Songsmith and Dibley stalwart
LATE in his career,Trevor Peacock endeared himself to the nation as TheVicar Of Dibley’s bumbling parish councillor Jim Trott, who started each sentence stuttering a repetition of “no, no, no, no” before ending with a “yes”.
Jim was full of smutty sexual references and dim-witted remarks but Peacock’s delivery made him charming nonetheless in 31 episodes from 1994 to 2015.
A trained Shakespearean actor, Peacock was a founder member of the Royal Exchange in Manchester and wrote several musicals for the theatre, including Leaping Ginger (1977), Cinderella (1979),Andy Capp (1982), Class K (1985) and Jack And The Giant (1986).
He also penned pop songs, writing Herman’s Hermit’s number one US single, Mrs Brown,You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter. Other hits included Adam Faith’s Made You and Stick Around, by Billy Fury.
Peacock was born in Edmonton, London, the son of Victor and
Alexandria, and attended Enfield Grammar School where he starred in his first shows. He worked as a primary school teacher starting in show business as one half of a stand-up duo with Jack Good.
Adept at comedies and tragedies, he played Estragon in Waiting For Godot (1967), Hobson in Hobson’s Choice (2003) andWilly Loman in Death Of A Salesman (1985).
He became a fixture at the BBC in the 1980s, starring in adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays, including Twelfth Night, Titus Andronicus, and Henry VI.
In Franco Zeffirelli’s A-list 1990 film Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson
and Glenn Close, he was the gravedigger. His other roles on television included EastEnders, Jonathan Creek and My Family.
Peacock was diagnosed with dementia in 2009. He is survived by his second wife Tilly, their two children, and two children from his first marriage.