# Geoffrey Hutchings
**Geoffrey Hutchings** (Geoffrey Albert Hutchings; 8 June 1939 – 1 July 2010) was an English stage, film and television actor best known for playing Shakespearean clowns with the [Royal Shakespeare Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-shakespeare-company) and, late in life, the sun-bed tycoon Mel Harvey in the ITV sitcom *Benidorm*.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 8 June 1939, Dorchester, Dorset; 1 July 2010, London, aged 71[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary) |
| Training | Scholarship to Birmingham University (French and physical education), then RADA[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary) |
| Company work | Joined the RSC in 1968; associate artist; played Launce, Bottom, Feste, a Dromio, Autolycus and Lavache[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary) |
| Awards | Won the Society of West End Theatres (later Olivier) Best Comic Performance award in 1982 for *Poppy*; Olivier nominations for *Three Men on a Horse* and *A Midsummer Night's Dream*[2](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/actor-hutchings-dies-aged-71-111314/) |
| Signature screen role | Mel Harvey in *Benidorm* from 2008; his character was written out with an off-screen death after his own[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary) • [3](https://eastenders.fandom.com/wiki/Geoffrey_Hutchings) |
| Final stage appearance | The prison librarian Brooksie in the 2009 stage premiere of *The Shawshank Redemption* at the Wyndham's[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/geoffrey-hutchings-veteran-character-actor-who-portrayed-sid-james-on-stage-and-screen-and-played-minted-mel-in-benidorm-2019093.html) |
## Early life and training
A town clerk's sole child, Hutchings was a native of Dorchester in Dorset and attended the Thomas Hardye school. He won a scholarship to study French and physical education at Birmingham University, then trained for the stage at RADA.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary)
He made his West End debut at Her Majesty's Theatre in [Richard Rodgers](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-rodgers)'s *No Strings*, a musical with an inter-racial love story. The Guardian's obituary dates this debut to 1963[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary), while Official London Theatre's report dates his professional launch to 1964.[2](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/actor-hutchings-dies-aged-71-111314/) After a few years in repertory he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1968.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary)
## Royal Shakespeare Company
Hutchings spent roughly the first half of his career, nearly 16 years in total, with the RSC, where he was made an Associate Artist.[2](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/actor-hutchings-dies-aged-71-111314/) In his first seasons he played Octavius Caesar, the Pandar in *Pericles*, Peter Simple in *The Merry Wives of Windsor* and Pisanio in *Cymbeline*; by the time he played an explosive Dr Caius in *The Merry Wives of Windsor* in 1980, followed by Bottom, he had become a fixture of the company.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary)
His specialty was Shakespeare's clowns. He played Launce, Bottom, Feste, one of the Dromios, and Lavache in [Trevor Nunn](https://www.edgepedia.org/trevor-nunn)'s "Crimean war" *All's Well That Ends Well*, opposite [Peggy Ashcroft](https://www.edgepedia.org/peggy-ashcroft)'s Countess of Rousillon.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary) His 1981 Autolycus in Ronald Eyre's *The Winter's Tale* at [Stratford-upon-Avon](https://www.edgepedia.org/stratford-upon-avon) was turned into a Chaplinesque tramp with a repertoire of Victorian parlour songs.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary) In a 2008 interview he said he had done "all the clowns" but had always hankered to play Richard III.[5](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/geoffrey-hutchings-71471/)
In 1982 he won the Society of West End Theatres' Best Comic Performance award (the award was later named after [Laurence Olivier](https://www.edgepedia.org/laurence-olivier)) for playing Lady Dodo, a pantomime dame who sang a French chanson while pursued by a large white elephant, in Terry Hands's RSC Barbican production of *Poppy*, a satirical 19th-century pantomime by Peter Nichols and Monty Norman.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary) • [6](https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/Geoffrey%2BHutchings%2BDies-82041.html) In the same year he was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for *A Midsummer Night's Dream* at the Barbican.[7](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/geoffrey_hutchings/) He returned to the company in 1990 as Cap'n Andy in its collaboration with Opera North on *Show Boat*.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary)
## National Theatre and the West End
At the National Theatre in the mid-1980s he played the leads in two American comedy classics directed by [Jonathan Lynn](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-lynn): Jacobowsky in *Jacobowsky and the Colonel* and Erwin Trowbridge in *Three Men on a Horse*, the latter earning him an Olivier nomination.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary) • [2](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/actor-hutchings-dies-aged-71-111314/) His other National credits included *Mother Courage* and Luther.[2](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/actor-hutchings-dies-aged-71-111314/) • [8](https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/actor-geoffrey-hutchings-passes-away-aged-71_12797/)
**Sid James.** In 1998 he played the Carry On comedian [Sid James](https://www.edgepedia.org/sid-james) in Terry Johnson's *Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick* at the National Theatre, a behind-the-scenes look at James's affair with his co-star [Barbara Windsor](https://www.edgepedia.org/barbara-windsor); the Guardian called his performance one of rave reviews.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary)
His later West End appearances included Nagg, the dustbin-bound father in Beckett's *Endgame* opposite [Michael Gambon](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-gambon) and [Lee Evans](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-evans); a worn-out suburban father in Peter Gill's 2005 revival of *Epitaph for George Dillon*; and a gentlemanly Herr Schultz in Rufus Norris's revival of *Cabaret*, wooing [Sheila Hancock](https://www.edgepedia.org/sheila-hancock) with a pineapple.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary) In a 2008 interview for *Endgame*, in which he and Liz Smith spent much of the show inside dustbins, he explained his preference for the stage: live theater had chemistry and gave him more control, and every performance was different.[5](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/geoffrey-hutchings-71471/)
## Screen work
Hutchings appeared on television and in occasional films from 1965.[9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0404232/) His film roles included [Clockwise](https://www.edgepedia.org/clockwise) (1986, with [John Cleese](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-cleese)), Wish You Were Here (1987) as Hubert Mansell, the embittered father of [Emily Lloyd](https://www.edgepedia.org/emily-lloyd)'s character; Kenneth Branagh's Henry V (1989) as Corporal Nym; White Hunter Black Heart (1990) opposite Clint Eastwood; Topsy-Turvy (1999); The Affair of the Necklace; It's All About Love (2002); Mike Bassett: England Manager; Nativity! (2009); and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010).[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary) • [6](https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/Geoffrey%2BHutchings%2BDies-82041.html) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0404232/) • [7](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/geoffrey_hutchings/)
**Television.** He was a familiar face in British series including Our Friends in the North, Maigret, Brass, Bad Girls, Heartbeat, Casualty, Foyle's War, Holby City, and Midsomer Murders.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary) • [6](https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/Geoffrey%2BHutchings%2BDies-82041.html) As the cigarette-smoking, unruffled Sergeant Lucas he played right-hand man to Michael Gambon's Maigret in 1992.[9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0404232/) In the women's prison drama Bad Girls he appeared occasionally as Bobby Hollamby, husband of the warder nicknamed "Bodybag".[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/geoffrey-hutchings-veteran-character-actor-who-portrayed-sid-james-on-stage-and-screen-and-played-minted-mel-in-benidorm-2019093.html) On BBC Radio 4 he played Bill Robertson, a vet, in The Archers.[5](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/geoffrey-hutchings-71471/)
His highest-profile screen role came late. From 2008 he played Mel Harvey in ITV's Benidorm, a working-class businessman who boasted of becoming a millionaire through his "five sunbed shops in the Greater Manchester area"; the Independent wrote that Hutchings did not become a "star" until this role, and even then was a household face rather than a name.[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/geoffrey-hutchings-veteran-character-actor-who-portrayed-sid-james-on-stage-and-screen-and-played-minted-mel-in-benidorm-2019093.html) He appeared in two series of the sitcom, and after his death his character was written out with an off-screen death.[3](https://eastenders.fandom.com/wiki/Geoffrey_Hutchings) His final filmed role was in Simon Amstell's BBC2 sitcom Grandma's House, broadcast in 2010, in which he played Grandpa.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary) • [2](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/actor-hutchings-dies-aged-71-111314/) • [7](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/geoffrey_hutchings/)
## Death
Hutchings died suddenly in hospital in London on 1 July 2010, aged 71.[2](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/actor-hutchings-dies-aged-71-111314/) • [8](https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/actor-geoffrey-hutchings-passes-away-aged-71_12797/) Contemporaneous reports attributed the death to a suspected viral infection;[2](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/actor-hutchings-dies-aged-71-111314/) the Guardian's obituary gave the cause as meningitis.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary) At the time of his death he was due to begin filming a new series of Benidorm.[6](https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/Geoffrey%2BHutchings%2BDies-82041.html)
He was twice married, to June Watts and, from 1988 until his death, to Andrea Godfrey, and had three children by his first marriage.[9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0404232/) • [1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary) His agent Roger Charteris said: "He never stopped working. Geoffrey was a delight to work with and he was absolutely one of a kind."[6](https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/Geoffrey%2BHutchings%2BDies-82041.html)
## References
1. [Geoffrey Hutchings obituary, The Guardian (Michael Coveney, 11 July 2010)](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jul/11/geoffrey-hutchings-obituary)
2. [Actor Hutchings dies, aged 71, Official London Theatre (5 July 2010)](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/actor-hutchings-dies-aged-71-111314/)
3. [Geoffrey Hutchings, EastEnders Wiki](https://eastenders.fandom.com/wiki/Geoffrey_Hutchings)
4. [Geoffrey Hutchings: Veteran character actor who portrayed Sid James on stage and screen and played 'minted' Mel in 'Benidorm', The Independent (Anthony Hayward, 5 July 2010)](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/geoffrey-hutchings-veteran-character-actor-who-portrayed-sid-james-on-stage-and-screen-and-played-minted-mel-in-benidorm-2019093.html)
5. [Geoffrey Hutchings interview, Official London Theatre (Tom Bowtell, 17 April 2008)](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/geoffrey-hutchings-71471/)
6. [Geoffrey Hutchings Dies, FemaleFirst (5 July 2010)](https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/Geoffrey%2BHutchings%2BDies-82041.html)
7. [Geoffrey Hutchings, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/geoffrey_hutchings/)
8. [Actor Geoffrey Hutchings Passes Away, Aged 71, WhatsOnStage (5 July 2010)](https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/actor-geoffrey-hutchings-passes-away-aged-71_12797/)
9. [Geoffrey Hutchings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0404232/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames H to K*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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