Richard Davies

Richard Davies was a Welsh actor whose film and TV work covers many years but was probably best known for his performance as the exasperated schoolmaster Mr Price in the LWT popular situation comedy Please Sir!.

Davies, who came from Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, used a broad Welsh accent for much of his work, but also occasionally used received pronunciation and other accents. This has led to his playing a diversity of characters, (in addition to several Welsh stereotypes). In Please Sir he frequently used the word "boyo" when addressing a fellow member of staff.

Davies played Idris Hopkins in Coronation Street between 1974 and 1975, and appeared in several science-fiction series, among them Robert's Robots, Out of the Unknown, and a well-received performance as Burton in the 1987 Doctor Who story Delta and the Bannermen.

He played Mr White in the Fawlty Towers episode The Kipper and the Corpse and also appeared in Yes Minister, Wyatt's Watchdogs, May to December, Whoops Apocalypse, 2point4 Children, and One Foot in the Grave. In 1970 he appeared alongside Sid James in the third episode of series two of Two In Clover playing Victor Spinetti's character's brother when Spinetti was indisposed.

He appeared in several police television series, with a recurring role as Jim Sloan in Z-Cars between 1962 and 1965, returning to the series playing different characters in 1968 and in its sequel Softly, Softly. He also appeared in Dixon of Dock Green several times, The Sweeney, and Van der Valk. He also appeared in a sketch on Not the Nine O'Clock News, impersonating the Welsh trade union leader Clive Jenkins in a spoof edition of Question Time (TV series). He also appeared in the ' Please Sir!' spin off series 'The Fenn Street Gang'.

Films Davies has appeared in include Zulu (1964), Under Milk Wood (1972), and the movie adaptation of Please Sir! (1971). In 1951 he made an unaccredited appearance in the Ealing Studios comedy The Lavender Hill Mob. In 1988 he played the schoolteacher in Queen Sacrifice.

Biography from the Wikipedia article, licensed under CC-BY-SA

Obituary: Toby Hadoke