Glynn Edwards(1931-2018)

Avuncular character actor Glynn Edwards became best known to TV audiences as the gullible bartender Dave who presided over Arthur Daley's favourite watering hole in Minder (1979). He was born in Malaya the son of a rubber planter and brought up by his grandparents in Portsmouth. He started acting professionally in his 20s while living in Trinidad and working as assistant manager of a country club. Upon his return to England Glynn enrolled at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Upon graduation, he joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop for ten years. Under Littlewood's direction he acted on the West End and had a leading role on Broadway in Brendan Behan's play The Hostage. His screen career began in the mid-50s when he began enjoying regular employment in British television as supporting or guest actor, often cast as police constables or detectives. Among his numerous credits have been Sir Francis Drake (1961), Z Cars (1962), The Baron (1966) and The Saint (1962). Infrequent film appearances included a small role in the epic Zulu (1964) (Glynn recalled in a later interview that a series of Kelloggs commercials, also filmed in Africa, turned out to be ten times more profitable). After Minder finished in 1994, Glynn went into semi- retirement, splitting his time between Spain, Edinburgh and a houseboat on the River Thames. He was formerly married to George & Mildred (1976) actress Yootha Joyce and had a son from his second marriage to Christine Pilgrim.