Eric Chappell, the creator of the comedy Rising Damp and Home to Roost, died on the age of 88.
Rising Damp, starring Leonard Rossiter and Frances de la Tour, earned the hit TV present creator a Bafta in 1978.
Reece Dinsdale, star of Home to Roost, confirmed Mr. Chappell’s death on Thursday, paying respect to the writing icon.
“Just heard that Eric Chappell, the writer of Home To Roost, Rising Damp, and many other episodes, passed away on Thursday,” he remarked. “Sir, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me… Your scripts were a lot of fun to act out.”
Eric Chappell’s works
Chappell, who was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, in September 1933, spent 22 years as an auditor for the East Midlands Electricity Board.
Chappell was a prolific author for theatre and tv. His crowning achievement was Rising Damp, which Mark Lewisohn, writer of the Radio Times Guide to Comedy, described as “ITV’s finest ever sitcom.”
It starred Leonard Rossiter because the miserly, manic landlord Rigsby, Frances de la Tour because the dreamy romantic Miss Jones, Don Warrington because the suave Philip. He claimed to be the son of an African chief, and Richard Beckinsale because the naive and good-natured medical scholar Alan. It ran from 1974 to 1978.
Rising Damp drew 18 million viewers frequently. Catherine Shoard, the movie editor for the Guardian, noticed in 2009: “At its best, it bears comparison with Beckett and Pinter.”
That was not the case, based mostly on the standard of the writing. “I hoped I’d created an intellectual comedy about race relations,” Chappell acknowledged.
Genius comedian actor is humble sufficient to credit score Eric Chappell and David Nobbs 👍👍👍👍👍 pic.twitter.com/kEoyIkWriN
— David Ryan (@davidxryan) April 23, 2022
Did Eric Chappell get married and did he have youngsters?
In his later years, Eric Chappell led a low-key private life away from the highlight.
He informed Comedy in a 2013 interview that he would learn his performs to his spouse Muriel. She would “yawn as she read them.”
According to an interview with Penny Black Music, the comic leaves behind at the very least two youngsters.
He might or might not have been married on the time of his death.
Mr. Chappell, who died on April 21, labored for the East Midlands Electricity Board for 22 years and wrote quite a few books that had been rejected earlier than discovering success as a dramatist.
Jed Mercurio, the creator of BBC’s Line of Duty, tweeted, “RIP Eric Chappell, one of the all-time greats.”
‘His magnificent comedy entertained millions week in and week out for decades,’ Mr Mercurio continued.
Netizens pay tribute on Twitter
Just heard that Eric Chappell, the author of #HomeToRoost, #RisingDamp & many different exhibits died on Thursday.
Thank you for every thing you probably did for me, Sir… your scripts had been a whole pleasure to play.
Great instances!
My love & deepest sympathies to his pals & household
RIP Eric 🙌 pic.twitter.com/WfB4jrbpy9— Reece Dinsdale (@reece_dinsdale) April 23, 2022
Eric Chappell (1933 – 2022) R.I.P 😇🙏 Eric was the author for a lot of Classic British Shows together with Rising Damp, The Squirrels, Only When I Laugh, The Bounder, Duty Free and Home to Roost. pic.twitter.com/z7mtd1qrfV
— 🇬🇧📺 Classic British TV 📺🇬🇧 (@Classicbritcom) April 23, 2022
Tonight I might be elevating a glass to a genius. Rest in peace Eric Chappell and thanks very, very a lot certainly x pic.twitter.com/dsthSxs0zB
— James Hogg (@JamesAHogg2) April 23, 2022
RIP Eric Chappell, author of considered one of THE nice sitcoms, Rising Damp. The 4 most important characters had been every fleshed out with laser perception into human minds, and intense understanding of the inherent drama and comedy of conversational language. Thank you, Eric, thanks a lot. pic.twitter.com/rmg19ACueh
— Danny Kelly (@dannykellywords) April 23, 2022
Sad to listen to that Eric Chappell has left us. One of the true skills of ITV 70s and 80s comedy. My favourites being Rising Damp (oil within the Pennines – pure genius), Singles and Duty Free. But there have been many others. RIP Eric and thanks for the laughs. pic.twitter.com/frNecxu7Kj
— Rob Cope (@Rob_Cope) April 23, 2022