Leonard Rossiter Biography

Fast Facts

• Was nominated for three BAFTA TV Awards for Best Light Entertainment Performance for "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin" in 1977, 1978, and 1979
• Served in the British military during World War II in the Education Corps, where he taught soldiers how to read and write and would often write their letters home for them
• Won the Peter Sellers Award for Comedy at the Evening Standard British Film Awards in 1981
• His first professional acting job came at the Preston Repertory Company in the Joseph Colton play "The Gay Dog․"
• Began acting with The Adastra Players and The Centre Players, first appearing in a Terence Rattigan play called "Flare Path․"
• Quote: "(On telling his then-girlfriend, an amateur actress, that he could do better): "Really, it was only to see more of the girl․ Then I got more interested in the stage than I did in the girl․""
• Quote: "(On quitting his day job to become a full-time actor): "It would have been far more courageous to have stayed in the insurance business, knowing I'd be bored out of my mind for the rest of my life․""
• Best known for his role as Rupert Rigsby in "Rising Damp" and as the title character in "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin․"
• Released two comedy books, "The Devil's Bedside Book" in 1980 and "The Lowest Form of Wit" in 1981