Reginald Marsh (actor)

Early life and career

Marsh was born in London in 1926 and he grew up on the Sussex coast at Worthing. After he left school he worked in a bank. After realising how serious he was about acting, his father introduced him to a retired actress, who introduced him to an agent who got his first acting role, at the age of 16, as a juvenile in Eden End by J.B. Priestley. He then worked in rep.

In 1958, he started working behind the scenes of Granada Television, but he soon went back to acting. From the 1960s he appeared in many films, including The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), Jigsaw (1962), Berserk! (1967), The Ragman's Daughter (1972), Young Winston (1972) and The Best Pair of Legs in the Business (1973), and on television, in such series as Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars and The Persuaders!. He also played bookie Dave Smith in Coronation Street on and off from 1962 to 1976.

Marsh played works general manager Arthur Sugden in the boardroom drama The Plane Makers (1963–64). He also appeared in The Stone Tape (1972), Emmerdale Farm (1973), Crown Court (1973–74), QB VII (1974), Bless This House (1974), The Sweeney (1975) and The Duchess of Duke Street (1976). In 1975, Marsh played Andrew, Jerry's boss and Managing Director of JJM, in three episodes of the first series of The Good Life. He would later feature in one episode in the second series and the final episodes of the fourth series in 1977. Marsh played a similar role in George and Mildred from 1976 to 1979, as Humphrey Pumphrey, Mildred's brother-in-law. From 1979 to 1987, Marsh played another similar role, Sir Dennis Hodge, Terry's boss, in Terry and June. From 1982 to 1984, Marsh played Reg Lamont in the soap opera Crossroads.

His play The Death is Announced ("A Murder Play") was produced in Leeds in 1964. He played Inspector Cullen. He described the play as a "comedy who-dun-it" and said that he wrote it "because he could never find a good 'copper' part for himself."

Later life

In the 1980s and 1990s, Marsh had many small roles on television, including appearing in Only When I Laugh, Home to Roost, Bergerac, Boon, Minder, Alleyn Mysteries and Terry and Julian. One of his last television roles was in an episode of Paul Merton in Galton & Simpsons... aired on 14 October 1997.

Reginald Marsh was married to actress Rosemary Murray, and they had four children. Marsh had two other children by his first marriage. One of his sons had Down's syndrome, and during his retirement on the Isle of Wight Reginald Marsh actively supported MENCAP. He died in 2001 at his home in Ryde aged 74.