Gavin and Stacey star Larry Lamb retires from acting
Lamb, who is now 77, has had an extensive career that has spanned five decades.
He said that the character of Mick is the "closest to my heart", with the role being in the latest Christmas special likely being his last TV role.
Larry Lamb played Mick Shipman in Gavin and Stacey (Image: Ian West/PA Wire)
Gavin and Stacey star Larry Lamb retires from acting
Speaking to The Mail, Lamb said he will be focusing on a new novel.
While suggesting he will be taking a step back from acting, he did say he may still take on small stage parts to "keep my face in".
He said: "I have had a very fortunate career. I've done so much that I am really proud of that maybe not so many people know.
'I have worked at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, I have been in 12 West End shows, I have done all the principal fringe theatres in London, on Broadway, I have been very lucky and now I am quite happy to let someone else play the big roles."
The iconic actor has been playing Mick Shipman on Gavin and Stacey since its inception in 2007.
Top 10 Best British TV Series
The BBC sitcom, created by Ruth Jones and James Corden, first aired in 2007 and tells the story of two families from Billericay in Essex and Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
Lamb played Mick in three series and three Christmas specials, being the father to the titular character Gavin.
He added: "You get so involved with these characters that they become your favourite at that time, they are the focus of your life, but to finish up in my 70s playing a character like Mick who is beloved by millions of people, you have to give the writers credit... at this stage in my career Mick is the closest to my heart."
Who is Larry Lamb?
Larry Lamb has had an extensive acting career over a large number of years, appearing in many TV series and theatrical shows.
In his early career, he was a regular in the BBC's North Sea ferry-based soap Triangle.
He also appeared in shows such as Lovejoy, A Touch of Frost, Taggart, Casualty, Midsomer Murders and The Bill.
Many will know him for his role as Mick Shipman in the BBC sitcom Gavin and Stacey, a role he played for more than a decade, including in the 2024 Christmas special.
In 2008, Lamb began playing Archie Mitchell, the father of Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell, in EastEnders.
He left in 2009, but returned later the same year, and was killed off that Christmas.
Despite several great roles, he will likely be remembered for playing Archie Mitchell and Mick Shipman.
Recommended reading:
On being remembered for certain roles, he said: "If you have been through a life in entertainment and people don't all know you, to suddenly be where pretty much everybody knows you as a character.
"I find it's a reward, it's better to be known than unknown as far as I'm concerned.
"Particularly if you are known as a character that people really love... what a way to finish your working life."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
And Just Like That fans rejoice as Carrie and Aidan make a shocking decision about their relationship: 'It's about time!'
Fans rejoiced after Carrie Bradshaw and Aidan Shaw broke up for the third time in the latest episode of And Just Like That. Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Aidan (John Corbett) have navigated a tumultuous long-distance relationship in season three, but it all came to an end in Thursday's episode nine, titled 'Present Tense.' After arguing about Aidan being jealous of Carrie's relationship with her handsome British downstairs neighbor, writer Duncan Reeves (Jonathan Cake), Aidan admits he has trust issues due to Carrie cheating on him in the past. This eventually leads a frustrated Carrie to lash out as she asks Aidan: 'Can you stop f*****g blaming me?' They later both conclude their relationship won't work out again, sharing a tearful hug before parting ways. The pair previously dated twice in seasons 3 and 4 of Sex and the City, with both attempts ultimately ending in breakups. The tense episode also had a humorous moment when Parker's real-life friend Andy Cohen made a quick cameo as he reprised his role of shoe salesman Daniel from Sex and The City. Fans rejoiced after Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Aidan Shaw (John Corbett) broke up for the third time in the latest episode of And Just Like That Fans celebrated the breakup on social media, expressing their frustration with Carrie's love interest. 'It's about time! He better not come around again!' one wrote. 'Finally!' another added while someone else chimed in writing, 'Thank God.' 'Carrie Bradshaw finally did the thing!' 'It was fun while it lasted Aiden, but it wasn't meant to be. Ever.' 'That episode was absolutely classic Carrie Bradshaw. Loved it.' 'FINALLY, we are FREE,' another fan wrote. 'Wow, does it look like Carrie got a glow up at the end after all that happened?' 'Carrie ATE this episode.' 'Thank God!!!!!!! This was just ridiculous and too damn much!!' The episode starts out with Carrie walking in on an awkward encounter between her boyfriend Aidan and her downstairs neighbor Duncan. Aidan grills Duncan about why he chooses to smoke from a pipe, before Carrie quickly makes an excuse to leave. Carrie later tells pal Seema (Sarita Choudhury) that she believes Aidan is 'threatened.' 'By Duncan?' Seema questions. 'By me,' Carrie replies. 'I cheated on him with John. It was awful,' she said, referring to her late husband John Preston, a.k.a. Mr. Big, who died from a heart attack in the first season of the Sex and the City reboot. 'He had trouble trusting me after that, and frankly he had reason not to,' she added. 'I cheated on him with cigarettes as well,' she joked. Seema then informed her that Aidan had been questioning her about Duncan in the previous episode. She advises Carrie to talk to him about the situation, but Carrie refuses. Later on Aidan interrupts Carrie and Duncan's book edition session, as he shows up unannounced. He asks her if he should get dinner started, but Carrie declines saying she and Duncan are busy working. When he asks her when she'll be done, she tells him she is unsure and to start without her. However, he tells her he will wait for her. When Carrie finally returns she finds that Aidan is still awake. She thanks him for 'being so understanding' and tries to cuddle up to him in bed. However he tells her, 'No, get away from me. You smell like smoke.' He then tells her to 'go take a shower.' The episode starts out with Carrie walking in on an awkward encounter between her boyfriend Aidan and her downstairs neighbor Duncan Carrie later tells pal Seema (Sarita Choudhury) that she believes Aidan is 'threatened' by her. 'I cheated on him with John. It was awful,' she said, referring to her late husband John Preston, a.k.a. Mr. Big, who died from a heart attack in the first season of the Sex and the City reboot The couple argue before going to sleep, and later continue bickering in the morning, after Aidan told Carrie to 'get away' from him because she smelled like smoke Carrie accuses him of trying to figure out if there's something going on between her and Duncan. 'This is such bullsh**t, Carrie,' he responds They later meet up for lunch, and Aidan admits that he has 'trust issues.' The talk erupts into another fight, as Carrie accuses him of sounding 'jealous' and 'suspicious' 'I can't give you any more than I have, and it wasn't enough. And there's all the family stuff. I'm sorry, but there is,' Carrie tells him before they break up A teary-eyed Aidan tells her, 'I'm sad. I really thought we were gonna make it this time.' Carrie replies with a shaking voice, 'Yeah, I'm sad too' Later on in her apartment Carrie takes down all the postcards Aidan sent her from Virginia 'The woman had thought that she and her love were very present, but now realized they were still locked in the past, which meant, of course, that they had no future,' Carrie says in a voiceover at the end of the episode After Carrie showers and goes to sleep in a different bedroom. Aidan follows her and they bicker, before she kicks him out of the room. In the morning, he tries to play it off while making breakfast, but Carrie is still upset. 'Is this because I talked to him?' Aidan asks. 'I distinctly asked you not to,' she responds. They continue to argue until Carrie accuses him of trying to figure out if there's something going on between her and Duncan. 'This is such bullsh**t, Carrie,' he responds. 'Aidan, you're worried about me and another man,' she says before storming out. They later meet up for lunch, and Aidan admits that he has 'trust issues' with Carrie and other men. The talk erupts into another fight, as Carrie accuses him of sounding 'jealous' and 'suspicious.' 'Well, can you f*****g blame me?' he asks. 'Can you stop f*****g blaming me?' she responds, before storming off. Aidan follows her, as she questions, 'How is it possible that I haven't earned your trust by now?' 'I have done everything to show you how fully committed I am to you. I have moved mountains and apartments. I have agreed to arrangements that even you yourself couldn't live up to! I was 100% in.' 'Was or are? Because you just said I was 100% in. So, is it was or are you still 100% in?' he questions. 'Was,' Carrie slowly replies. 'I can't give you any more than I have, and it wasn't enough. And there's all the family stuff. I'm sorry, but there is.' 'I need a hundred,' Aidan says. 'So do I,' Carrie responds. A teary-eyed Aidan tells her, 'I'm sad. I really thought we were gonna make it this time.' 'Yeah, I'm sad too,' Carrie replies with a shaking voice. They then share a hug. Later on in her apartment Carrie takes down all the postcards Aidan sent her from Virginia. At the end of the episodes she meets her pals for dinner. 'The woman had thought that she and her love were very present, but now realized they were still locked in the past, which meant, of course, that they had no future,' she said in a voiceover, before the episode came to an end. The Sex and the City sequel follows friends Carrie, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) as they navigate their intricate lives in New York City. Nicole Ari Parker and Sarita returned as the group's new besties Lisa and Seema this season. The show picks up 11 years after the events of the 2010 film Sex and the City 2, and follows three of the four original main characters. Following the success of Kim Cattrall 's cameo in the second season, it's been widely reported that her character Samantha will return for at least part of the third season. Sara Ramirez will not be returning as controversial non-binary comedian Che Diaz. Since starting in December 2021, the Sex And The City spin-off has seen Carrie, Samantha and Charlotte grapple with sexuality, gender identity, death, grief, divorce, drug use, and pretty much every other hot issue in Western society. The original Sex and the City ran for six seasons, airing on HBO from 1998 until 2004. The story continued with two feature films: Sex and the City (2008) and Sex and the City 2 (2010). And Just Like That... premiered its first season in 2021. The third season will feature 12 episodes, with the finale airing on August 14.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years review – a wild walk between life, death and sheep-shearing
Rural life hits you in the face like the stink of cow dung as soon as you step into the Royal Scottish Academy. Andy Goldsworthy has laid a sheepskin rug up the classical gallery's grand staircase – very luxurious, except it's made from the scraps thrown away after shearing, stained blue or red with farmers' marks, all painstakingly stitched together with thorns. This is the Clarkson's Farm of art retrospectives, plunging today's urbanites into the raw sadness and beauty, the violence and slow natural cycles of the British countryside. Goldsworthy may love nature but he doesn't sentimentalise it. At the top of the stairs there's a screen and through its gaps you glimpse the galleries beyond. It feels mystical and calming, until you realise it's made of rusty barbed wire strung between two of the building's columns that serve as tightly-wound wire rollers. It made me think of Magnus Mills' darkly hilarious rural novel about hapless fencers, The Restraint of Beasts. Later you can relax looking at seductive, purple abstract watercolours – until you discover they are made with hare's blood and snow. The show is titled Fifty Years, which might make anyone feel old, and Goldsworthy may have been goaded by it. He fills the gallery's main floor with new and recent work, while you'll find an archive of his 20th-century career downstairs. But how could he exhibit his past achievements except in photos and video? Since the 1970s Goldsworthy, who was born in Cheshire and grew up on the outskirts of Leeds, has been making art with nature, in nature, even for nature, since some of his interventions could only be experienced by birds or sheep before the colour faded from a rubbed stone or a mat of leaves decayed. Other outdoor works are more permanent, using dry stone walling to make sheepfolds and little houses in sculpture parks and nature reserves. In Cumbria you'll find his monumental Grizedale Wall snaking between the trees. What makes this a work of art? It's simple. There's no practical reason a farmer would place an elegantly curving stone line in a forest. But by making it, Goldsworthy insists you ask what art is. He's a peasant dadaist. In photos of an early action he throws bunches of sticks in the sky to see how they fall – a fresh air reworking of Marcel Duchamp's 3 Standard Stoppages in which chance determined how a string fell. An entertaining video shows what happened when Goldsworthy brought a giant snowball from the Scottish Highlands to London's Smithfield meat market in June 2000: the meatpackers have fun moving it about with a forklift. Inside the snow, the artist gently explains, is a core of hair from Highland cattle. He's not saying meat is murder so much as what we consume is divorced from any sense of natural life. Sign up to Art Weekly Your weekly art world round-up, sketching out all the biggest stories, scandals and exhibitions after newsletter promotion It is our connection with nature he wants to reawaken, not in a quiet contemplative way but as a shock. Earth and blood are the same, he suggests in the most powerful room. It is dominated by a whole wall made of cracked red clay that he collected by hand in Dumfriesshire's Lowther Hills. The epic scale and fiery colour seem more American than Scottish. Goldsworthy shows you this is a big country, too. The work is called Red Wall – but I don't think it's a political joke. The redness is all. In the same room a three-screen video records an alchemical performance in which Goldsworthy rubs a rock in a Dumfriesshire river to reveal a layer of iron-rich pure redness; the red appears as bloody clouds in the green water. Iron reddens the earth and reddens our blood. We are part of nature's cycle. Our bodies will return to the earth – at least, if you live in rural Dumfriesshire as Goldsworthy does. When you die there you still get buried, in a churchyard, according to Goldsworthy's grand project Gravestones, for which he has taken photographs of Dumfriesshire churchyards under stormy skies. Goldsworthy's 'gravestones' are not headstones but the pebbles and rocks that have to be removed when fresh graves are dug. He wants to create a vast monumental field with them, to show that there is animate nature and inanimate nature – blood and stone. We return to the earth, leaving our imperishable elements. He tests his idea in an installation here. Stones from graveyards form a continuous floor, like a rocky seashore, completely filling a room except for a narrow walkway. The stones have literally been cut short, neatly sliced through, to form a straight boundary between the artwork and the observer. It's typical of this artist's poetic precision. You wonder how he cut the stones in two so neatly, and accurately measured the perfect line they make. Then it hits you. This is the straight smooth absolute line between life and death. That's true in the country, and the city, too. Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years is at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh from 26 July until 2 November 2025
Leader Live
an hour ago
- Leader Live
Led Zeppelin guitar given away for free could sell for £50,000 at auction
The 1957 Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120 electric guitar was the prize in a competition run by New Musical Express magazine. The magazine's cover featured a photograph of Jimmy Page in cricket whites holding the guitar like a cricket bat. In an interview for the magazine, Page said he bought the guitar in Nashville, USA, for £200 in 1972. It is expected to fetch between £30,000 and £50,000 when auctioned at Gardiner Houlgate in Corsham, Wiltshire, on September 9. Competition entrants had to match six guitars with the famous guitarists who owned them. The correct entry selected as the winner was from Charles Reid of Hornsey, north London. Mr Reid was quoted as saying: 'Page must be mental giving away such a terrific guitar as this. 'It's the kind of instrument that every guitar player dreams of owning but can never really afford.' Mr Reid kept the guitar until September 1990 when he sold it to Phil O'Donoghue, of Chessington, Surrey, for £2,000. Mr O'Donoghue, a guitarist with the 1970s rock band Wild Angels, kept the instrument until his death earlier this year. The guitar is now being sold by Mr O'Donoghue's family. Auctioneer Luke Hobbs said: 'It's no exaggeration to say that Jimmy Page is a legendary guitarist and rock star. 'Very few of his guitars come up for auction and when they do, they attract huge interest from collectors, investors and fans of Led Zeppelin. 'What's so wonderful about this guitar is that we have the copies of the New Musical Express showing the competition and even a photo of Page giving the guitar to the winner, Charles Reid.' The guitar is being sold with original copies of New Musical Express – now known as the NME – receipts and correspondence. Page was the founder of British rock band Led Zeppelin. Formed in 1968, their popularity and influence grew to the point that the band was named by Rolling Stone magazine as 'the biggest band of the seventies'. Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980 following the death of drummer John Bonham.
