Out and About June 2022 -issue198

58 | OUT AND ABOUT COSTA BLANCA CELEBRITY PROFILE
Dennis Waterman (24
February 1948 – 8 May 2022)
died at the age of 74. The actor
was best known for his roles
in New Tricks, Minder and the
Sweeney’s, and was a popular
household name in Britain.
He died peacefully on Sunday
afternoon (May 8) with his wife
Pam at his side in Spain of lung
cancer. The news is a huge loss
to the British entertainment
industry, with the Claphamborn
actor having enjoyed
a successful career
spanning back to the
1960s. As the youngest
of nine children to
Rose Juliana (née
Saunders) and Harry
Frank Waterman from
Clapham, London. The
family, which included
siblings Ken, Peter, Stella,
Norma, and Myrna, lived
at 2 Elms Road, Clapham
Common South Side, Harry
Waterman was a ticket collector
for British Railways. Two older
sisters, Joy and Vera, had already
left home by the time Dennis
was born, and another brother,
Allen, had died as a young child.
Dennis was an English actor
and singer. He was best known
for his tough-guy leading roles
in television series including
The Sweeney, Minder and New
Tricks, Waterman’s acting career
spanned 60 years, starting with
his childhood roles in film and
theatre, and adult roles in film,
television and West End theatre.
He was known for the range of
roles he played, including drama
(Up the Junction), horror (Scars
DENNIS WATERMAN
of Dracula), adventure (Colditz),
comedy (Fair Exchange),
comedy-drama (Minder),
musical (Windy City) and sport
(The World Cup: A Captain’s
Tale). He appeared in 29 films,
the last being released in 2020.
Boxing was a big
part of Waterman’s childhood.
His father had been an amateur
boxer and made all of his sons’
box.
Waterman was educated
at the Granard Primary
School, a state primary school
on the Ashburton Estate in
Putney, South-West London,
followed by Corona Stage
School, an independent
school at Ravenscourt Park in
Hammersmith in West London.
Waterman’s acting career
began in childhood. His first
role was in Night Train for
Inverness (1960). He appeared
in two small stage roles for the
Royal Shakespeare Company’s
1960 season. In 1961, at the
age of 13, he played the part of
Winthrop Paroo in the Adelphi
Theatre production of The Music
Man. A year later, he starred
as William Brown in the BBC
TV series William based on the
Just William books. Waterman
played the role of Oliver
Twist in the production of
the Lionel Bart musical
Oliver! Staged at the
Mermaid Theatre,
London, in the early
1960s, and appeared
on the cast recording
released in 1961.
Waterman was a series
regular in the 1962 CBS
comedy Fair Exchange,
playing teenager Neville
Finch. In 1963, he took
a “starring” role in the
Children’s Film Foundation
film Go Kart Go.
In the early 1970s, Waterman
appeared in the BBC television
series Colditz as a young
Gestapo officer. He played the
brother of a victim of Count
Dracula (Christopher Lee) in the
Hammer film Scars of Dracula
(1970), and the boyfriend of
Susan George in Fright (1971).
He appeared alongside Richard
Harris and John Huston in a
Hollywood western, Man in
the Wilderness (1971). He was
a member of the company of
actors who featured in The
Sextet (1972), a BBC 2 series
which included the Dennis
Potter drama Follow the Yellow