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Patrick Murray, who has passed away at 68, became well-known for his portrayal as the character Mickey Pearce, the opportunist in a trilby who teams up briefly with his childhood friend Rodney Trotter in the classic television comedy Only Fools and Horses.

Early Introduction

He first appeared in the show's third season in a 1983 episode named Healthy Competition, in which Rodney's desire to escape serving as a lookout for his brother was quickly dashed when Mickey deceived him. Del and Rodney joined forces again, and Mickey continued as a fixture until the last holiday special in 2003.

Character Background

This figure was alluded to repeatedly since the series started in 1981, like in episodes where he snatched Rodney's girlfriend, but hadn't been portrayed originally. Once the show's creator sought to enlarge the supporting cast, the show's producer recalled Murray's appearance in an advertisement, trying to flirt with two women, and proposed him for the part. He auditioned on a Friday and began work within three days.

Mickey was conceived as “Del Boy lite”, less shrewd but, like Del, often seeing his entrepreneurial antics fail. Mickey dabbles in everything, but he's unreliable,” Murray once explained. “He’s always stitching Rodney up, and Del is always threatening to thump him for it.” Mickey frequently teases Rodney about his lack of girlfriends while fabricating his own romantic “conquests” and flitting between jobs.

On-Set Incidents

A plot in 1989 needed quick rewriting after an accident in which the actor stumbled over his dog at home and crashed through a glass window, injuring a tendon in his right arm and suffering major blood loss. With Murray's arm in a plaster cast, the creator rewrote the next episode to include Mickey facing violence by local gangsters.

Later Years

The show's conclusion was screened in 1991, but Murray joined the cast members who returned for Christmas specials for another 12 years – and remained popular at fan conventions.

Patrick Murray entered the world in south London's Greenwich, to Juana, a dancer, and Patrick, a transport official. He attended St Thomas the Apostle college in Nunhead. Aged 15, he noticed a notice for an acting agency in the Daily Mirror and in just a week landed a role in a stage play. He soon began TV parts, beginning in 1973, aged 16, in Places Where They Sing, a BBC play based on a novel about student unrest. It was quickly followed, he had a leading role in the children’s adventure serial The Terracotta Horse, produced in those countries.

He also had roles a television drama Hanging Around (1978), depicting rebellious young people, and the film The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978), with Glenda Jackson as an idealistic teacher, prior to his major role arrived.

For Scum, a play about the oppressive reform school environment, he was cast as Dougan, a kind-hearted prisoner whose skill with numbers meant he was trusted to manage funds smuggled in by visitors, that he gathered on his rounds with a trolley. He successfully to lower the “daddy’s” percentage when Ray Winstone's Carlin took over that position.

This play, created for television in 1977, was banned by the BBC for the extent of its violence, although it was eventually broadcast in 1991. Meanwhile, the filmmaker remade it as a feature film in 1979, with Murray among six from the first version returning to their parts.

Subsequently, he played small parts in features like Quadrophenia (1979) and Breaking Glass (1980), and played a bellboy in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983).

His popularity from the sitcom brought him numerous TV roles in that era in programs such as Dempsey and Makepeace, Lovejoy, The Return of Shelley and The Upper Hand. He appeared in two roles in The Bill.

However, his life declined after he became a Kent pub manager in 1998, overindulging in alcohol and later getting support from AA. He went to Thailand, where he married his second wife in 2016. Not long after, he came back to the UK and became a taxi driver. He came back shortly to acting in 2019 as a London criminal playing Frank Bridges in the show Conditions, not yet broadcast.

Medical Challenges

He was diagnosed with COPD in 2018 and, a few years after, lung cancer and a tumour on his liver. Although he was given the all-clear in 2022 post-treatment, it recurred soon after.

Family and Relationships

During 1981, Murray married Shelley Wilkinson; the union dissolved. His survivors include Anong, their daughter, Josie, and the three sons with his first wife, Lee, Ricky and Robert, along with sisters and two brothers.