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Patrick Noel Murray, who has died at the age of 68, rose to prominence for his role as Mickey Pearce, the opportunist in a trilby who enters a short-lived partnership with his childhood friend Rodney Trotter in the beloved TV sitcom Only Fools and Horses.

Initial Appearance

He first appeared in season three in an episode from 1983 titled Healthy Competition, during which Rodney's goal to advance from his role as a lookout for his older brother was instantly thwarted when Mickey ripped him off. The brothers were reunited, and Mickey stayed a fixture throughout the final festive episode in 2003.

Origin of the Role

This figure was alluded to on multiple occasions following the program's launch in 1981, such as in plots where he took Rodney's girlfriend, but wasn't seen on screen at first. When the creator sought to enlarge the supporting cast, the show's producer recalled Murray's appearance in an advertisement, where he unsuccessfully chatted up two women, and suggested him for the part. Murray was auditioned on a Friday and commenced his role just three days later.

He was designed as “Del Boy lite”, less shrewd but, similar to Del, often seeing his money-making schemes go wrong. “Mickey will try anything, but he’s not very trustworthy,” Murray remarked. He constantly deceives Rodney, and Del often threatens to hit him for it.” This character frequently teases Rodney about his lack of girlfriends while exaggerating his dating successes and hopping from job to job.

Behind the Scenes

An episode from 1989 had to be rapidly revamped due to a mishap in which Murray fell over his dog at home and crashed through a glass window, injuring a tendon in his right arm and suffering major blood loss. As his arm was in a plaster cast, the writer modified the upcoming installment to explain Mickey getting beaten up by area criminals.

Later Years

The last regular episode was broadcast in 1991, but Murray was among the cast members who returned for Christmas specials for an additional 12 years – and remained popular at fan events.

He was born in south London's Greenwich, with a mother named Juana, a dancer, and Patrick, a transport official. He went to St Thomas the Apostle college in Nunhead. At 15 years old, he saw an advertisement for an acting agency in the Daily Mirror and shortly after was given a part in a stage play. He quickly started TV parts, debuting in 1973, aged 16, in Places Where They Sing, a BBC play adapted from a novel about college demonstrations. Shortly after, he had a leading role in the children’s adventure serial The Terracotta Horse, produced in those countries.

He also had roles a brief play Hanging Around (1978), about disaffected youths, and the film The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978), featuring Glenda Jackson as a dedicated educator, before his big break arrived.

In the drama Scum, a play about the brutal borstal system, he portrayed Dougan, a friendly detainee whose mathematical ability meant he was trusted to handle money smuggled in by visitors, which he collected on his tea trolley round. He successfully to reduce the “daddy’s” percentage when Ray Winstone's Carlin became the leader.

This play, created for television in 1977, was prohibited by the BBC for its graphic violence, yet it was later shown in 1991. Meanwhile, Alan Clarke adapted it into a film in 1979, with Murray among six from the initial cast playing their characters again.

Subsequently, he played small parts in the films Quadrophenia (1979) and Breaking Glass (1980), and played a bellboy in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983).

Success on the show led to a string of guest appearances in the 1980s and 90s in TV shows such as Dempsey and Makepeace, Lovejoy, The Return of Shelley and The Upper Hand. He played two parts in The Bill.

But his life declined after he managed a pub in Kent in 1998, drinking too much and finally seeking assistance from a support group. He relocated to Thailand, where he wed Anong in 2016. Shortly afterwards, he moved back to Britain and became a taxi driver. Murray made a brief return to acting in 2019 as a London criminal playing Frank Bridges in the TV series Conditions, still to be screened.

Illness Battle

He was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 2018 and, three years later, pulmonary cancer and a liver tumor. Even though he was declared cancer-free in 2022 post-treatment, the cancer returned shortly afterwards.

Family and Relationships

During 1981, Murray married Shelley Wilkinson; the marriage ended in divorce. He is survived by Anong, his daughter, Josie, and his three boys of his first marriage, Lee, Ricky and Robert, along with sisters and brothers.