Reg Varney
Varney in 1972
Born	Reginald Alfred Varney (1916-07-11)11 July 1916 Canning Town,Essex, England
Died	16 November 2008(2008-11-16) (aged 92) Budleigh Salterton,Devon, England
Resting place	St Peters Burial Ground, Budleigh Salterton, Devon, England
Occupations	Actor comedian entertainer
Years active	1938–1995
Television	On the Buses
Spouse	Lilian Flavell ​ ​ (m. 1939; died 2002)​
Children	1

Reginald Alfred Varney (11 July 1916 – 16 November 2008)^[1] was an English actor, entertainer and comedian. He is best remembered for having played the lead role of bus driver Stan Butler in theLWT sitcomOn the Buses (1969–1973) and its three spin-off feature films. Having performed as amusic hall entertainer, Varney first came to national recognition as factory foreman Reg Turner in the BBC sitcomThe Rag Trade (1961–1963). He appeared in further sitcoms includingBeggar My Neighbour (1966–1968) andOn the Buses stardom facilitated overseas cabaret tours.

Varney was born in Canning Town,Essex (but now part of theLondon Borough of Newham),^[2] to Sidney Thomas Varney and his wife Annie (née Needham). His father worked in a rubber factory inSilvertown and he was one of five children who grew up in 27 Addington Road, Canning Town. He was educated at the nearbyStar Lane Primary School inWest Ham and after leaving school at 14, he worked as a messenger boy and a page boy at theRegent Palace Hotel.

Varney took piano lessons as a child and was good enough to find employment as a part-time piano player. His first paid engagement was atPlumstead Radical Club inWoolwich, for which he was paid eightshillings andsixpence (42½p). He also played inworking men's clubs, pubs andABC cinemas with his friend George Shears and later sang with big bands of the time. He and his mother decided that show business was the career for him, and he gave up hisday jobs. Varney became a solo pianist at theWindmill Theatre in May 1938.^[3] In late 1939, he married Lilian Emma Flavell (1915–2002) atEast Ham.

During theSecond World War, Varney joined theRoyal Engineers, but continued his performing career as an army entertainer, touring in theFar East for a time. After beingdemobilised in the late 1940s, he starred on stage in a comic revue entitledGaytime, withBenny Hill as his partner in a double act.^[4] He then became an all-round entertainer, working his way around themusic halls.

Varney had made only a small number of film and TV appearances prior to being cast in the role of long-suffering factory foreman Reg Turner in the BBC television sitcomThe Rag Trade (1961–1963), which made him a household name. He was aware that he was the only performer without West End acting experience and worked hard to make up for it. Slightly later, he starred in a children's show for BBC TV calledThe Valiant Varneys (1964–65), performing multiple characters in front of a live audience. After that followed another comedy role inBeggar My Neighbour (1966–1968); this also starredPat Coombs,June Whitfield andPeter Jones. Pat Coombs played the wife of Varney's character. Varney featured inThe Great St Trinian's Train Robbery (1966) withFrankie Howerd,Dora Bryan andGeorge Cole.

The world's first voucher-basedcash dispensing machine (ATM) was installed at theEnfield Town branch ofBarclays Bank. Varney was living inEnfield at the time and for publicity purposes he was photographed making the first withdrawal from the machine on Tuesday 27 June 1967.^[5]

Varney's most successful lead role was in theLWT sitcomOn the Buses (1969–1973) as bus driver Stan Butler. Varney took considerable lengths to prepare for the role, even attempting to gain apublic service vehicle licence so that he could be filmed driving on the open road. However, Varney was not insured so LWT had to employ professional drivers for these scenes. Three spin-off films were made —On the Buses (1971),Mutiny on the Buses (1972) andHoliday on the Buses (1973). Varney was 52 when the first series was recorded, although his character Stan, who lived with his mother and often tried to attract young women, was implied to be aged around 35. Varney was only 11 years younger thanDoris Hare, the main actress who played Stan's mother, and 20 years older thanAnna Karen who played his sister.

Varney left the series midway through its last season, hoping to move on to films and other projects. Ultimately, he only appeared in one further non-Buses film,The Best Pair of Legs in the Business (1973), and two television series, both made byATV for the ITV network: an eponymously titledsketch show (1973–74) and another sitcom,Down the 'Gate (1975–76), which was set inBillingsgate Fish Market. However neither series replicated his success withOn the Buses, and afterDown the Gate was dropped after 12 episodes, Varney did not star in another television series. LWT revivedThe Rag Trade in 1977 but Varney did not reprise his role, thoughAnna Karen did play Olive.

He later worked as an entertainer on cruise ships and toured Australia with his one-man show. He told an interviewer, "Whatever I did afterOn the Buses, nobody wanted to know about it. But I can't knock the programme because it brought me offers to do concert tours in Australia, New Zealand and Canada."^[6]

At the height of his fame he was a subject of the television programmeThis Is Your Life on 20 May 1970 when he was surprised byEamonn Andrews, making further appearances in programmes featuringDoris Hare,Douglas Bader,June Whitfield andAnthony Newley.

Varney released several LP albums during his career – see Discography, below.

Varney had a heart attack in 1965, and in 1981 he suffered a more serious one.^[7] He then contracted a severe viral infection, which for three years made working difficult for him. In 1989, he suffered a stroke, which left him with an uneven heartbeat.^[6] Subsequently, he divided his time between his home in a small village (Stoke Fleming) nearDartmouth and a villa inMalta.

Varney moved toDevon in the late 1980s and lived alone after his wife died inEast Devon in 2002.

In his retirement years, Varney painted local landscapes inoil, with many to professional standard; some of his works were exhibited in London.^[8]

Varney died aged 92 in anursing home inBudleigh Salterton, Devon, on 16 November 2008, following a chest infection.^[1]

In 2016, 100 years after Varney was born, an exhibition called "Before the Buses" was commissioned by his only child, his daughter Jeanne.^[3][9]

This list is partially sourced from.^[11]

• Downs, Michael (2016).Our Little Clown: A Centenary Tribute to Entertainer Reg Varney. Fairlynch Museum.^[12]
• Varney, Reg (1990).The Little Clown: An Autobiography. Hodder & Stoughton,ISBN 0-340-52077-9, which covers his life up to his Army call-up in 1942.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toReg Varney.

• Reg Varney atIMDb
• Reg Varney's 1972 album 'On the 88’s at Abbey Road'

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