Tony Capstick

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Tony Capstick : biography

27 July 1944 – 23 October 2003

Joseph Anthony ‘Tony’ Capstick (27 July 1944 – 23 October 2003) was an English comedian, actor, musician and broadcaster.

Life and career

First son of Joe Capstick, a rear gunner in the RAF, he was born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, and spent most of his childhood in Mexborough, also in South Yorkshire, and for over thirty years he was a presenter on BBC Radio Sheffield. Outside Sheffield, he is perhaps better known as one of the policemen in the long-running British sitcom, Last of the Summer Wine, where he played the role until his death in October 2003, with his final appearance on the show broadcast in April 2004.

Discography

  • His Round (with Hedgehog Pie), 1971
  • Punch and Judy Man (with Hedgehog Pie), 1974
  • Does a Turn, 1978
  • Songs of Ewan MacColl (with Dick Gaughan and Dave Burland), 1978
  • Capstick Comes Home, 1981

Biography

A regular performer on the folk circuit, he recorded many albums. The first was for the Newcastle based record label Rubber Records (His Round with Hedgehog Pie, Punch and Judy Man, Tony Capstick Does a Turn, Songs of Ewan MacColl with Dick Gaughan and Dave Burland and There Was This Bloke with Mike Harding, Derek Brimstone and Bill Barclay). In 1981, he reached #3 in the UK Singles Chart with "The Sheffield Grinder" / "Capstick Comes Home". It was recorded with the Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band. His recitation, "Capstick Comes Home", was based on the well-known Hovis wholemeal bread television commercials directed by Ridley Scott.

As a comedian, he had an eight-part television series, Capstick’s Capers, on Channel 4 in 1983. Capstick was also a prolific bit-part actor, with a career including minor roles in the soap operas Emmerdale and Coronation Street. In the latter he played the recurring character of the brewer Harvey Nuttall.

His career at Radio Sheffield came to an end in January 2003, when he was dismissed for an alleged drop in quality, following the latest in a string of drink driving offences. He continued to write a regular column in a local weekly newspaper, the Rotherham Advertiser.

Capstick was an author, with Paul Donoghue, of a book on the Appleby Horse Fair.

In October 2003, he was found dead at his cottage in Hoober, near Wentworth, South Yorkshire. He was survived by wife Gillian, and first wife Carol, mother of his children, son James and daughter Vicky.