Biography
This page uses content from the Leonard Rossiter biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
Leonard Rossiter (21 October 1926 – 5 October 1984) was a distinguished British actor, known for his comedy roles in two British television series of the 1970s, and for his roles in two Stanley Kubrick films.
Rossiter was born in Liverpool. He began acting when he picked up a girlfriend from her amateur dramatics class and was challenged to do better when he criticised her and her fellow performers. He soon gave up his job in insurance to enroll in repertory theatre and turn professional as an actor at the comparatively late age of 27.
He broke into film roles with Billy Liar in which he plays the title character's boss. This brief role fixed him with audiences as an often flawed and inflexible authority figure. Through the 1950s and 1960s he established himself as a hugely respected actor in theatre and film. In 1963, he was in an episode of the popular TV series The Avengers. In 1968 he played the supporting role of undertaker Mr Sowerberry in the film version of Lionel Bart's musical Oliver! and further came to wider public notice when he landed one of the few speaking supporting roles in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey as the Russian scientist Smyslov. He worked with Kubrick again, in an even larger role, in Barry Lyndon (1975). In 1969 he premiered in the UK in the title role of Brecht's The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui. The part of the petty tyrant was perfectly suited to Rossiter and garnered critical and public acclaim. He guest-starred memorably in a 1972 episode of the BBC sitcom Steptoe and Son as an escaped convict, before winning his two leading roles in sitcoms which made him a household name.
In Rising Damp, on ITV, he played Rigsby, the lecherous landlord of a house converted to a block of seedy bedsits, reprising the role from its successful stage version, entitled The Banana Box. While on Rising Damp, he also took the eponymous lead in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, adapted by David Nobbs from his own Reginald Perrin comic novels and aired on the BBC. His performances as Rigsby and Perrin earned him enormous critical acclaim, including from his co-stars. During this halcyon period, he was given a surprise tribute on This Is Your Life in 1975.
At the same time he starred alongside Joan Collins as her bumbling suitor in a series of successful and endearing Cinzano commercials, in which somehow the drink would be spilled down the female character's dress.
In the animated adaptation of The Perishers he provided the voice for Boot the dog. He reprised Rigsby for a movie version of Rising Damp in 1980 — meaning he had now played the role on stage, TV and film — and his last TV role was that of the eponymous supermarket manager in Tripper's Day, an ITV sitcom which was not up to the standards of the shows he had previously adorned.
In 1981, Rossiter came out with a book entitled The Lowest Form of Wit. The book was a collection of biting bon mots, stinging retorts, and insults showing Rossiter's acid wit, plus a definitive guide to sarcasm. It was published later as a paperback in 1983. The book is divided into six main sections and illustrated with cartoons, and even includes a delightful history of sarcasm.
He played the title roles in the BBC Shakespeare production of King John and also in the short film Le Pétomane. His last film appearance was in Water.
Death
Rossiter died from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 1984 while waiting to go onstage at the Lyric Theatre, London, where he was performing in Joe Orton's play Loot. He left behind his second wife Gillian (he had previously been married to actress Josephine Tewson) and a daughter Camilla. His affair with broadcaster Sue MacGregor was not revealed until long afterwards. Rossiter's death came as a surprise as he was very fit — he played squash, football and tennis regularly — and had been given an 'all clear' by his doctor prior to accepting the role in Loot.
External links
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