John Challis

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (May 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

John Challis
Challis in Shrewsbury, November 2007.
Born	John Spurley Challis (1942-08-16) 16 August 1942 (age 79) Bristol, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1964–present
Spouse(s)	Jean Robertson ​ ​ (m. 1966, divorced)​ Debbie Arnold ​ ​ (m. 1981; div. 1985)​ Sabina Franklyn ​ ​ (m. 1987; div. 1988)​ Carol Davies ​ ​ (m. 1995)​
Website	https://www.john-challis.com/

John Spurley Challis^[1] (born 16 August 1942) is an English actor. He has had an extensive television career but is best known for portraying Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in the long-running BBC Television sitcom Only Fools and Horses (1981–2003)^[2] and its sequel/spin-off The Green Green Grass (2005–2009) and Monty Staines from the seventh series onwards in the hit ITV sitcom Benidorm from 2015 to 2018.

Early life[]

Challis' father, James Alec, was a civil servant from Sheffield. He was born in Bristol but when he was one year old, the family moved to south east London.^[3] Challis attended the state boarding Ottershaw School near Woking, Surrey. Upon leaving school he worked as a trainee estate agent before becoming a professional actor.

Career[]

Television and radio[]

An early television role was in the controversial gangster drama Big Breadwinner Hog in 1969, and between 1971 and 1975 he made regular appearances in Z-Cars as Sergeant Culshaw.^[4]

The 1979 Richard Beckinsale sitcom Bloomers was written about Challis's experience working at a garden centre while taking a break from acting.^[5]

Challis is best known for playing Herman Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in Only Fools and Horses (1981—2003). The series' writer, John Sullivan, also created a spin-off for Challis called The Green Green Grass (2005—2009).^[6] The outdoor scenes of The Green Green Grass were filmed at his then home, surrounding fields and local villages.

His other television appearances include Dixon of Dock Green, Thriller, The Sweeney, Doctor Who (The Seeds of Doom), Dracula, Beau Geste, Juliet Bravo, Coronation Street, Bloomers, Citizen Smith, Ever Decreasing Circles, Doctor Snuggles, Chance in a Million, The Bill, One Foot in the Grave, Open All Hours, The New Statesman, Don't Wait Up, Soldier Soldier, Brass Eye, My Family, In Sickness and in Health, Last Of The Summer Wine, Benidorm and Heartbeat. In the 2008 series of Last of the Summer Wine he guest-starred as a fake jewel thief trying to impress the ladies.

Challis appeared on the Channel 4 mockumentary television programme Brass Eye, where he was tricked into believing Clive Anderson had been shot by Noel Edmonds. On BBC radio, he played an interrogator in the play Rules of Asylum by James Follett, broadcast by BBC Radio 4 in 1973. He also played Dibden Purlew in Getting Nowhere Fast from 2001 to 2004. In 2006 he took a cameo role in BBC's The Impressionists as Station Master Garre Saint Lézasr.

In 2012 he became the narrator of the National Geographic Channel series Strippers: Cars for Cash.

Theatre[]

Challis has had a number of stage roles, including with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1960s and the National Theatre.^[7][8] He starred in pantomime at the Plaza Theatre in Stockport as Captain Hook in Peter Pan, a role he reprised in 2018 at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham. He also appeared in pantomime at Weston Playhouse in winter 2011–12 playing Ebenezer in Aladdin and as King Rat in Dick Whittington at the Plaza Theatre in Stockport over Christmas 2013 and New Year 2014. In 2013 Challis occasionally contributed to the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Live Tour as the narrator.

In 2014, Challis began a theatre tour of his one-man show titled Only Fools and Boycie, which charted his life before, during and after his time as Boycie.

Personal life[]

Challis is married to his fourth wife, Carol. They wed in Brighton in 1995^[9] and since 1998 have lived in the Abbot’s Lodgings at Wigmore Abbey Grange, Adforton, Herefordshire. Challis has no children.^[10]

Challis is a patron of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.^[11] He is an Arsenal supporter.^[12]

Challis has written two volumes of autobiography, Being Boycie and Boycie & Beyond.^[13] From April 2012 he embarked on a book tour to promote Being Boycie, starting at Waterstones in Uxbridge.

Filmography[]

Film[]

Television[]

References[]

External links[]

• John Challis at IMDb
• The Manning Close Christmas Light Show