Paul Barber
Encyclopedia
Paul Barber is an actor from Liverpool
. In a career spanning more than 30 years, he is best known for playing Denzil
in Only Fools and Horses
and Horse in The Full Monty
.
, he entered the care system on Merseyside
. His father, originally from Sierra Leone
, died when Paul (or Paddy as he was then known) and his security guard brother Brian were very young.
. His first major TV role was as Sam 'Lucky' Ubootu in the 1974 ITV Playhouse
production Lucky set in Liverpool
and made by Granada TV. He then played the flamboyant but vicious gang boss Malleson in the off-beat BBC
Birmingham-based series Gangsters
from 1975 to 1978. He played Louis St John in 4 episodes of I Didn't Know You Cared, 1976-1978. A later starring role was alongside Philip Whitchurch
in the mid-1980's ITV comedy series 'The Brothers McGregor'.
Barber has worked extensively in British TV, such as in To the Manor Born
(1979) as a Jamaican steel band musician, Minder
(1980) as Willie Reynolds in episode Don't Tell Them Willie Boy Was Here, Only Fools and Horses
(1981–2003), Boys from the Blackstuff
(1982), Malcolm in The Front Line
, and Cracker
and played Greg Salter in Brookside
(1994). He made a guest appearance in the first episode of The Green Green Grass
- a spin-off from Only Fools And Horses. Paul was best known for his time on Only Fools And Horses
and still attends conventions for the show.
In 2008 he had a small part in the long-running British soap opera
Coronation Street
playing a club owner called Nelson, an acquaintance of Vernon Tomlin. He appeared in Casualty
on 13 August 2011 playing a Police Officer
(1979) and The Long Good Friday
(1980). In 1991, he plays a football coach in the 'Screen One' television play, Alive and Kicking
However Barber's best known role was playing one of the stripping steelworkers in the popular 1997 film The Full Monty
(1997) set in Sheffield. He reunited with Full Monty co-star Robert Carlyle
and Samuel L Jackson in the Liverpool-based crime movie The 51st State
(2001).
In the 2006 feature film Dead Man's Cards
, Barber again returned to Merseyside playing the part of Paul, head doorman, at a Liverpool club. In Terry Pratchett's Going Postal
(2010) he played a pin fanatic shop owner.
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. In a career spanning more than 30 years, he is best known for playing Denzil
Denzil Tulser
Denzil Tulser , is a character in the popular BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses played by Paul Barber.Denzil is a long distance lorry driver, and a good friend of Derek Trotter, and one of Del's victims when it comes to dodgy goods...
in Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
and Horse in The Full Monty
The Full Monty
The Full Monty is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber, and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy...
.
Early life
At the age of seven, following the death of his mother from tuberculosisTuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, he entered the care system on Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
. His father, originally from Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, died when Paul (or Paddy as he was then known) and his security guard brother Brian were very young.
Acting career
Barber began on the stage in the musical HairHair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
. His first major TV role was as Sam 'Lucky' Ubootu in the 1974 ITV Playhouse
ITV Playhouse
ITV Playhouse was a UK comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a...
production Lucky set in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and made by Granada TV. He then played the flamboyant but vicious gang boss Malleson in the off-beat BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Birmingham-based series Gangsters
Gangsters (TV series)
Gangsters is a British television series made by the BBC and shown from 1975 to 1978.Created by Philip Martin, and produced at the BBC's Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham by David Rose, Gangsters began televisual life as an edition of Play for Today in 1975, followed by two series transmitted in...
from 1975 to 1978. He played Louis St John in 4 episodes of I Didn't Know You Cared, 1976-1978. A later starring role was alongside Philip Whitchurch
Philip Whitchurch
Philip Whitchurch is a British stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for playing Chief Inspector Philip Cato in The Bill from 1993 to 1995...
in the mid-1980's ITV comedy series 'The Brothers McGregor'.
Barber has worked extensively in British TV, such as in To the Manor Born
To the Manor Born
To the Manor Born is a British sitcom that first aired on BBC1 from 1979 to 1981. A special edition appeared in 2007. Starring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles, the first 20 episodes and the 2007 special were written by Peter Spence, the creator, while the 1981 finale was written by Christopher...
(1979) as a Jamaican steel band musician, Minder
Minder (TV series)
Minder is a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV...
(1980) as Willie Reynolds in episode Don't Tell Them Willie Boy Was Here, Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
(1981–2003), Boys from the Blackstuff
Boys from the Blackstuff
Boys from the Blackstuff is a British television drama series of five episodes, originally transmitted from 10 October to 7 November 1982 on BBC2....
(1982), Malcolm in The Front Line
The Front Line (TV series)
The Front Line was a 1984/1985 BBC sitcom about two half-brothers of West Indian descent who shared a house, one brother a policeman and one a dreadlocked Rastafarian....
, and Cracker
Cracker (UK TV series)
Cracker is a British crime drama series produced by Granada Television for ITV and created and principally written by Jimmy McGovern. The series is centered on a criminal psychologist , Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, played by Robbie Coltrane. Set in Manchester, it consists of three series which were...
and played Greg Salter in Brookside
Brookside
Brookside is a defunct British soap opera set in Liverpool, England. The series began on the launch night of Channel 4 on 2 November 1982, and ran for 21 years until 4 November 2003...
(1994). He made a guest appearance in the first episode of The Green Green Grass
The Green Green Grass
The Green Green Grass is a British sitcom, created and initially written by John Sullivan, produced by Shazam Productions for the BBC. It is a spin-off of the long running sitcom Only Fools and Horses and stars John Challis, Sue Holderness and Jack Doolan...
- a spin-off from Only Fools And Horses. Paul was best known for his time on Only Fools And Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
and still attends conventions for the show.
In 2008 he had a small part in the long-running British soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
playing a club owner called Nelson, an acquaintance of Vernon Tomlin. He appeared in Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
on 13 August 2011 playing a Police Officer
Film work
He had small roles in the big-screen version of PorridgePorridge (TV series)
Porridge is a British situation comedy broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977, running for three series, two Christmas specials and a feature film. Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it stars Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale as two inmates at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland...
(1979) and The Long Good Friday
The Long Good Friday
The Long Good Friday is a British gangster film starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. It was completed in 1979 but, because of release delays, it is generally credited as a 1980 film...
(1980). In 1991, he plays a football coach in the 'Screen One' television play, Alive and Kicking
However Barber's best known role was playing one of the stripping steelworkers in the popular 1997 film The Full Monty
The Full Monty
The Full Monty is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber, and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy...
(1997) set in Sheffield. He reunited with Full Monty co-star Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle, OBE is a Scottish film and television actor. He is known for a variety of roles including those in Trainspotting, Hamish Macbeth, The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes, The 51st State, and 28 Weeks Later...
and Samuel L Jackson in the Liverpool-based crime movie The 51st State
The 51st State
The 51st State is a 2001 British action comedy film written by Stel Pavlou and directed by Ronny Yu. Produced by Focus Films Ltd. . The film stars Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer, Ricky Tomlinson, Sean Pertwee, Rhys Ifans and Meat Loaf...
(2001).
In the 2006 feature film Dead Man's Cards
Dead Man's Cards
Dead Man's Cards is a 2006 British underworld drama starring Paul Barber and James McMartin. When Tom suffers a bad eye injury his boxing career comes to an end, and his marriage begins to suffer...
, Barber again returned to Merseyside playing the part of Paul, head doorman, at a Liverpool club. In Terry Pratchett's Going Postal
Terry Pratchett's Going Postal
Terry Pratchett's Going Postal is a two-part television adaptation of the book of the same name by Terry Pratchett, adapted by Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle and produced by The Mob, which was first broadcast on Sky1, and in high definition on Sky1 HD, at the end of May 2010.It is the third in a...
(2010) he played a pin fanatic shop owner.