Christopher Beeny

Born in Britain, Beeny began his stage career in 1951 and made his film debut in 1953. Initially drawn to dance, he joined the Ballet Rambert company in London at age eight, but eventually shifted to acting, graduating from RADA in 1959. By that time, he had already gained some recognition on television as a child star in the original British soap opera *The Grove Family* (1954). He became best known for his role as the sassy footman and chauffeur Edward in *Upstairs, Downstairs* (1971). After a seven-year break from acting between 1963 and 1970, during which he worked in the building industry, he returned to television in *Softly Softly: Task Force* (1969) and *The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes* (1971). He later replaced Reg Varney as foreman Tony in the revived series *The Rag Trade* (1975), appeared as a bumbling undertaker in the sitcom *In Loving Memory* (1969), and played an inept debt collector in *Last of the Summer Wine* (1973). His film appearances have been rare. He was married to singer Diana Kirkwood, his second wife.