Christopher Strauli

Next month the actor Christopher Strauli will be celebrating his 75th Birthday. Born in Hertfordshire, Christopher trained at RADA, got his big break being cast as Bunny Manders in the series, Raffles, and then in 1979, landed the part of Norman Binns in the long running, classic comedy series, Only When I Laugh (which co-starred James Bolam, Peter Bowles, Richard Wilson, and Derek Branche). Since then he’s acted in sketches written by Victoria Wood, plays by Alan Bennett and appeared in numerous TV shows such as; Fortunes of War, Dempsey & Makepeace, Harriette’s Back in Town and Edward VII.

The many faces of Christopher Strauli

Harry Pye (HP) Only When I Laugh ran for 29 episodes – were they a pleasure to make? Would you have been up for one more series?

Christopher Strauli (CS) Yes, a great pleasure but a frighteningly speedy weekly turnaround. It was nice to get up in the morning, go to work and get back into bed! I think four series was probably about right.

HP How well did you get to know Eric Chappell? What was he like to work with? Were the cast allowed to ad lib lines?

CS Eric was a delight to work with and we always went out for supper as a gang after recording and socially he was always great fun too. No - we never ad-libbed; sometimes some new idea would come up during rehearsals and he would incorporate it, but the scripts were so good we delighted in speaking them verbatim.

HP James Bolam’s character, Roy Figgis is, at times, extremely similar to Leonard Rossiter’s character in Rising Damp and John Thaw’s character in Home to Roost. Do you think Eric Chappell was influenced by Tony Hancock? He seems to like writing characters that, like Hancock, are all frustrated men, a little bit mean, slightly obsessed with class and convinced they deserved better.

CS Yes. Highly likely.

HP Are you still in contact with Bolam, Peter Bowles, Richard Wilson or Derrick Branche? Do your paths ever cross?

CS Not regular contact, but it’s always a delight when we do see each other. I met up with Jimmy when he came to Cambridge with a great new play a couple of years ago.

HP What were the good bits and bad bits about Norman Binns? Would you describe him as an innocent or a mummy’s boy? I was intrigued to see that in a couple of episodes we see him lose his temper and stand his ground.

CS He was both and naive as well! Yes, always more fun to play whenever he lost his temper or stood up to Glover.

HP Did you get much fan mail while the show was on? And did fans of the show come up to you in the street and try to start conversations? Did your character appeal to a certain type of person?

CS I actually got more mail from doing Raffles (also for Yorkshire TV) when I was new on the scene — but yes it was always pleasing to be appreciated. The show was number one in the ratings in every season with some 18 or 19 million people tuning in (there weren’t as many channels in those days) and so when I walked down the street next day one it three people would have seen me on telly the night before! I got used to not looking at people and keeping my eyes down as it was simpler and less intrusive. Many would think me deaf and discuss me openly — “do you think it’s him?”, “it looks like him!” But most people were charming and understanding and probably too shy to ask or couldn’t have cared less!

HP I’ve always loved, Victoria Wood As Seen on TV — what do you think was special about Victoria’s writing? Did she write any particular sketches that have a place in your heart?

CS I always loved Victoria the person. She was an immense talent and such fun to work with. Everything was special about her and her writing and her performing. She was taken much too young. All the Acorn Antiques and the Soup sketch (which I know she wasn’t in) always delights me — so simple but such a wonderful idea and how my mate Duncan Preston (we were at RADA together) kept a straight face I’ll never know.

HP You have an impressive CV and have performed in plays up and down the UK. What performances were you most proud of?

CS Most proud of playing Ratty in Alan Bennett’s Wind in the Willows for the National Theatre production at the Old Vic. We did 243 performances and I loved every one of them. Also Ring Round the Moon playing the twins at Windsor, Captain Absolute in The Rivals at Bath and playing Eustace in Eustace and Hilda on telly for the BBC. Plus of course the afore mentioned Raffles.

HP What do you remember about being at RADA? Was it a valuable experience? Did any of the people you were studying alongside become well known?

CS On the whole a very happy time and certainly incredibly valuable. I shared a flat with Michael Kitchen and David Gwillim in Belsize Park.

HP Are there any current comedy shows, or British actors on TV that you’re a fan of? What was the last series you were glued to?

CS I enjoy Would I Lie to You, great fan of Claire Foy (in The Crown and everything she does) and Rufus Sewell (so wonderful in Victoria). Glued to The Serpent — an excellent and frightening example of great story telling.

HP In recent years various actors and directors have been named and shamed as bullies and sex pests? Of all the people you’ve worked with did you come across any heroes or villains? Were there any people exceptionally nice to work with or any nightmares?

CS Anthony Valentine was absolutely lovely, as were a great many of the people I was fortunate enough to work with. Alan Bennett and I had great fun chasing round the Valley of the Kings and Cairo and Athens while we were filming Fortunes of War and has been a great friend ever since. My sad and miserable memories of working with Leonard Rossiter have been well documented over the years but it’s all a long time ago and many bridges have gone under the water since.

HP Do you have any ambitions left? Are there any famous roles like King Lear you’d love to do, or directors you’d love to work with?

CS Not now — I’ve developed angina which has pretty much stopped me doing many things, although I do still do voice overs as and when I’m asked. I always fancied having a go at Richard II but after Ben Whishaw’s performance on the television I would have given up — he was magnificent.