Paul Eddington
Updated: 12/20/2025, 1:03:26 PM Wikipedia source
Paul Clark Eddington (18 June 1927 – 4 November 1995) was an English actor who played Jerry Leadbetter in the television sitcom The Good Life (1975–1978) and politician Jim Hacker in the sitcom Yes Minister (1980–1984) and its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister (1986–1988). He was a four-time BAFTA TV and two-time Olivier Award nominee.
Infobox
Born
Paul Clark Eddington(1927-06-18)18 June 1927St John's Wood, London, England
Died
4 November 1995(1995-11-04) (aged 68)Southwark, London, England
Occupation
Actor
Years active
1940s–1995
Spouse
mw- Patricia Scott (m. 1952)
Children
4
Tables
· Career › Awards and honours
1982
1988
Nominated
| Year | Work | Awards | Category | Result | Ref. |
| 1982 | Noises Off | Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Comedy Performance | Nominated | |
| Yes Minister | British Academy Television Awards | Best Light Entertainment Performance | Nominated | ||
| 1983 | Yes Minister / Let There Be Love | Nominated | |||
| 1987 | Yes, Prime Minister | Nominated | |||
| 1988 | Nominated | ||||
| 1993 | No Man's Land | Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Actor | Nominated |
· Selected filmography
1956
The Secret of the Forest
Role(s)
Museum tour leader
1956–1960
Role(s)
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Notes
Various roles/ Will Scarlet
1958
1960
Role(s)
Franz Reuter
1961
1963
1967
Half Hour Story
Role(s)
Tim Phipps-Arnold
Notes
Quick on the Takeover
1969
Fraud Squad
Role(s)
Joseph Horden
Notes
Episode: The Biggest Borrower of All
1971
1972
Role(s)
Vicar
1974
1974–1978
Role(s)
The Good Life
Notes
Jerry Leadbetter
1977
1980–1984
Role(s)
Yes Minister
Notes
James Hacker
1982
1982–1983
Role(s)
Let There Be Love
Notes
Timothy Love
1986
1986–1988
Role(s)
Yes Prime Minister
Notes
James Hacker
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1956 | Dixon of Dock Green | PC Tom Carr | Episode: The Rotten Apple |
| The Secret of the Forest | Museum tour leader | ||
| Sailor Beware! | Bearded Sailor | Uncredited | |
| 1956–1960 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | Various roles/ Will Scarlet | 64 episodes |
| 1957 | Kenilworth | Edmund Tressilian | 6 episodes |
| 1958 | Ivanhoe | Robber Chief | Episode: The Widow of Woodcote |
| The Diary of Samuel Pepys | Sir William Coventry | 8 episodes | |
| 1959 | Jet Storm | Victor Tracer | |
| Desert Mice | Army Officer | Uncredited | |
| 1960 | Maigret | Harry Brown | Episode: Liberty Bar |
| The Four Just Men | Rustie | Episode: Crack-Up | |
| The Man Who Was Nobody | Franz Reuter | ||
| 1961 | Seven Faces of Jim | Col. Downs | Episode: The Face of Genius |
| The Escape of R.D.7 | Michael Rabinowitz | 2 episodes | |
| 1963 | The Avengers | Richard Marling | Episode: Immortal Clay |
| The Spread of the Eagle | Marcus Brutus | TV mini-series, 3 episodes | |
| Z-Cars | Stan Ferris | Episode: Act of Vengeance | |
| 1964 | Ring of Spies | Johnnie | Uncredited |
| 1966 | Danger Man | Captain Shulman | Episode: I'm Afraid You Have The Wrong Number |
| 1967 | Half Hour Story | Tim Phipps-Arnold | Quick on the Takeover |
| The Avengers | Beaumont | Episode: Something Nasty in the Nursery | |
| The Prisoner | Cobb | Episode: Arrival | |
| 1968 | Frontier | Hamilton Lovelace | 8 episodes |
| The Devil Rides Out | Richard Eaton | ||
| 1969 | Fraud Squad | Joseph Horden | Episode: The Biggest Borrower of All |
| The Champions | Klein | Episode: Autokill | |
| 1970 | Doomwatch | Reynolds | Episode: The Red Sky |
| 1971 | Catweazel | Vandanti | Episode: The Heavenly Twins |
| Hine | Astor Harris | 9 episodes | |
| The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes | Hamer | Episode: The Case of the Mirror of Portugal | |
| 1972 | Man at the Top | Clive Kempson | 3 episodes |
| The Amazing Mr Blunden | Vicar | ||
| Van der Valk | Wolf Gebhardt | Episode: The Adventurer | |
| Villains | Henry Percival | 2 episodes | |
| 1973 | Baxter! | Mr Rawling | |
| 1974 | Fall of Eagles | George Plekhanov | TV mini-series, 1 episode |
| Special Branch | Strand | 11 episodes | |
| 1974–1978 | The Good Life | Jerry Leadbetter | 30 episodes |
| 1975 | Play for Today | Varley | Goodbye |
| 1977 | Get Some In! | Squadron-Leader Bush | Episode: End of Basic Training |
| 1980–1984 | Yes Minister | James Hacker | 22 episodes |
| 1982 | Outside Edge | Roger | Television film |
| 1982–1983 | Let There Be Love | Timothy Love | 12 episodes |
| 1984 | Hay Fever | David Bliss | Television film |
| 1986 | Miss Marple | Rev. Leonard Clement | Episode: Murder at the Vicarage |
| 1986–1988 | Yes Prime Minister | James Hacker | 16 episodes |
| 1989 | Minder | Guy Wheeler | Episode: The Wrong Goodbye |
| 1992 | The Camomile Lawn | Richard | TV mini-series, 5 episodes |
| 1995 | Performance | Justice Shallow | Henry IV Part 1 & Part 2 |
References
- https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-60456 Eddington gave his plahttps://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-60456
- Quakers and the Arts: "Plain and Fancy" – An Anglo-American Perspective, David Sox, Sessions Book Trust, 2000, p. 65
- The Independenthttps://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-paul-eddington-1580768.html
- Archive TV Musingshttps://archivetvmusings.blog/tag/dixon-of-dock-green-2/?order=asc
- Liberty Barhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0639828/
- The Pirates of HMS Pinafore essgee.com, accessed 26 May 2019http://www.essgee.com/html/PinaforeVersion.html
- Henry IVhttp://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1047838/
- The Independenthttps://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/actor-reveals-he-has-rare-skin-cancer-yes-minister-star-refuses-to-let-illness-remove-him-from-centrestage-ian-mackinnon-reports-1419608.html
- Supplement to The London Gazette, 31 December 1986, p. 8, accessed on 9 December 2013 Archived 6 October 2012 at the Wayhttp://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/50764/supplements/8/page.pdf
- Olivier Awardshttps://officiallondontheatre.com/olivier-awards/winners/olivier-winners-1982/
- Baftahttps://www.bafta.org/awards/television/light-entertainment-performance
- Olivier Awardshttps://officiallondontheatre.com/olivier-awards/winners/olivier-winners-1993/
- The Face on the Screen: Death, Recognition and Spectatorship, Therese Davis, Intellect, 2004, page 19https://books.google.com/books?id=SyvdAAAAIAAJ&q=%22He+did+very+little+harm%22+
- The Independenthttps://www.independent.co.uk/news/tributes-flow-for-paul-eddington-a-brave-man-and-a-fine-actor-1580747.html
- Who's Who 2009