John Glynn Edwards (2 February 1931 – 23 May 2018) was a British actor who worked in television and films. He came to national prominence for his portrayal of the barman Dave Harris in the television comedy drama series Minder (1979–1994).

Early life

Edwards was born in Penang, Peninsular Malaysia, on 2 February 1931. His father, who spent little time with his son, was a rubber planter at the time of his birth and died in 1946. His mother died when he was very young, and he was brought up firstly by his grandparents in Southsea, Hampshire, and then by his father and stepmother, in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Edwards received his early formal education at Clayesmore School in Dorset. In his childhood he read Arthur Ransome's adventure novel Swallows and Amazons, which gave him a life-long passion for river-boating, which began with sailing expeditions along the River Avon in his tenth year.

Edwards performed in amateur dramatics in his teenage years and, after a period in Trinidad where he tried sugar farming, he returned to England and studied at the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama in London, before gaining employment as a stage manager at the King's Theatre in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.

Career

Edwards trained professionally as an actor with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, appearing in its productions of The Good Soldier Švejk and two plays by Brendan Behan, The Quare Fellow and The Hostage, all of which transferred from the Theatre Royal Stratford East to the West End. He also appeared in that company's production of Lionel Bart's musical version of Frank Norman's play Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be, opposite Miriam Karlin and Barbara Windsor. He had been spotted by Littlewood herself, who had been in the audience at one of the performances of a successful play he had produced entitled The Call of the Flesh, which featured Yootha Joyce in an early role.

In 1964 he appeared in the role of Corporal William Allen, V.C. in Cy Endfield's cinema film Zulu, having opted for the part over another offer of a role in Joan Littlewood's stage show Oh, What a Lovely War!. He later said: "I earned 10 times as much money from (later in his career) advertising Bran Flakes as I did from the movie Zulu." He played supporting roles in the cinema films Robbery (1967), and the criminal underworld film Get Carter (1971).

From 1979 to 1994, he played the role of Dave Harris, the part-owner and barman of the Winchester Club in ten series of the ITV drama Minder.

He also appeared in bit parts in numerous British television shows in the 1970s and '80s, including Callan, The Professionals, Public Eye, Spindoe, Steptoe and Son, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Dixon of Dock Green, Man About the House, Softly, Softly, The Persuaders!, and The Saint.

He was a regular in two series of the ITV legal drama The Main Chance (1972, 1975).

During his career Edwards played a number of darker character roles, particularly that of 'Mr Dix', a schoolteacher in the early-1970s sitcom Please Sir!, and a gamekeeper in ITV's Thriller (1973), and was often cast either as policemen or criminals.

In 1985, he appeared in the rock band Marillion's music video for their single "Heart of Lothian", in which he played a barman, and starred in a popular TV commercial for McVitie's rich tea biscuits as "Jacko", saying, "Yeah, I'll make a statement. A drink's too wet without one!"

Personal life

Edwards' first wife was the actress Yootha Joyce, who also trained at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop. They were married from 1956 to 1969. After their divorce, he married the former Benny Hill Show performer Christine Pilgrim, the marriage producing a son, Thomas (b. 1971). From the 1980s, he was married to Valerie Edwards.

Edwards retained a lifelong interest in river boating, owning several vessels, and during the 1980s and 1990s he resided on a 40ft-long canal boat converted into a houseboat, named "Winchester" after the fictional private members' bar that he had run in the Minder television series, which was permanently moored on the south bank of the River Thames, at Thames Ditton and Surbiton.

Edwards retired from acting following the end of Minder in 1994, and in his final years divided his time between living in Spain and Scotland.

Edwards died at his home in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 23 May 2018 at the age of 87.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

• Interview with Glynn Edwards, minder.org, December 2007.

• Glynn Edwards Tribute, minderpodcast.co.uk, March 2024.