Bernard Cribbins, the beloved British star of The Railway Children, The Wombles and Doctor Who, has passed away at the grand age of 93.
The BAFTA-nominated actor’s death was confirmed by his agent who said;
“Bernard’s contribution to British entertainment is without question. He was unique, typifying the best of his generation, and will be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing and working with him.”
The news comes after he had lost his wife of 66 years, Gill in 2021.
Born in Oldham in 1928, Cribbins left school at 13 and found work as an assistant stage manager at a local theatre club. There, he took on small acting roles before serving an apprenticeship at the Oldham Repertory Theatre.
His first acting role came as Thomas Traddles in a television adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield (1956).
Shortly after, he appeared in Make a Million (1959) and then starred alongside British comedy greats Peter Sellers and Norman Wisdom in the likes of Two Way Stretch (1960), The Girl on the Boat (1960) and The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963).
During that period, he also showcased his singing abilities two top-10 hits in 1962; ‘Hole In The Ground’ and ‘Right Said Fred’.
With other films like The World of Suzie Wong (1960), The Best of Enemies (1961) and The Mouse on the Moon (1963), Cribbins then featured in two Carry On films; Carry on Jack (1964) and Carry on Spying (1964).
Further roles soon followed in the 1960s including Crooks in Cloisters (1964), She (1965), Cup Fever (1965), Casino Royale (1967) and his own television series; the aptly-named Cribbins (1969-70).
However, he found his biggest success in the 1970s starting with his renowned role as the kindly station porter Albert Perks in the beloved family adventure The Railway Children (1970). His performance landed him BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
After appearing in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Frenzy (1972), Cribbins gained further work for his vocals. Between 1973 and 1975, he provided the narration for the popular family series The Wombles and would enjoy an longer spell as the Storyteller in 112 episodes of Jackanory between 1966 and 1995.
Another memorable Cribbins role came in 1975 when he portrayed the notorious hotel guest Mr. Hutchinson in the ‘Hotel Inspectors’ episode of the hit British sitcom Fawlty Towers.
From the late 70s to the 2000s, he appeared in The Adventures of Picasso (1978), The Water Babies (1978), Cuffy (1983), High & Dry (1987) and Carry on Columbus (1992) as well as providing narration for the likes of Moschops (1983), Edward and Friends (1987) and Bertie the Bat (1990).
In his later years, Cribbins popped up in programmes like Dalziel & Pascoe (1999), Last of the Summer Wine (2003), Down to Earth (2005), Midsomer Murders (2014), New Tricks (2015) and twelve episodes of Coronation Street (2003). He also found time to appear in films including Blackball (2003), Run for Your Wife (2012) and Patrick (2018).
He also continued to delight young audiences with his role as veteran ship captain Old Jack in the CBeebies series Old Jack’s Boat (2013-15).
Having played the Doctor’s companion Tom Campbell in the Doctor Who film Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. way back in 1966, Cribbins later returned to the popular sci-fi franchise 41 years later. Between 2007 and 2010, he played Wilfred Mott, the grandfather of Catherine Tate’s character Donna.
Cribbins can be seen in his reprised role as Wilfred in the upcoming new series of Doctor Who.
At the age of nearly 90, he published an autobiography looking back on his years in show business in 2018. Its title was Bernard Who? 75 Years Of Doing Absolutely Everything – and its advice was simple.
“Do your best and be grateful for every single job”.
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