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Patrick Noel Murray, who has died at the age of 68, rose to prominence for his portrayal as the character Mickey Pearce, the opportunist in a trilby who briefly partners with his childhood friend Rodney Trotter in the iconic British sitcom Only Fools and Horses.

First Episode

He debuted in the third series in a 1983 episode called Healthy Competition, where Rodney's desire to move beyond being just a lookout for his older brother was quickly dashed when Mickey cheated him. The brothers were reunited, and Mickey remained a recurring character all the way to the programme's final Christmas special in 2003.

Development of Mickey

The character had been mentioned on multiple occasions after the show began in 1981, like in episodes where he took Rodney's girlfriend, but wasn't seen on screen at first. As the writer wanted to expand the secondary roles, the producer recalled Murray's role in a Pizza Hut ad, in which he failed to pick up two women, and proposed him for the part. He auditioned on a Friday and started filming within three days.

He was designed as a lighter version of Del Boy, more naive but, similar to Del, frequently experiencing his entrepreneurial antics go wrong. Mickey dabbles in everything, but you can't depend on him,” the actor stated. He constantly deceives Rodney, and Del regularly warns to clump him for it.” This character frequently teases Rodney about his lack of girlfriends while exaggerating his supposed love life and flitting between jobs.

Production Stories

A plot in 1989 was hastily altered following an incident in which he tripped over his pet at home and crashed through a glass window, cutting a tendon in his right arm and losing a significant amount of blood. As his arm was in a plaster cast, John Sullivan adjusted the following episode to incorporate Mickey getting beaten up by area criminals.

Post-Fame Journey

The show's conclusion was screened in 1991, but Murray joined the performers who returned for Christmas specials for an additional 12 years – and remained popular at gatherings for enthusiasts.

Patrick Murray entered the world in Greenwich in London, his mother Juana, a dancer, and his father Patrick, a transport official. He went to St Thomas the Apostle college in Nunhead. Aged 15, he noticed a notice for a theatrical agency in the Daily Mirror and within a week was given a part in a stage play. He soon began television roles, starting in 1973, aged 16, in Places Where They Sing, a BBC play adapted from a novel about college demonstrations. Shortly after, he appeared prominently in the children’s adventure serial The Terracotta Horse, produced in those countries.

He performed in a brief play Hanging Around (1978), about disaffected youths, and the film The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978), with Glenda Jackson as a passionate instructor, ahead of his breakthrough arrived.

In Scum, a production depicting the brutal borstal system, he was cast as Dougan, a friendly detainee whose head for figures allowed him to be trusted to handle money discreetly brought in by visitors, which he retrieved on his trolley route. He was able to reduce the “daddy’s” percentage when the character Carlin took over that position.

The production, produced for a TV series in 1977, was banned by the BBC for the extent of its violence, although it was eventually broadcast in 1991. In the interim, the director turned it into a movie in 1979, with Murray part of a group from the initial cast playing their characters again.

He then had minor roles in features like Quadrophenia (1979) and Breaking Glass (1980), and took the role of a bellboy in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983).

Fame in Only Fools and Horses led to multiple guest spots in the 80s and 90s in programs such as Dempsey and Makepeace, Lovejoy, The Return of Shelley and The Upper Hand. He played two characters in The Bill.

Yet his personal life spiralled downhill after he managed a pub in Kent in 1998, drinking too much and later getting support from Alcoholics Anonymous. He went to Thailand, where he wed Anong in 2016. Soon after, he returned to Britain and worked as a cab driver. Murray made a brief return to acting in 2019 as a London criminal 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, cancer in his lungs and a liver tumor. Even though he was declared cancer-free in 2022 following surgery and chemotherapy, it recurred not long after.

Family and Relationships

In 1981, he got married to Shelley Wilkinson; they later divorced. His survivors include Anong, daughter Josie, Josie, and the three sons from his first marriage, Lee, Ricky and Robert, plus siblings and two brothers.