Richard O'Sullivan dies at 82.

 Richard O'Sullivan dies at 82.

Richard O'Sullivan, who has died at the age of 82, belongs in no one particular category of TV greatness and pre- eminence. O'Sullivan was just one small but vital component in the populist situation comedy machinery that produced so many stars and unmistakable celebrities that it may be impossible to pigeon hole him. What might have been perceived as funny by some may have been bland and forgettable to others. But we recognised and respected him for who he was and what he may have been representing to a much wider TV audience. 

And so today we remember this child prodigy who burst into our living rooms and consciousness in the hit 1970s sitcom Man About the House. Up until the start and middle of the 1970s sitcoms had been pretty conventional but always hilarious, destined to reduce us to belly laughter but then somewhat disappointing and formulaic when seen in the light of the social issues so predominant at the time. Man About the House had a simple premise; two flirtatious girls sharing a flat with a red blooded male student who always seemed so good humoured and philosophical when things went wrong. 

From a very young age, O'Sullivan had all the makings of a multi faceted, versatile and hugely talented film actor. In 1954 he appeared in a Sherlock Holmes TV series which, more or less, introduced us to the slowly expanding TV audience to O'Sullivan's blossoming talents. He was in the Adventures of Robin Hood and Dangerous Exile during the 1950s then vanished from our radar completely before re-emerging in the early 1970s with Man About The House. 

As was the case with most of his contemporaries, O'Sullivan trod the acting boards as a precocious teenager. The works of Shakespeare provided him with the most stable of all platforms and springboards from which to branch out into a wider world of juicier roles on both the stage and finally Man About The House. Accompanied by the flighty Chrissy ( Paula Wilcox and the equally as vivacious Jo ( Sally Thomsett, Man About the House had a bubbly, upbeat exuberance that typified the sitcom of that age. 

And then set against a backdrop of simple domesticity and amusing banter about sex, relationships and delightful grumpiness in the form of  Brian Murphy as the eternally cantankerous George Roper and the gloriously downtrodden wife Mildred played beautifully by Yootha Joyce, Man About the House symbolised everything we've come to expect from the special world of British sitcom. And then there was the very comical Richard O' Sullivan, either cooking up rotten recipes in the kitchen and then adopting the persona of the confident man about town.  

The relationship between O'Sullivan and the girls he shares with him in his flat is illustrated with perfect precision. There was an innocence and charm about Man About the House that almost felt just right. Robin Tripp, who was O'Sullivan, was also quite macho but unpretentious, mocking his own evening meals and then gossiping about the Ropers as the neighbours with whom he could never quite hit it off. And then when Man About the House came to a natural conclusion, somebody wanted to do a spin off of the series. 

Robin's Nest followed and by the end of the 1970s, O'Sullivan had become a familiar face on British TV.  The subject of This is Your Life, introduced by Eamonn Andrews, brought the curtain down on a much loved comic actor. O'Sullivan more or less disappeared into obscurity during the 1980s and by the beginning of the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century, the work had dried up and retirement beckoned. 

Now O'Sullivan found himself in a home for the ageing showbiz celebrity. The world of stardom, celebrity and regular prominence on the theatrical stage, had now faded away and the man who had always made us laugh in a very understated way, was no longer in the limelight. It is quite a while since the TV sitcom could ever boast such a modest and yet extravagant talent. But Man About the House is still being shown well over 50 years later since its first showing on the That's It 2 retro TV channel and for this we must be so profusely grateful.