Bumbling authority figure in ‘Porridge’ and ‘Last of the Summer Wine’

Brian Wilde, whose death was announced on 20 March, 2008, was a very British actor who appeared in two iconic British sitcoms.

During the 1970s he was Mr Barrowclough, the good hearted but incompetent prison warden in Porridge.

And for two decades he played ‘Foggy’ Dewhirst, a war veteran and quixotic leader of the trio of elderly stars in Last of the Summer Wine.

Wilde, a Lancashire lad, began his acting career in his 30s with bit parts in films and television. His busy CV was made up of diverse credits ranging from Z-Cars to Hancock, Carry on Doctor to You Only Live Twice.

His lanky physique and lugubrious face made him perfect to portray authority figures in comic situations and he had played several police officers, army majors and prison wardens before being cast as Mr Barrowclough in Prisoner and Escort, one of a series of comedy specials starring Ronnie Barker.

In 1974 this became the first episode of Porridge, a classic series in which a host of comedy talent played the straight man to Barker’s irrepressible inmate, Norman Stanley Fletcher.

As well as being the hapless foil of many Fletcher’s schemes, Barrowclough and bolshy, Napoleonic chief warden Mr Mackay (played by Fulton Mackay) became one of the great comedy duos even though they spent very little time together on screen.

When Porridge finished in 1977, Mr Wilde transferred to Last of the Summer Wine. Walter ‘Foggy’ Dewhurst was initially an incidental character in the Yorkshire Dales comedy, but on-screen chemistry soon saw him replace Michael Bates’ Cyril Blamir as a member of the leading trio.

Foggy was a continuation of his Mr Barrowclough persona, a bumbling war veteran with delusions about his past and an eagerness for power that would lead cohorts Compo and Cleggy into 116 episodes of hilarious scrapes, including the synonymous going-downhill-in-a-bathtub sequence.

During his first stint on Last of the Summer Wine, the show reached a peak audience of 19 million. He left the show in 1985 – Foggy had moved to Bridlington to run the family egg-painting business, according to the script – due to reported ego-clashes with co-star Bill Owen, but returned in 1990 for another seven years.

He retired in 1997 at the age of 76 after a bout of ill health had interrupted recording schedules for the start of the new series. He was replaced by Frank Thornton who played a pompous ex-copper who differed from Foggy with his sense of humour, but the show’s producers never really replaced Wilde’s character in the dynamic.

Brian Wilde died unexpectedly in his sleep at home in Hertfordshire aged 86, agent Nick Young said. "He was shaky the last few days but nobody expected this. He went to bed and didn't wake up," said Mr Young. "He will be sadly missed by colleagues and family alike. He brought a great deal of laughter into many people's lives."

Last of the Summer Wine producer Alan J W Bell said: "He was a fine actor to work with, very professional … he had an enormous warmth to the public when he was off the set. He didn't like to hob-nob with the actors – when there was a break, he preferred to go a pub around the corner to meet the real people."