HOW PLAYING DEL BOY HELPED ME TO GRIEVE
Sir David Jason: Acting got me through partner’s cancer death
ONLY Fools And Horses legend Sir David Jason has described how playing Del Boy helped him deal with one of the lowest points in his life.
Sir David, 80, said dedication to his work helped him recover emotionally from the grief of losing the love of his life.
When his partner Welsh actress Myfanwy Talog died of cancer aged 50 in 1995, he went through a “terrible sad period”, and ploughed his energy into filming a hit trilogy of Only Fools and Horses specials.
He said: “It took a bit of time to recover from that. As soon I got over the worst of it, I dedicated to working as hard as I could and getting back into gear. Not an easy thing to do at first, but that is what you have to get up and do sometimes.”
Sir David never thought he would find love again, before production executive Gill Hinchcliffe, 61, changed his life. He said: “You don’t sort of go out and look for it. Fortunately it did happen that way and it
helped heal the past memories.” Sir David said Gill, who he married in 2005, caught his eye while making The Darling Buds Of May. He added: “Nature took its course. [I thought] good grief, where has this one been all my life?” Sir David’s own emotional journey helped him portray Inspector Jack Frost coping with the loss of his wife in A Touch of Frost.
He explained: “You call on some bit of experience that has happened in your life in order to get some reality in the situation or character. “So I called on moments of tragedy and upset when my girlfriend of the time passed away, and my mother and father.” Speaking to BBC Radio 2’ s Good Morning Sunday, he added: “I have the greatest respect for people who have a religious feeling, because it really helps people through difficult times. I am not a very religious person myself.”
You call on experience to get some reality into a character
SIR DAVID JASON ON HIS ACTING METHODS
PAIR In 1995