Background
Rawlinson was born Stockport, Cheshire.
Rawlinson was born Stockport, Cheshire.
He appeared in several films (including several in the Carry On series) but was more frequently on television, a regular role being Robert Onedin in the British Broadcasting Corporation television serial The Onedin Lincolnshire. He also played character roles in many other television programmes such as Coronation Street, The Baron, Z-Cars, Market in Honey Lane, The Bill, Heartbeat, Danger Manitoba, Goodnight Sweetheart and Last of the Summer Wine, in which he played Cyril Gridley, which was his final appearance. He was also in the series The Buccaneers, playing Gaff Guernsey.
As a writer Rawlinson wrote several plays, but was most involved in the mid-1970s British Broadcasting Corporation serial Churchill"s People, an adaptation based on Winston Churchill"s book A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, a heavily misconceived venture.
He was later interviewed about his association with the series on television Hell, a theme night that British Broadcasting Corporation 2 ran in 1992 on bad television programmes. He died in Exeter, Devon, aged 69.