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The actor Patrick Murray, who has died at the age of 68, rose to prominence for his performance as Mickey Pearce in Only Fools and Horses, the opportunist in a trilby who enters a short-lived partnership with his childhood friend Rodney Trotter in the classic television comedy Only Fools and Horses.

Early Introduction

He debuted in season three in a 1983 episode called Healthy Competition, in which Rodney's desire to move beyond his role as a lookout for Del Boy was quickly dashed when Mickey cheated him. Del and Rodney were reunited, and Mickey continued as a recurring character until the final festive episode in 2003.

Development of Mickey

The character was alluded to several times since the series started in 1981, such as in plots where he snatched Rodney's girlfriend, but did not initially appear. As the writer sought to enlarge the ensemble of characters, the show's producer remembered Murray's role in a Pizza Hut ad, where he unsuccessfully chatted up two women, and proposed him for the part. Murray was auditioned on a Friday and began work just three days later.

Mickey was conceived as a lighter version of Del Boy, less shrewd but, in the same vein as Del, frequently experiencing his money-making schemes fall apart. “Mickey will try anything, but he’s not very trustworthy,” the actor stated. He's forever tricking Rodney, and Del often threatens to thump him for it.” This character frequently teases Rodney about his lack of girlfriends while exaggerating his dating successes and flitting between jobs.

On-Set Incidents

One 1989 storyline was hastily altered due to a mishap in which the actor stumbled over his dog at home and smashed into a window, severing a tendon in his right arm and suffering major blood loss. With Murray's arm in a plaster cast, the creator modified the upcoming installment to explain Mickey being roughed up by neighborhood thugs.

Later Years

The show's conclusion was broadcast in 1991, but Murray was among the actors who participated in festive specials for another 12 years – and continued to be loved at fan events.

He was born in Greenwich in London, with a mother named Juana, a dancer, and Patrick Sr., a public transport inspector. He studied at St Thomas the Apostle college in Nunhead. Aged 15, he saw an advertisement for a theatrical agency in the Daily Mirror and in just a week was given a part in a stage play. He promptly secured TV parts, debuting in 1973, aged 16, in Places Where They Sing, a BBC play based on a novel about college demonstrations. Shortly after, he had a leading role in the youthful adventure show The Terracotta Horse, shot in Spain and Morocco.

He also had roles a television drama Hanging Around (1978), depicting rebellious young people, and the film The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978), featuring Glenda Jackson as a passionate instructor, ahead of his breakthrough arrived.

In the drama Scum, a production depicting the oppressive reform school environment, he was cast as Dougan, a kind-hearted prisoner whose skill with numbers got him entrusted to deal with cash smuggled in by visitors, which he retrieved on his tea trolley round. He was able to negotiate down the “daddy’s” percentage when the character Carlin took over that position.

This play, produced for a TV series in 1977, was prohibited by the BBC for the extent of its violence, but it finally aired in 1991. In the interim, the filmmaker turned it into a movie in 1979, with Murray as one of six from the original cast playing their characters again.

Subsequently, he played supporting parts in the movies Quadrophenia (1979) and Breaking Glass (1980), and appeared as a bellboy in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983).

Fame in Only Fools and Horses led to numerous TV roles in that era in series such as Dempsey and Makepeace, Lovejoy, The Return of Shelley and The Upper Hand. He played two parts in The Bill.

However, his life declined after he took over a pub in Kent in 1998, overindulging in alcohol and eventually finding help from Alcoholics Anonymous. He later moved to Thailand, where he tied the knot with Anong in 2016. Soon after, he moved back to Britain and drove a taxi. He briefly returned to acting in 2019 as a cockney gangster playing Frank Bridges in the show Conditions, still to be screened.

Medical Challenges

He received a diagnosis with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 2018 and, in 2021, pulmonary cancer and a growth on his liver. Despite being cleared in 2022 post-treatment, the cancer returned soon after.

Family and Relationships

Back in 1981, Murray married Shelley Wilkinson; the marriage ended in divorce. He leaves behind Anong, their daughter, Josie, and the three sons from his first marriage, Lee, Ricky and Robert, along with sisters and brothers.