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The tireless David Jason has become BAFTA’s newest Fellow. Ivan Waterman reports on the life and times of ‘The Guv’nor’
He made the grade as an electrician and as sitcom mastermind John Sullivan might have put it, the late starter finally became one of the bright- est sparks on the box.
David Jason hardly needs introductions. His BAFTA Fellowship was probably long overdue. Only the late John Thaw and perhaps George Cole share his extraordi- nary television pedigree.
How many actors can and do make the switch across that great canyon-like divide between comedy and drama? Cole and Thaw were doing it for decades. Jason still shows no signs of easing up.
Retire? Don’t be a plonker. The Billingsgate fish market porter’s son has recently acquired a taste for directing and he has a baby girl at home who will be getting the very best he has to offer.
No problems there. Jason, a sprightly 63, could have retired some years ago to his spread in Buckinghamshire. But pride, enthusiasm and the next chal- lenge drives him on.
When his long-time mentor fig- ure Ronnie Barker described him as ‘The Guv’nor’ when presenting him with the coveted Fellowship, he was semi-jesting.
Typical of Barker? The “ex- Guvnor”, as he described himself, couldn’t resist quipping: “You know, his greatest achievement was providing the memorable sound effects for the Phantom Raspberry Blower.”
It was something of a roller coaster ride for North London born and bred Jason when he did decide to give up the day job at the age of 26 after a spell in amateur dramatics.
Though he cut his teeth along- side Michael Palin and Eric Idle in the ground breaking Do Not Adjust Your Set, nobody saw him captivating millions with his Everyday Man brand of dry wit and pathos.
No way, Jose! Del Boy Trotter wasn’t in sight while Jason stud- ied Barker’s every move in the sit- com Open All Hours. Another decade had passed before Sullivan created his menagerie of clowns in Only Fools And Horses.
His long association with Yorkshire Television spawned Pop Larkin in The Darling Buds Of May and compassionate ’tec Jack Frost. Sandwiched in between was perhaps his best perform- ance as tetchy college porter Scullion in Channel 4’s adapta- tion of Tom Sharpe’s satirical novel Porterhouse Blue.
Jason himself rates Del Boy and Scullion as his personal favourites saying: “Scullion was the chance to do something so different. That really stretched me. Del Boy was like slipping on another skin after a while because I knew him so well.
“But it has been a bit of a myth about me being this ‘come- dy actor’. I am at home in come- dy and drama. I am a very lucky man. Very few of us are given these kind of opportunities. I have a loyal audience and I am choosy. I wouldn’t do anything to offend my audience.
“Call it old fashioned if you like but that’s the way I am. I don’t do nudity. I don’t swear and shout. People respond to that.”
While he has enjoyed a fabu- lous career, collecting three BAFTA awards, his private life has been a mix of utter joy and absolute despair. His long time partner, the
Welsh actress Myfanwy Talog, died from cancer in 1995 two years after he was at Buckingham Palace to collect an OBE.
Friends say he almost became a recluse. Instead, with- in eighteen months, he had met his new soulmate, TV production girl Gillian Hinchcliffe. Their daughter, Sophie Mae, is now two years old.
to move on. You are not in the kind of business where you can afford to sit still or take anything for granted.
“I was shocked early on when I became a star because I really did- n’t expect it. I am in this constant state of amazement, and that’s not false modesty. The awards and the Fellowship are huge honours. Huge. You wonder what you have done to deserve it.”
Yorkshire Television drama supremo David Reynolds has watched Jason slowly climb that golden ladder and says: “He sets the benchmark for himself. Very few can do that. He will be most remembered for Del Boy and Frost.
“He undergoes this terrific transformation. He may not appear to have much presence size-wise but when he’s on televi- sion, you are looking at him. In a word, he’s... brilliant.”
At an age when many actors are reaching for a mug of cocoa rather than a glass of cham- pagne, Jason is still very much The Guv’nor.
lovely jubbly
So, what’s his secret? What is about the diminutive Jason that keeps viewers switched on? The characters he portrays are not superbright. Underneath that flashy surface, Del Boy veers on the sad side. Jason doesn’t play sexy and he was never going to be Dirty Harry.
it
According to ITV drama chief Nick Elliott: “The public warms to him and trusts him,” he says. “He has that mischievous twinkle in his eye and he doesn’t have that image of ‘Look at me, I’m a terribly serious luvvie.’ He’s Mr Ordinary.”
Jason, on a break from filming the latest Touch Of Frost, says having no regrets about the past helps. He turns away dozens of scripts every month and says: “I am very very picky but once I have said, ‘No thank you’, I don’t dwell on it. I move on. You have
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