RONALD MAGILLRonald Magill, who died on 6 September 2007, aged 87, found fame relatively late in life as Amos Brearly, the bewhiskered fictional pub landlord in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale.A founder member of the soap’s cast in 1972, he remained behind the bar of the Woolpack for the next 19 years, creating a memorable comic double-act with pub regular, Henry Wilks.Emmerdale’s producers had originally conceived the character of Amos as the village villain, but instead, he became the fulcrum of gossip in the village farming community in which the show was set.With his trademark sideburns and catchphrase “Nay, Mr Wilks,” he became one of the best-loved characters in the long-running soap’s history and, for a time, one of the best-known faces on TV.Ronald Magill, was born on 21 April 1920 in Hull, Yorkshire. After his father died, he was brought up in a Birmingham orphanage, occasionally visiting his mother, who lived on a farm in Ireland.After leaving the orphanage he served with the Royal Corps of Signals during the Second World War and began a career as a tyre salesman before turning his hand to acting.In 1963 he joined the Nottingham Playhouse and appeared in several plays there before becoming its artistic director.Keen to move into television, he auditioned for many acting roles eventually securing a cameo role in an episode of ‘Special Branch,’ a 1960s police drama.A few years later, while performing in an Edwardian play that required him to grow long whiskers, Mr Magill heard about auditions for a new ITV soap to be called Emmerdale Farm.Unable to change his appearance due to his stage commitments, he arrived at the audition with bushy sideburns, fearing his unkempt look may not land him a role in the soap.But Emmerdale producers were impressed with his audition and encouraged him to keep the sideburns for his new role as Amos Brearly.Emmerdale Farm first screened on 16 October 1972 as Amos Brearly was introduced to viewers for the first time. As the very first on-screen Woolpack landlord his name became forever etched in the soap’s history.Appearing in Emmerdale for almost20 years, he finally left the show in 1991. He later returned in 1995 and 23 years after his character first proposed to Annie Sugden, they married and moved abroad to spend their retirement in Spain.Reflecting on his most famous role he once said: “Amos was the village gossip and very much a loner.“I saw him as a man who found it difficult to make friends, yet, once he was behind the bar and lord of all he surveyed, he was able to relate to people.”He also admitted that his long career in Emmerdale perhaps hampered his devotion to theatre, but for theactor it was a small price to pay for TV fame.
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