Rodney Bewes (27 November 1937 – 21 November 2017)^[2] was an English television actor and writer who portrayedBob Ferris in theBBC television sitcomThe Likely Lads (1964–66) and its colour sequelWhatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973–74). Bewes' later career was of a much lower profile, but he continued to work as a stage actor.^[3]

Rodney Bewes
Rodney Bewes in 2004
Born	(1937-11-27)27 November 1937 Bingley,West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	21 November 2017(2017-11-21) (aged 79) Cadgwith,Cornwall, United Kingdom
Occupations	Actor performer scriptwriter
Years active	1952–2015
Spouses	Sylvia N. Tebbitt ​ ​ (m. 1963, divorced)​ Daphne Black ​ ​ (m. 1973; died 2015)​ [1]
Children	4

Bewes was born inBingley in theWest Riding of Yorkshire,^[4] to Horace, an Eastern Electricity Board showroom clerk, and Bessie, who was a teacher of children with learning difficulties.^[5] His family lived for a few years in theCrossflatts district ofBingley,^[6] before they moved toLuton, where he attended Stopsley Secondary School.^[7] Because of his early ill-health (he suffered fromasthma and bronchitis), one of the reasons the family moved, his mother tended to keep him off school.^[3] His illness receded, and the family eventually returned to the north.^[when?]

Having seen an advertisement in theDaily Herald, Bewes auditioned for the title role inBilly Bunter of Greyfriars School just before he turned 13, and was in the last two short-listed for the role, losing toGerald Campion.^[3] However, he did appear in two early television roles for the BBC,Mystery at Mountcliffe Chase^[5] andThe Pickwick Papers (both 1952).^[8] At 14, he moved to London to attendRADA's preparatory school.

After two years ofnational service in theRAF, Bewes attended RADA. He was working nights in hotels, doing the washing-up, to finance his studies at RADA during the day, and hence was frequently to be found asleep in class. He was expelled during his final year.^[9]

Bewes began appearing in repertory theatre and obtained parts in the television drama seriesDixon of Dock Green (1962) andZ-Cars (1963).^[1] He also appeared in the film version ofBilly Liar (1963) as Arthur Crabtree, alongside his close friendTom Courtenay. The two men shared a flat at the time; Bewes, having seen Courtenay's script, independently and successfully approached the casting director for the part.^[3] The following year his Northern working-class background and natural Northern accent stood him in good stead, landing him the role of Bob Ferris inThe Likely Lads (1964–66) afterDick Clement andIan La Frenais had seen him inBilly Liar.^[5]

InThe Likely Lads, Ferris was the more ambitious of two Newcastle factory workers, with Terry Collier (James Bolam) being his lazy and more cynical friend.^[8] The series, at first broadcast on the newly launchedBBC2, proved successful both critically and in the ratings when it was shown on theBBC1 and ran for three series.^[5][10] Between his two spells as a 'Likely Lad', Bewes also appeared inMan in a Suitcase (1967),Father, Dear Father (1968) and as "Mr Rodney" onThe Basil Brush Show (1968–69). He starred in his own ITV sitcomDear Mother...Love Albert (later known asAlbert!, 1969–72), which he created and co-wrote withDerrick Goodwin.

Bewes appeared in the 1969 theatrical production ofShe Stoops to Conquer as Tony Lumpkin.^[11] He also appeared in the filmSpring and Port Wine (1970) which starredJames Mason, and played the Knave of Hearts inAlice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972).^[12] Bewes and Bolam reunited for the sequel that continued the Bob and Terry saga,Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973–74).^[8] It ran for two series of 13 episodes, followed by a Christmas special in 1974.^[13] The original series was adapted for radio (1967–68) as was the sequel (1975), and a cinema spin-off (The Likely Lads, 1976) also followed.^[14]

Bewes's later film roles includedJabberwocky (1977),Unidentified Flying Oddball (1979) andThe Wildcats of St Trinian's (1980). Although better known for his comedy and light entertainment roles, viewers were given an opportunity to see Bewes's serious acting ability in a made-for-TV film adaptation ofJohn Ford's 17th century play,'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1980).^[15] Despite a guest role in theDoctor Who serialResurrection of the Daleks in 1984, his television career had largely ended by the mid-1980s.^[8]

On theWest End stage, Bewes appeared in the playMiddle-Age Spread andFunny Money, a farce byRay Cooney.^[3]

In 1981, he starred in "A Very Private Man" onBBC Radio.^[16][17]

Bewes remained active as a stage performer in the 1990s and later with one-man versions ofThree Men in a Boat andDiary of a Nobody, both of which shows he toured extensively in the UK.

Bewes final appearance on television was in 2009 when he played retired bank manager Edward Walton in theHeartbeat episodeTies That Bind.^[18]

In July 2013, he was The Marshal (Philippe Pétain) in theSouthwark Playhouse production ofPeter Ustinov'sThe Moment of Truth.^[19] He was back in Edinburgh again in 2015 for an autobiographical show,An Audience with Rodney Bewes... Who?^[20]

Bewes's autobiography,A Likely Story, was published in September 2005.^[7] In the autobiography, and onMichael Parkinson'sBBC Radio 2 show in 2005, he stated that hisLikely Lads co-starJames Bolam had not spoken to him for the past 30 years. It had been assumed for years that Bolam and Bewes were friends off-screen as well as on; a pretence they kept up because their public expected it. However, they had comprehensively fallen out when Bewes indiscreetly related a personal anecdote about Bolam in a 1976 press interview, and they had not spoken since. He blamed Bolam's fear of having his privacy invaded, and of being eternally typecast, leading to his refusing to allow repeats ofThe Likely Lads. The final breach, said Bewes, occurred when, having told an anecdote about the birth of his own triplets, he followed on with a story of how Bolam's wife, actressSusan Jameson, had told him she was pregnant while he was driving, and he almost crashed the car. Bewes repeated this story, thinking it was already public knowledge; but then, on realising he might have crossed a line, phoned Bolam to forewarn him of the article, and got a frosty reaction. "There was this dreadful silence. He put the phone down. I called him back, he didn't answer. He hasn't spoken to me since."^[21][22] It was reported that Bolam had never got on that well with Bewes, due to their different personalities.^[23]

In 2010, Bewes also claimed his former co-star had refused to allowThe Likely Lads to be repeated on network television, preventing him from earning anything from the repeats; "He must be very wealthy; me, I've just got an overdraft and a mortgage".^[24] Shortly before he died, in an interview with theDaily Mirror, Bewes once more lamented the loss of his friendship with Bolam.^[1] Bolam, however, denied such a rift ever existed, stating after Bewes's death that they "didn't talk for 40 years because of their busy schedules rather than resentment", and he had "nothing but fond memories" of Bewes.^[25] Bolam denied he had the ability to block repeats of the TV series.^[26]

Bewes died on 21 November 2017, six days before his 80th birthday, in his seaside home atCadgwith in southCornwall.^[27] He is survived by a daughter and three sons.^[1]

•   Media related toRodney Bewes at Wikimedia Commons
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