Over here, for instance, an idiot is pretty much an idiot.
Over there, an idiot can be a git, a twat, a tosser, an eejit, a knob-end, a wanker, a plonker or a half-dozen more words I’ve forgotten.
(Really, I’m not making an analogy to Eskimos and their words for snow here. )
BH tells me that a sitcom called Only Fools and Horses made plonker (my personal favorite) a household word in the UK and that its beloved star, Buster Merryfield, didn't act professionally until he was 58.
Since I live in Hollywood, the entertainment (aka youth) industry capital, I had to check.
Harry “Buster” Merryfield, Jr. (1920-1999) came from a typical pre-WWII working-class English background. His mother was a part-time waitress and his father a packer.
Merryfield's grandfather gave him the nickname Buster when he was born, since he weighed nine pounds, and the name suited him when he became a child boxing star in the 1930s.
Merryfield took a fascinating road into professional acting . . .
FIRST STOP: JUNGLE WARFARE INSTRUCTOR
Merryfield was drafted in 1939 at age 19 and served with the Royal Artillery.In 1942, he was given the chance to train as an officer, and took it. He became a physical training and jungle warfare instructor, serving in India and South Africa.
In 1944, Merryfield returned to England, where he led a squadron shooting down flying bombs known as V1 doodle bugs.
SECOND STOP: BANK MANAGER / AMATEUR THEATRICAL PRODUCER
Just before being drafted, Merryfield had entered a management training program with National Westminster Bank. After the war, he returned to his desk job and rose through the ranks. (He'd gotten married in 1942 and had a baby on the way.)
But he loved amateur theatre, and had been in charge of providing entertainment for the troops. He continued acting in local productions.
While in his 40s, Merryfield produced John Osborne’s The Entertainer, Ruth Dixon’s The World-My Canvas and Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge for the Woking Drama Festival.
The productions won best play prizes in 1966, 1968 and 1969, respectively. Merryfield himself took best actor honors in two of those plays.
(The festival, held in Surrey, is one of England’s largest drama competitions.)
THIRD STOP: FAMOUS CHARACTER ACTOR
At age 58, Merryfield retired from NatWest Bank to pursue acting professionally. He convinced a London repertory company to take him on, performed in several plays at the Connaught Theatre, and won a few small television parts.
His big break came in 1985, at age 65, when a BBC producer saw him perform mime. He was asked to audition for the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses.Merryfield became Uncle Albert, the crusty seafaring relation of two thick, but likeable, second-hand traders.
The series ended in 1996 when one of the nephews discovers that an old watch they've owned for years is an antique worth millions.
You know, I’ve figured it out. I always said I wanted to do 40 years in a bank. A few years in the war. About 20 years as an actor. Five years to write a book and then another 10 years as a painter. By the time that’s all done I will be about 102.Merryfield didn’t quite get his time as a painter.
He passed away in 1999 at age 79 from a brain tumor. Merryfield was survived by Iris, his wife of 57 years, his daughter Karen and two grandchildren.
Buster Merryfield's humor, his zest for life and his devotion to his family still inspire Later Bloomers through his autobiography, During the War and Other Encounters, and his work on Only Fools and Horses. I've included a video clip for you below.
WHAT LATER BLOOMERS CAN LEARN FROM BUSTER MERRYFIELD
- “I’m in the enviable position of being an actor with a pension.”
- Start doing now what you dream of doing later.
SOURCES
- Buster Merryfields's Obituary in The IndependentBuster
- Merryfield in Wikipedia
- Photo credits: BBC
