Career
Large and burly in appearance he is perhaps best remembered for his roles as Harry Grout’s bodyguard ‘Crusher’ in the sitcom Porridge and as Charlie Dawson in the drama Our Friends in the North. Although born in Dundee, Scotland, he had been a resident of London, England, for many years. He drove mobile cranes and bulldozers on building sites and then worked as a singer until he was offered the part in Porridge whilst performing at the Lyceum Theatre, London.
He then went on to appear in one of the most memorable scenes in the sitcom in which his character displays a "sense of humour failure" when a joke is repeated to him.
He also had small parts in films including Batman and Chicago Joe and the Showgirl. In 1984 he appeared in a video for the Frankie Goes to Hollywood song Relax.
He also appeared in commercials including the acclaimed 1985 advertisement for Levi Strauss & Company jeans with Nick Kamen that was set in a Laundromat. He died of cancer in 2005.