 3 episodes
2005  | The Green Green Grass | Denzil Tulser  | 1 episode
2006  | The Street | First Patient  | 1 episode
Dalziel and Pascoe | Clive Griffin  | 2 episodes
2007  | Liverpool Nativity | Landlord  | TV film
2008  | The Invisibles | Young Nick  | 6 episodes
Caught in a Trap | Donald  | TV film
2010  | Terry Pratchett's Going Postal | Dave Pins  | 2 episodes
2012  | Sinbad | Captain  | 1 episode
Preston Passion | Simon  | TV film
White Van Man | Hooky Pete  | 1 episode
2013  | The Slammer | The Balloonatic  | 1 episode
2014  | Death in Paradise | Captain Jack  | 1 episode
2017  | The Dumping Ground | George  | 2 episodes
2018  | Home from Home | Fieldhouse  | 5 episodes
The Card Room Chronicles | Charlie  | 1 episode
2019  | Moving On | Geoff  | 1 episode
The Small Hand | Brother Thierry  | TV film
A Very British Christmas | Paul  | TV film
2021  | Matchmakers | Gladstone  | 6 episodes
2023  | The Full Monty | Barrington "Horse" Mitchell  | TBC

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Barber, Paul. Foster Kid: A Liverpudlian childhood. (Autobiography)
2. ^ a b "The making of me". BBC. 6 July 2007. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
3. ^ a b c "Liverpool actor Paul Barber reveals abuse he suffered at the hands of nuns, brutal foster mum and a paedophile". liverpoolecho.co.uk. 23 September 2014.
4. ^ Alexander, Ella (24 September 2014). "Actor Paul Barber reveals childhood abuse in foster home". independent.co.uk.
5. ^ a b c "Paul Barber". bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 24 July 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Paul Barber". diamondmanagement.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
7. ^ Russell, Steven (18 February 2008). "The nightmare began when my mum died". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
8. ^ "The Green Green Grass – S1 – Episode 1: Keep on Running". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
9. ^ "Only Fools and Horses: Where are they now?". The Telegraph. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
10. ^ "Episode 6, Series 3, Death in Paradise – BBC One". BBC. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
11. ^ "Only Fools and Horses actor's starring role in Lake District sitcom". News and Star. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
12. ^ "BBC – Only Fools and Horses – Fatal Extraction (1993)". BBC. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
13. ^ Fordy, Tom (29 August 2017). "The Full Monty stripped men bare – and reinvented masculinity in the process". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
14. ^ Morrison, Alan (1 January 2000). "The 51st State". Empire. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
15. ^ Palmer, Alun (23 September 2014). "Liverpool actor Paul Barber reveals he was victim of child abuse". The Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
16. ^ Collinson, Gary (31 October 2021). "Action thriller Renegades gets a first look poster". Flickering Myth. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
17. ^ Wheat, Phil (20 June 2023). "'The Full Monty' & 'Legend' stars join the cast of British horror 'The Baby in the Basket'". Retrieved 6 February 2024.
18. ^ "Honorary Fellows - 2011 - Paul Barber". ljmu.ac.uk. 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
19. ^ a b "Toxteth-born Only Fools and Horses star Paul 'Denzil' Barber to get honorary Liverpool John Moores fellowship". Liverpool Echo. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2014.

## External links

[edit]

* Paul Barber at IMDb
* Rare British Television Reviews – The Front Line
* BBC article

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