Brian Hall (actor)

Brian Charles Hall (20 November 1937 – 16 September 1997) was a British actor. He is best remembered for his role as hotel chef Terry Hughes in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers.

Brian Hall
Hall as Terry in Fawlty Towers.
Born	Brian Charles Hall (1937-11-20)20 November 1937 London, England
Died	16 September 1997(1997-09-16) (aged 59) Worthing, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1971–1994
Spouse	Marlene Hall
Children	4

Career

Hall began his career on stage, appearing in productions at the Royal Court Theatre and with the Royal Shakespeare Company.^[1] On screen, he played many hard-boiled tough guy Cockney roles: his role as the amiable chef Terry in Fawlty Towers was a casting against type. He played leading roles in police drama Softly, Softly: Task Force (1971–72), crime drama McVicar (1980), and sitcom You Must Be The Husband (1987). He also had several guest-starring roles in The Professionals, The Long Good Friday, The Bill, London's Burning, The Sweeney and Minder in Series 1 episode You Gotta Have Friends. He also played the Dad in Billy Webb's Amazing Story by Steve Attridge (1991 BBC)^[2]

Personal life and death

Hall was born on 20 November 1937, and had an interest in acting from an early age.^[1] He worked as a cab driver before starting a professional acting career.^[1]

Hall became friends with John Cleese when they appeared together in Fawlty Towers. Some years after the series had finished, Cleese sent Hall an autographed picture as a joke. Hall wrote back and demanded a "signed Rolls-Royce car" instead. Cleese sent him back a car – a children's toy car.^[1]

Hall and his wife, Marlene, had four children. He died at a hospice in Worthing on 16 September 1997, aged 59, after a three-year battle with cancer.^[1] Cleese paid tribute, saying: "I am very upset. I was particularly fond of Brian and had several conversations with him this year. I admire profoundly the way in which he dealt with his cancer. I do not know where he found the strength".^[3] A year before his death, Hall told the Mirror: "Cancer is a bully and I hate bullies. This old boy cancer will get about as much change out of me as all the other bullies I've met – nothing."^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973	Adolf Hitler – My Part in His Downfall	MP Sergeant
1973	Yellow Dog	Bertram
1974	From Beyond the Grave	Man on Phone	Uncredited
1974	Confessions of a Window Cleaner	2nd Removal Man
1974	The Land That Time Forgot	Schwartz
1976	Trial by Combat	Policeman with Alsatian
1976	Voyage of the Damned	Ship Waiter	Uncredited
1978	Sweeney 2	Haughton
1979	Fawlty Towers	Terry Hughes	TV series
1980	Sweet William
1980	McVicar	Terry Stokes
1980	The Long Good Friday	Alan
1981	Break in the Sun	Eddie Green	TV series
1983	Up The Elephant And Round The Castle	Brian	TV series
1991	The Grass Arena	George	TV series