Paul Eddington CBE
Eddington,c. 1980s
Born	Paul Clark Eddington (1927-06-18)18 June 1927 St John's Wood, London, England
Died	4 November 1995(1995-11-04) (aged 68) Southwark, London, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1940s–1995
Spouse	Patricia Scott ​ (m. 1952)​
Children	4

Paul Clark Eddington (18 June 1927 – 4 November 1995) was an English actor who played Jerry Leadbetter in thetelevision sitcomThe Good Life (1975–1978) and politicianJim Hacker in the sitcomYes Minister (1980–1984) and its sequel,Yes, Prime Minister (1986–1988). He was a four-timeBAFTA TV and two-timeOlivier Award nominee.

Eddington was born atPaddington in London to decorative artist Albert Clark Eddington (1887–1955) and Frances Mary (née Roberts) (1898–1958). He was raised inSt John's Wood.^[1] The family wereQuakers. Albert Eddington was related to theSomerset shoemakingClark family and the scientist SirArthur Eddington,^[2] Albert and Sir Arthur being second cousins, both great-grandsons of William Eddington (1755–1806).

Paul was brought up by his parents with strictfamily values. His father had been "emotionally shattered" on his return from theFirst World War, which led to Paul being a lifelongpacifist.^[2] He attendedSibford School inSibford Ferris,Oxfordshire. In 1952, he married Patricia Scott.

Having registered as aconscientious objector, Eddington began his acting career as a teenager withENSA during the Second World War.^[3] He worked forSheffield Repertory Theatre, a theatre company based at Sheffield Playhouse. In 1956, he played his first major role on television as the corrupt policeman PC Tom Carr in theDixon of Dock Green episodeThe Rotten Apple,^[4] and later that year he became a regular cast member ofThe Adventures of Robin Hood. Initially he played minor characters, but in the fourth series (1959–60), he playedWill Scarlet.

He had a leading role in "Liberty Bar", a 1960 episode of the BBC version ofMaigret, playing Harry Brown,^[5] an Australian entrepreneur. He had roles in episodes ofThe Avengers (1963),The Prisoner (1967) and the final episode ofThe Champions (1969). He was a main cast member of the television seriesFrontier (1968). He also had a supporting role inHammer Films'The Devil Rides Out (1968), an episode ofVan der Valk in 1972, and appeared as a "straight man" (substituting for regularstoogeHenry McGee) in a 1976 episode ofThe Benny Hill Show. He also appeared in most episodes of theATV seriesHine (1971). In this he played Astor Harris, a member of an arms dealing firm named Pendles. Eddington appeared as civil servant Strand in the last series ofSpecial Branch (1974).

Although he was an actor for all his adult life, it was not until Eddington was in his late forties that he became a household name because of his role inThe Good Life, first screened by the BBC in 1975,^[3] and written byJohn Esmonde and Bob Larbey. The sitcom focuses on a suburban couple who decide to give up conventionally paid work and become self-sufficient in their suburban garden. Eddington was cast asJerry Leadbetter, a neighbour of the main characters, andPenelope Keith played his wife,Margo. Originally intended as small parts, the Leadbetters soon became essential foils for the two stars. He also appeared in a single episode of another Esmonde and Larbey sitcom,Get Some In! in 1977.

Eddington's profile was raised further when he played the title role ofJim Hacker in the comedy seriesYes Minister (1980–1984) andYes, Prime Minister (1986–1988). He was shortlisted four times for theBAFTA award for Best Light Entertainment Performance for the series, but he lost out to his co-starNigel Hawthorne on each occasion.

During 1987 Eddington appeared as Sir Joseph Porter inH.M.S. Pinafore in Australia.^[6] His last roles included Guy Wheeler, a corrupt property developer in theMinder episode "The Wrong Goodbye" (1989); as Richard Cuthbertson alongsideGood Life co-starFelicity Kendal in the TV dramatisation ofThe Camomile Lawn (1992); the voice of Badger inThe Adventures of Mole andJustice Shallow inHenry IV (1995); a BBC adaptation of Shakespeare'sHenry IV, Part 1 andHenry IV, Part 2.^[7] He was reunited with anotherGood Life co-starRichard Briers in a run of the playHome in 1994.^[8]

Eddington read extracts fromSir Winston Churchill'sA History of the English-Speaking Peoples for the award-winningBBC Radio seriesThis Sceptred Isle; he died midway through the production, and his place was taken byPeter Jeffrey.

Eddington was made aCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1987 New Year Honours.^[3][9]

Eddington'sautobiography,So Far, So Good, was published in 1995. On 30 October 1995, five days before Eddington's death, the BBC aired an edition ofFace to Face in which he discussed his life, career and battle with lymphoma.^[13] On that show he was asked how he would like to be remembered:

A journalist once asked me what I would like myepitaph to be and I said I think I would like it to be, 'He did very little harm'. And that's not easy. Most people seem to me to do a great deal of harm. If I could be remembered as having done very little, that would suit me.

Eddington had been diagnosed with a rare form ofcancer, known asmycosis fungoides, when he was 28. The ailment was to cause his death eventually, but in the intervening four decades, Eddington and his immediate family kept his condition private. It only became public knowledge in 1994, when Eddington responded to press speculation about his darkening skin and hair loss.^[8]

Eddington died inSouthwark, London, on 4 November 1995.^[14] He and Patricia, his wife of 43 years, had three sons and a daughter.^[15]

• Eddington, Paul (March 1996).So Far, So Good: The Autobiography.Trafalgar Square Publishing.ISBN 978-0-340-63837-8.

• Paul Eddington atIMDb

• 1927 births
• 1995 deaths
• 20th-century English male actors
• 20th-century Quakers
• Actors from the City of Westminster
• Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
• Deaths from lymphoma in England
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• English conscientious objectors
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• English male television actors
• English pacifists
• English Quakers
• Entertainments National Service Association personnel
• Male actors from London
• People from Paddington
• People from St John's Wood
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