Paul Eddington

Four children with Patricia Scott: actor Toby Eddington (born 1954), Hugo, Dominic and Gemma.

Paul Eddington was a tall, debonair actor who achieved international success in the 1970s with The Good Life (1975), a popular television series about a young couple farming their backyard in a London suburb. He played the supporting role of neighbor Jerry Leadbetter.

The first time the cast of The Good Life (1975) ever met as a group was in the garage of a private home, in the middle of winter. As they were actors, the quite proper woman who owned the place refused to let them into the house.

He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1987 Queen's New Year Honours List for his services to drama.

He was awarded the 1992 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Actor for his performance in "No Man's Land.".

Five days before dying, he gave a very moving interview in Face to Face: Paul Eddington (1995), an episode from the revival of Face to Face (1959). He discussed his childhood and parents, his schooling as a Quaker, his acting career, the challenges of having an unknown illness followed by a decade knowing that it would be fatal, and how his skin condition made it no longer possible to be cast for television. With typical modesty, he said that his epitaph should simply be, "He did very little harm".

A memorial service was held for him at St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden on 3rd March 1996.