JIMMY GARDNERJimmy Gardner, who died on 3 May, 2010, was a British actor who had his fifteen minutes of fame late in life.
At the age of 79 he appeared in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) as Ernie Prang, driver of the Knight Bus, a triple-decker that whisks wizards around London in the discomfort of somewhat unstable beds.
Prior to that he had a 42-year career in television and films and spent 10 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
During the Second World War he was a gunner on board Halifax Bombers and received the Distinguished Flying Medal for his 30 sorties – twice the required amount.
After the war he trained at The Central School of Speech and Drama in London and went on to bit parts in numerous television series. He made his film debut in The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964).
He appeared on 23 productions for the RSC during the 1980s.
Prior to the Harry Potter movie, the biggest film he had appeared in was Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) as a farmer, but he went on to roles in the JM Barrie biopic Finding Neverland (2004) starring Johnny Depp and Rob Schneider comedy Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005), his last film.
Writing in the Independent, his close friend Mark Rylance described Mr Gardner as a remarkable character who was friends with Bob Marley, “the most fortunate man I will ever know” when it came to cards and scrapes during his RAF days, and a “pure and expressive” actor.
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