Geoffrey Hutchings

Geoffrey Hutchings (8 June 1939 – 1 July 2010) was an English actor who worked across stage, film, and television. Born in Dorchester, Dorset, he attended Hardye's School before studying French and Physical Education at the University of Birmingham. He subsequently trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1968.

With the RSC through the 1980s, Hutchings performed extensively in Shakespeare, taking on roles including Launce, Octavius Caesar, Pandar, Dromio of Syracuse, Bottom, Feste, Lavache, Autolycus, and Doctor Caius. He also appeared as Bosola in the RSC's 1971 production of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi. His comic work for the company frequently drew on his singing voice, and his 1982 performance as Lady Dodo in the musical Poppy earned him a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance. In 1983, Hutchings appeared on Broadway in All's Well That Ends Well.

His later stage career included playing Sid James in the Royal National Theatre's 1998 production of Terry Johnson's Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick, a behind-the-scenes account of the relationship between James and Barbara Windsor. In 2004, he portrayed Nagg in Samuel Beckett's Endgame at the Albery Theatre alongside Michael Gambon, Lee Evans, and Liz Smith. From October 2006 to April 2007, he played Herr Schultz in the West End production of Cabaret, and his final stage appearance came in the 2009 West End production of The Shawshank Redemption.

On screen, Hutchings first collaborated with director David Leland on the 1981 film Made in Britain, directed by Alan Clarke and starring Tim Roth. That working relationship continued with Wish You Were Here in 1987, in which Hutchings played Hubert Mansell, the father of Emily Lloyd's character. His other film credits included Clockwise with John Cleese, White Hunter Black Heart with Clint Eastwood, Henry V with Kenneth Branagh, Topsy-Turvy with Jim Broadbent, The Affair of the Necklace with Hilary Swank, and The Thief Lord, in which he played Conte.

Among his television work, Hutchings appeared as Trunky Porter in the 1980 series Juliet Bravo and played second fiddle to Michael Gambon across 12 episodes of Maigret between 1992 and 1993, also narrating audiobooks based on Georges Simenon's Maigret stories. His role as corrupt building contractor John Edwards in the 1996 BBC drama Our Friends in the North, a character closely based on real-life figure John Poulson, was considered one of his most notable television performances. He held a semi-regular role as Bobby Hollamby in the ITV prison drama Bad Girls from 2000 to 2003, and in 2005 played Lionel Morris in Heartbeat. He appeared in the Sky One adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Hogfather in December 2006 and in Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic. From 2008 to 2009, he played Mel Harvey, the owner of five sunbed shops in Greater Manchester, in the ITV comedy series Benidorm, appearing in Series 2, Series 3, and a 2009 special. In February 2009, he appeared in EastEnders as Roger Clarke and in the BBC film Nativity. His final screen appearances, in the BBC medical drama Casualty and the sitcom Grandma's House, were broadcast posthumously in 2010.

Hutchings died from meningitis on 1 July 2010 and was cremated at Kensal Green Cemetery in West London.