Z Cars actor always kept special place in his heart for Derby
WEST END STAR, WHO LOVED DAYS AT THE PLAYHOUSE, DIES AGED 81
A WELL-KNOWN television and West End theatre actor for whom Derby always held special memories, has died at the age of 81.
It is almost 60 years since the then unknown Bernard Holley arrived in town for the new season of repertory theatre at Derby Playhouse in Sacheverel Street.
In 1964, Bernard and his wife, Jean, came to live in a flat on Burton Road, just around the corner from where I lived. On Sunday lunchtimes we’d share a few drinks in the Durham Ox at the top of Gerard Street. I was an avid theatergoer, and I knew that he was making a big impression with Playhouse regulars.
Bernard went to greater things – PC Newcombe in Z Cars, Axos in Dr Who, Mike Turnbull in the Gentle Touch among many parts – but Derby always had a special place in the heart of an actor who learned much of his trade here. He last visited the city in 2014 when he was guest at a Dr Who convention.
Born in Middlesex in 1940, Bernard trained at the Rose Bruford Drama School before making his first professional stage appearance at Lincoln’s Theatre Royal where, in August 1963, he was cast in Arnold Wesker’s play, Chips
With Everything. The following year, he moved to Derby Playhouse. On one of the last occasions we got together, lunch in
London in October
2018, he told me: “My year in Derby was invaluable to me as an actor because of the variety of plays we did and parts we played. Sad to say, young actors don’t have that ‘rep’ training any more – performing one play while rehearsing another.
“It was a memorable time for many reasons. We took the opportunity to visit the Peak District and places like Matlock and Bakewell. Derbyshire really is a magnificent county.
“I’ve been one of the lucky ones – always worked in one field or another, and always earned a living – not a bad boast for an actor.”
Bernard’s television appearances also included Elizabeth R, Now and Then, Birds of a Feather (two series), Carry on Laughing, Ahead of the Class, A Touch of Frost, The Bill, Holby City, Doctors, and, Casualty.
One critic wrote: “Bernard Holley soothing the mike with that cake-in-avelvet-glove voice of his; Bernard Holley’s tremendous voice commands every scene he is in.”
I’ll remember the kind, gentle man with the whimsical sense of humour who never forgot those early years here.
Bernard Holley passed away in London on Sunday.