Christopher beeny biography

Christopher Winton Beeny (7 July 1941 – 3 January 2020) was an English actor and dancer.^[1] He had a career as a child actor, but was best known for his work as the footman Edward Barnes on the 1970s television series Upstairs, Downstairs, as Billy Henshaw in the sitcom In Loving Memory (Yorkshire Television), and as the incompetent debt collector and golfer Morton Beamish in Last of the Summer Wine.^[2]

Early life

Beeny was born in London.^[3] He moved to Bristol with his family as a young child, spent several years at the Arts Educational School, and later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.^[4] As a child, Beeny began his career at the age of six when he danced for the Ballet Rambert.^[5]

Beeny's first screen role was in the film The Long Memory (1953).^[6] It starred John Mills and featured Thora Hird, Beeny's future co-star in In Loving Memory and Last of the Summer Wine.^[7][2]

Television

Beeny played Lenny