Creator / Bill Maynard

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Bill Maynard, born Walter Frederick George Williams, (8 October 1928 — 30 March 2018), was a British actor best known for playing Selwyn Froggitt in Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt and Greengrass in Heartbeat.

He began his career as a variety performer in The '50s, when he and Terry Scott starred in Great Scott — It's Maynard!. At the start of The '70s, his career had begun to decline due to his history of Hostility on the Set and financial troubles with the Inland Revenue. It was at this time that he and Arthur Lowe did two short films together — It All Goes to Show and A Hole Lot of Trouble. An early "proper" acting role for Maynard came in 1971 in the TV play Paper Roses.

Following this, he was a frequent face in British films, notably appearing in five Carry On... Series films (he also appeared in a sixth but was cut for time), Four Dimensions of Greta, Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall, and starring as Robin Askwith's father in the Confessions of a... Series.

In 1974, he created the Britcom Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt, which he based on the working men's club in Sapcote, Leicestershire, where he had grown up; Maynard played the title character, a good-natured and hapless labourer, until the final series in 1978 (which was Retooled to take place in a holiday camp and retitled Selwyn). During Selwyn Froggitt's run, Maynard also starred in The Life of Riley as Frank Riley.

The '80s saw Maynard star as Fred Moffat in The Gaffer, while in The '90s, he took a starring role in Heartbeat as the old rogue Claude Jeremiah Greengrass — a role he played until 2000, when a series of strokes forced him to retire. In 1997, he wrote a memoir, Stand Up... And Be Counted.

He died in hospital at the age of 89 after a fall broke his hip.

Works on TV Tropes he appeared in:

Film

• Carry On Loving (1970) — Mr. Dreery
• Carry On Henry (1971) — Fawkes
• Carry On at Your Convenience (1971) — Fred Moore
• Carry On Matron (1972) — Freddy
• Carry On Abroad (1972) — Mr. Fiddler (Deleted Role)
• Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973) — George
• Carry On Dick (1974) — Bodkin
• Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974) — Mr. Walter Lea/Voice on Police Radio
• Man About the House (1974) — Chef
• Confessions of a Pop Performer (1975) — Mr. Walter Lea
• Robin and Marian (1976) — Mercadier
• Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976) — Mr. Walter Lea
• Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977) — Mr. Walter Lea
• The Plague Dogs (1982) — Editor

• Coronation Street, 1 episode (1970) — Mickie Malone
• Up Pompeii!, episode "The Actors" (1970) — Parcantus
• Till Death Us Do Part, 2 episodes^{show list}"Pigeon Fancier", "Christmas Special" (1972) — Bert Luscombe
• Sykes, episode "Journey" (1972) — Jim the Policeman
• Play for Today, episode "Kisses at Fifty" (1973) — Harry
• Love Thy Neighbour, episode "The G.P.O." (1973) — Police Sergeant
• Seven of One, episode "Spanner's Eleven" (1973) — Councillor Mortimer Todd
• The Sweeney, episode "Supersnout" (1975) — Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Quirk
• Tales of the Unexpected, episode "A Picture of a Place" (1980) — Merv Pottinger
• Worzel Gummidge, 3 episodes^{show list}"The Trial of Worzel Gummidge", "The Scarecrow Wedding", "A Cup 'O Tea and a Slice 'O Cake" (1980) — Sergeant Beetroot
• Minder, episode "The Second Time Around" (1984) — Barney Todd
• Mike & Angelo, episode "Mother's Birthday" (1991) — George Luscombe
• Screen One, episode "Filipina Dreamgirls" (1991) — George Trout
• Heartbeat, 155 episodes (1992-2000) — Claude Jeremiah Greengrass
• Dalziel and Pascoe, 2-episode story "Dialogues of the Dead" (2002) — Councillor Cyril Steel