Buster Merryfield

Replacing Lennard Pearce as the third Trotter on Only Fools proved very daunting for Buster Merryfield. Indeed, in the nights leading up to his first episode as Uncle Albert, he'd wake up sweating - convinced audiences wouldn't take to him. Part of this was due to the fact that the sitcom was Buster's first really big role.

He'd come to acting late, although the passion for showmanship had always been in him. He was a noted child boxer in the 1930s, even winning a British championship, and "during the war" (as Albert might say) he helped organise shows for troops, in between teaching them jungle warfare techniques, would you believe.