Larry Lamb
{{short description|English actor (b. 1947)}}
{{other uses}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Larry Lamb
| birth_name = Lawrence Douglas Lamb
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1947|10|01}}
| birth_place = Edmonton, Middlesex, England
| occupation = {{Hlist|Actor|radio presenter}}
| years_active = 1975–present
| spouse = {{Plainlist|
- {{marriage|Anita Wisbey|1969|1970|end=divorced}}
- {{marriage|Linda Martin|1979|1996|end=divorced}}
}}
| partner = {{Plainlist|
- Clare Burt (1996–2016)
- Marie Victorine (2016–present)
}}
| children = 4, including George
}}
Lawrence Douglas Lamb (born 1 October 1947){{cite tweet|user=larrylamb47|number=785361058039037952|author=Lamb, Larry|date=10 October 2016|title=It's such a joy to get these birthday greetings but to put everyone in the clear my DOB was 01/10/47 not 10/01 ..but many thanks anyway!!LL}} is an English actor and radio presenter. He played Archie Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, Mick Shipman in the BBC comedy series Gavin & Stacey and Ted Case in the final series of the BBC drama New Tricks. He also appeared on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2016.
Early life
Lamb was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, to Jessie White and Ronald Douglas Lamb, the eldest of four including his brother, Wesley, and a sister Penelope. Lamb had a turbulent childhood; he was verbally abused by his father and often had to keep his parents from fighting.{{Cite news|url=http://www.digitalspy.com.au/showbiz/s2/eastenders/news/a230487/larry-lamb-i-ran-away-from-my-daughter.html|title=Larry Lamb: 'I ran away from my daughter'
|author=Colin Daniels and Paul Millar|work=Digital Spy|date=20 June 2010|access-date=11 September 2012}}
In 2011, Lamb participated in the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are? and discovered that he is descended from a line of proprietors of a well-known travelling menagerie, Day's Menagerie, and a lion tamer named Martini Bartlett.{{cite web|url=http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/news/whodo.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115130311/http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/news/whodo.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-11-15|title=Who Do You Think You Are?|work=National Fairground Archive|publisher=University of Sheffield|access-date=11 September 2012}}
Lamb attended Edmonton County School and on leaving school he worked as a lorry driver's mate (assistant) for at that time the UK's largest Waste Paper Merchant J & J Maybank. Later, he worked as an encyclopaedia salesman,{{cite web |last1=Aitken |first1=Catriona |title=Never say never on Gavin & Stacey film - Larry Lamb |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdde229vn5jo |website=BBC News |access-date=22 April 2025 |date=11 April 2025}} before joining the oil industry, which resulted in his working in Libya and Canada, where he attended St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. This developed his amateur interest in acting to a professional level, and he performed at Canada's Stratford Festival in 1975–1976. Lamb is distantly related to Edward Buckton Lamb (1806–1869), a Victorian architect who designed St Martin's Gospel Oak and St Mary Magdalene Church in Addiscombe.
Career
=Acting=
After returning to Britain from Canada, Lamb became a regular cast member, along with Kate O'Mara, in the BBC's North Sea ferry-based soap Triangle (1981–83), in which he played Matt Taylor, the ship's chief engineer.
Other credits include The New Avengers, The Professionals, Fox, Minder, Lovejoy, Get Back, A Touch of Frost, Our Friends in the North, Taggart, Casualty, Kavanagh QC, Spooks, Midsomer Murders, and The Bill.
Between 2007 and 2010, Lamb appeared in Gavin & Stacey playing Gavin's father, Michael "Mick" Shipman. He returned to the role for a Christmas special in 2019 and again for the show finale in 2024.{{cite web |title=James Corden: Gavin and Stacey is returning for final episode |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cevezxdjjgjo.amp |website=BBC News |access-date=3 May 2024 |language=en-gb |date=3 May 2024}}
In 2008, Lamb began playing Archie Mitchell, the father of Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell in EastEnders. He based his portrayal of Archie on his own father.{{cite web|url=http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?Larry_Lamb_inspired_by_evil_dad&in_article_id=428143&in_page_id=7&in_a_source=|title=Larry Lamb inspired by 'evil' dad|publisher=Metro|date=2 December 2008|access-date=27 March 2009}} He left the show in April, 2009, but returned in July the same year, around the same time that Danniella Westbrook returned to her role of Archie's niece, Sam Mitchell. Archie was killed off in a murder story line at Christmas, 2009. In 2009, Lamb starred alongside Liam Cunningham in Blood: The Last Vampire, in the role of General McKee. On 19 February 2010, Lamb appeared with his son, George Lamb, in EastEnders Live: The Aftermath, after Stacey Slater was revealed to be Archie's killer in the closing moments of the 25th-anniversary live episode.
In April, 2011, BBC Learning launched "Off By Heart Shakespeare", a school-recital contest for secondary school pupils. For the project, Larry took on the role of Jaques from the play As You Like It, and delivered the speech: "All the world's a stage".{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/teachers/offbyheart/speeches/as_you_like_it_worlds_a_stage.shtml |title=Schools – Teachers – Off By Heart Shakespeare: As You Like It "All the world's a stage" |publisher=BBC |access-date=8 July 2011}}
It was announced that Lamb would join the cast of New Tricks as Ted Case in series 12.
Lamb's films include Buster and Essex Boys. In 1983, he had a small speaking role in Superman III.
In September 2023, Lamb appeared in the Channel 5 drama series The Inheritance, appearing alongside Samantha Bond, Jemima Rooper, Gaynor Faye, Rob James-Collier and Adil Ray.{{cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/the-inheritance-cast-channel-5/|title=The Inheritance cast: Meet the characters in Channel 5 drama|website=Radio Times|last=Robinson|first=Abby|date=4 September 2023|access-date=8 September 2023}}
=Theatre=
Theatre work includes:
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
- Educating Rita as Frank - Dir. Jeremy Sams - Chocolate Factory
- The Five Wives of Maurice Pinder as Maurice - Dir. Sarah Frankcom - National Theatre
- Fool for Love as Old Man - Dir. Lindsay Posner - Apollo West End/NIMAX
- The Price as Victor - Dir. Sean Holmes - Tricycle/Apollo West End/National Tour
- Hamlet as Claudius - Dir. Steven Pimlott - RSC
- The Prisoner's Dilemma as The Professor - Dir. Michael Attenborough - RSC
- Art as Marc - Dir. Rachel Kavanaugh - Wyndhams West End
- Inherit the Wind as Drummond - Dir. Dan Crawford - King's Head
- Nine as Guido - Dir. David Leveaux - Donmar
- The Sisters Rosensweig as Kantlowitz - Dir. Michael Blakemore - Old Vic/Greenwich
- Butterfly Kiss as Teddy - Dir Steven Pimlott - Almeida
- Lulu as Rodrigo - Dir. Jonathan Kent - Almeida
- La Musica as Him - Dir. Joseph Blatchley - Hampstead
- Making It Better as The Husband - Dir. Michael Rudman - Hampstead/Criterion West End
- A Madhouse in Goa as Niko/Oliver - Dir. Robert Alan Ackerman - Hammersmith/Apollo West End
- Greenland as Brian - Dir. Simon Curtis - Royal Court
- Insignificance as The Ball Player - Dir. Max Stafford-Clark - Royal Court
- Seduced as Raul - Dir. Les Waters - Royal Court
- Filomena as The Plumber - Dir. Franco Zefirelli - Lyric West End]
- Comedians as George McBrian - Dir. Mike Nicholls - Music Box/Broadway
}}
=Other work=
In 2013, Lamb began presenting a regular Sunday morning show on LBC. He is an occasional reporter for the BBC programme The One Show. Lamb took part in Gareth's All Star Choir in 2014, as part of the BBC's Children in Need appeal.
In 2016, he appeared in the sixteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.[https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/who-larry-lamb-im-celebrity-9240486 Who is Larry Lamb? Everything you need to know about the I'm A Celebrity 2016 contestant] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201022520/http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/who-larry-lamb-im-celebrity-9240486 |date=1 December 2016 }} He became the 6th celebrity to be voted out of the jungle in the 2016 series.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bolton-news-larrys-long-lost-daught/148813409/ |title=Larry's long-lost daughter hope |newspaper=The Bolton News |page=Main-8 |date=2016-12-05 |access-date=2024-06-06 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Personal life
{{BLP sources section|date=January 2023}}
Lamb's first marriage was to Anita Wisbey, with whom he had a daughter, Vanessa Lamb (born 1969).{{Cite news |date=2017-05-27 |title='Retirement? Not with young kids on the go. I'll be working until I conk out' |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/weekend/retirement-not-with-young-kids-on-the-go-ill-be-working-until-i-conk-out/35751606.html |access-date=2025-01-15 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}} Lamb stated on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! that Vanessa has a daughter. Lamb's second marriage was to Linda Martin, with whom he has a son, radio DJ and television presenter George Lamb (born 1979).
Lamb was in a relationship with Clare Burt from 1996 to 2014. They had two daughters, Eloise Alexandra (born 1998), and Eva-Mathilde (born 2003). As of 2017, Lamb resided in Cornwall, and was in a relationship with artist Marie Hugo.
Lamb's autobiography Mummy's Boy was published in 2011.{{cite book|title=Mummy's Boy: My Autobiography|first=Larry|last=Lamb|publisher=Coronet Books|date=3 March 2011|isbn=978-1444715279}}
Awards and nominations
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1978
| Superman | 1st Reporter | |
| 1983
| 2nd Miner | |
| rowspan="2"| 1984
| Flight to Berlin | Specialist Dale Sizemore | |
| My Friend Washington
| Ben Carlson | Original title: Mon ami Washington |
| rowspan="2"| 1985
| Shadey | Dick Darnley | |
| Underworld
| Roy Bain | |
| 1986
| Ubac | Larry | |
| 1987
| Jack Rosner | |
| 1988
| Buster | |
| 1998
| Christopher Makos | |
| rowspan="2"| 2000
| Peter Chase | |
| One of the Hollywood Ten
| |
| 2001
| Home Sweet Home | (voice) | Documentary film |
| rowspan="2"| 2004
| Paul Baker | |
| Fakers
| Harvey Steed | |
| 2009
| General McKee | |
| 2011
| Two Minutes | William | rowspan="4"| Short films |
| 2013
| Verona | Capulet |
| rowspan="2"| 2014
| Rose, Mary and Time | Barney's Dad |
| Beachcomber
| Stephen |
| rowspan="2"| 2015
| Meet Pursuit Delange: The Movie | Sam Walters |
| The Briny
| Peter | Short film |
| rowspan="2"| 2017
| |
| Rise of the Footsoldier 3: The Pat Tate Story
| Mr. Harris | |
| 2019
| Brighton | Derek | |
| 2021
| Me, Myself and Di | Clifford | |
| rowspan="2"| 2022
| Old Windows | Harry | Short film |
| Hounded
| Gregory | |
| 2025
| The 7th Man | Narrator | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | The New Avengers | Williams | Series 2; episode 6: "Trap" |
| rowspan="2" |1979 | Hazell | Ned Barrow | Series 2; episode 12: "Hazell and the Public Enemy" |
| The Dick Francis Thriller: The Racing Game | Steve | Episode 5: "Horsenap" | |
| rowspan="3" |1980 | Armchair Thriller | CPO Chalky White | Series 2; episodes 7–10: "Dead Man's Kit: Parts 1–4" |
| Fox | Joey Fox | Episodes 1–13 | |
| The Professionals | Jack Craine | Series 4; episode 2: "Wild Justice" | |
| 1981–1983 | Triangle | Matt Taylor | Series 1–3; 78 episodes |
| 1982 | Saturday Night Thriller | Albert | Episode 3: "A Gift of Tongues" |
| 1983 | Jemima Shore Investigates | Max Highams | Episode 11: "The Damask Collection" |
| rowspan="2"| 1984 | Minder | Greg Collins | Series 4; episode 6: "If Money Be the Food of Love, Play On" |
| The World Walk | Watkins | Television film | |
| 1985 | Christopher Columbus | Don Castillo | Mini-series; episodes 1–4 |
| rowspan="2" |1986 | Boon | Alan Prendergast | Series 1; episode 7: "Northwest Passage to Acock's Green" |
| Slip-Up | Ronald Arthur Biggs | Television film. Alternative title: The Great Paper Chase | |
| rowspan="2" |1987 | Theatre Night | The Sergeant | Series 2; episode 1: "The Devil's Disciple" |
| Sunday Premiere | Terry Stewart | Episode: "Harry's Kingdom" | |
| 1988 | Due fratelli | Mauro Barberi | Mini-series; episodes 1–3 |
| 1989 | Twist of Fate | Davi | Mini-series; Parts I & II. Original / UK title: Pursuit |
| rowspan="2"| 1990 | The Paradise Club | James Dexter | Series 2; episode 6: "Lord of the Files" |
| A Little Piece of Sunshine | Desmond Hannah | Television film | |
| 1991 | ScreenPlay | Ron Bannister | Series 6; episode 2: "Broke" |
| rowspan="3" |1992 | Lovejoy | Gerald Somers | Series 3; episodes 12 & 13: "Highland Fling: Parts One & Two" |
| Between the Lines | Dennis Ralston | Series 1; episode 12: "Nobody's Fireproof" | |
| Fool's Gold: The Story of the Brink's-Mat Robbery | Kenneth Noye | Television film | |
| 1992–1993 | Get Back | Albert Sweet | Series 1 & 2; 15 episodes |
| rowspan="4" |1994 | In Suspicious Circumstances | Weldon Atherstone | Series 4; episodes 9 & 10: "Death Scene: Parts 1 & 2" |
| White Goods | Jonnie Dow | Television film | |
| Screen One | Ken | Series 6; episode 7: "Doggin' Around" | |
| The Wimbledon Poisoner | Dr. Donald Templeton | Mini-series; episodes 1 & 2 | |
| rowspan="2"| 1995 | A Touch of Frost | Mike Ross | Series 3; episode 3: "Dead Male One" |
| Class Act | Jimmy Hunt | Series 2; episode 2 | |
| rowspan="3" |1996 | Our Friends in the North | Alan Roe | Mini-series; episodes 6 & 7: "1979" & "1984" |
| Annie's Bar | Terry Dunning | Episodes 1–10 | |
| Strangers | Leonard | Episode 2: "The One You Love" | |
| 1997 | The Missing Postman | Trevor Ramsay | Television film |
| 1998 | Supply & Demand | Det. Supt. Simon Hughes | Mini-series; episodes 1–6 |
| rowspan="3" |1999 | The Blonde Bombshell | Will Humphreys | Mini-series; episodes 1 & 2 |
| Taggart | Martin Strange | Series 16; episode 3: "Fearful Lightning" | |
| Casualty | Father Peter Harker | Series 14; episode 7: "Everybody Hurts" | |
| rowspan="2" |2001 | Kavanagh QC | Alan Rainer | Episode: "The End of Law" |
| Midsomer Murders | Melvyn Stockard | Series 4; episode 4: "Who Killed Cock Robin?" | |
| 2004–2005 | The Bill | Jonathan Fox | Series 20 & 21; 20 episodes |
| rowspan="2" |2005 | Cathedral | Thomas Becket | Mini-series; episodes 1–5 |
| Murphy's Law | George Garvey | Series 3; episodes 3–6 | |
| rowspan="2" |2006 | Silent Witness | Max Wheaton | Series 10; episodes 5 & 6: "Body of Work: Parts 1 & 2" |
| Spooks | Iain Kallis | Series 5; episode 3: "The Cell" | |
| 2007–2010, 2019, 2024 | Gavin & Stacey | Mick Shipman | All 22 episodes |
| 2008–2010 | EastEnders | Archie Mitchell | 154 episodes |
| 2013 | Love and Marriage | Tommy Sutherland | All 6 episodes |
| 2015 | New Tricks | Ted Case | Series 12; episodes 2–10 |
| rowspan="2" |2017 | The Keith and Paddy Picture Show | Dr. Houseman | Series 1; episode 1: "Dirty Dancing" |
| Mount Pleasant | Callum | Series 7; episode 1: "The Finale" | |
| rowspan="2" |2019 | Pitching In | Frank | All 4 episodes |
| Thunderbirds Are Go | Gomez (voice) | Series 3; episode 17: "Getaway" | |
| 2023 | The Inheritance | Dennis | All 4 episodes |
| rowspan="3" |2024 | Curfew | Rhys | All 6 episodes |
| Whitstable Pearl | Dickie Masters | Series 3; episode 4: "Prisoners of the Past" | |
| Conflict | Sir Martin Wright | Mini-series; episodes 3 & 4: "Vastarinta" & "Petos" | |
| 2025 | The Feud'' | Terry Dobson | Episodes 1–6 |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0482987|Larry Lamb}}
- [http://www.biogs.com/larry-lamb Larry Lamb at Biogs.com]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Larry}}
Category:English autobiographers
Category:English expatriates in Canada
Category:English expatriates in Libya
Category:English male film actors
Category:English male television actors
Category:English male soap opera actors
Category:Actors from the London Borough of Enfield