Larry Lamb

For other uses, see Larry Lamb (disambiguation).
Larry Lamb
Born Lawrence Douglas Lamb
(1947-10-10) 10 October 1947
Edmonton, Middlesex, England
Occupation Actor
Years active 1977–present
Spouse(s) Linda Martin 1979 (m. 1996)
Partner(s) Clare Burt (1996–present)
Children 4

Lawrence Douglas "Larry" Lamb (born 10 October 1947) is an English actor and radio presenter. He played Archie Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and Mick Shipman in the BBC romantic comedy series Gavin & Stacey.

Early life

Lamb was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, to Jessie White and Ronald Douglas Lamb, the eldest of four including his brother, Wesley, and a sister. Lamb had a turbulent childhood; he was verbally abused by his father and often had to keep his parents from fighting.[1] In 2011, he participated in the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are? and discovered that he is descended from a line of proprietors of Day's Menagerie and the famous Martini Bartlett lion tamer.[2]

Lamb attended Edmonton County School, and later joined the oil industry, which resulted in him working in Libya and Canada, where he attended St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. This developed his amateur interest in acting to a professional level, and he performed at Canada's Stratford Festival in 1975–1976. Lamb is distantly related to Edward Buckton Lamb (1806–1869), a Victorian architect who designed St Martin's Gospel Oak and St Mary Addiscombe.

Career

Acting

After returning to Britain from Canada, Lamb became a regular cast member, along with Kate O'Mara, in the BBC's North Sea ferry-based soap Triangle (1981–83), in which he played Matt Taylor, the ship's Chief Engineer.

Other credits include The New Avengers, The Professionals, Fox, Minder, Lovejoy, Get Back, A Touch of Frost, Our Friends in the North, Taggart, Casualty, Kavanagh QC, Spooks, Midsomer Murders, and The Bill.

Between 2007 and 2010, Lamb appeared in Gavin & Stacey playing Gavin's father, Michael "Mick" Shipman.

In 2008, Lamb began playing Archie Mitchell, the father of Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell in EastEnders. He based his portrayal of Archie on his own father.[3] He left the show in April 2009 but returned in July the same year, around the same time that Danniella Westbrook returned to her role of Archie's niece, Sam Mitchell. Archie was killed off in a murder storyline at Christmas 2009. On 19 February 2010, Lamb appeared with his son, George Lamb, in EastEnders Live: The Aftermath, after Stacey Branning was revealed to be Archie's killer in the closing moments of the 25th Anniversary live episode.

In April 2011, BBC Learning launched "Off By Heart Shakespeare", a school recital contest for secondary school pupils. For the project Larry took on the role of Jaques from the play As You Like It and delivered the speech: "All the world's a stage".[4]

It was announced that Lamb would join the cast of New Tricks as Ted Case in series 12, taking over from Gerry Standing, played by Dennis Waterman.

Film

Lamb's films include Buster and Essex Boys. In 1983, he had a small speaking role in Superman III.

In 2009, Lamb starred alongside Liam Cunningham in Blood: The Last Vampire, in the role of General McKee.

Theatre

In 1978, Lamb appeared in Filumena by Eduardo De Filippo opposite Joan Plowright, Colin Blakely, Patricia Hayes and directed by Franco Zeffirelli.[5]

In 1992, Lamb acted in James Saunders' play, Making It Better, at the Criterion Theatre in London, with Jane Asher, David de Keyser, Rufus Sewell and directed by Michael Rudman. 1994 saw Lamb act in two plays. The Sisters Rosensweig alongside Janet Suzman and Maureen Lipman (THE SISTERS ROSENSWEIG - Wendy Wasserstein (Greenwich) Maureen Lipman, Janet Suzman, Lynda Bellingham, Larry Lamb, Brian Protheroe, Robert East)Phyllis Nagy's play, Butterfly Kiss, at the Almeida Theatre in London with Susan Brown, Oliver Cotton, Sandra Dickinson, directed by Steven Pimlott.[6]

Radio

In 2013, Lamb began presenting a regular Sunday morning show on LBC.

Personal life

Lamb lives with his girlfriend, Clare Burt. He is the father of radio DJ and presenter George Lamb, from his previous marriage to Linda Martin. With Burt, he has three daughters: Vanessa Clare Lamb (born 1996), Eloise Alexandra (born 1999), and Eva-Mathilde Lamb (born 2003).[7]

Lamb is sponsoring two young Senegalese girls, Fatou and Oumou, through school.[8]

In 2011, Lamb's autobiography Mummy's Boy was published by Coronet.

Lamb is a supporter of the Labour Party.[9]

Awards and nominations

Lamb won the award for Best Villain at the 2010 British Soap Awards.[10]

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
1978 Superman Reporter 1
1983 Superman III Miner 2
1984 Mon ami Washington English title: My Friend Washington
Flight to Berlin Specialist Dale Sizemore
1985 Shadey Dick Darnley
Underworld Roy Bain
1987 Ubac Larry
Hearts of Fire Jack Rosner
1988 Buster Bruce Reynolds
1998 Place Vendôme Christopher Makos
2000 Essex Boys Peter Chase
One of the Hollywood Ten Will Geer
2004 Deadlines Paul Baker
Fakers Harvey Steed
2009 Blood: The Last Vampire General McKee
2011 Two Minutes William Short Film
2012 Rose, Mary and Time Barneys Dad Short Film
Television

References

  1. ↑ Colin Daniels and Paul Millar (2010-06-20). "Larry Lamb: 'I ran away from my daughter'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
  2. ↑ "Who Do You Think You Are?". National Fairground Archive. University of Sheffield. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
  3. ↑ "Larry Lamb inspired by 'evil' dad". Metro. 2 December 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
  4. ↑ "Schools - Teachers - Off By Heart Shakespeare: As You Like It "All the world's a stage"". BBC. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  5. ↑ "UK theatre programmes 1970's". THEATRICALIA. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
  6. ↑ Other works for Larry Lamb IMDb.com
  7. ↑ George Lamb: My dad's not evil! This is Hull and East Riding, 8 April 2009
  8. ↑ I’ve got daughters here... and in Africa The Sun, 11 February 2010
  9. ↑ Rachael Bletchly (26 September 2013). "Ed Miliband issues rallying cry at Daily Mirror's Labour Party Conference bash - Mirror Online". mirror.
  10. ↑ "Villain of the Year - British Soap Awards 2010 - Pictures - Tvradio". Virgin Media. Retrieved 2011-07-08.

External links

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