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

Early Introduction

He first appeared in the third series in a 1983 episode titled Healthy Competition, where Rodney's desire to move beyond serving as a lookout for Del Boy was instantly thwarted when Mickey cheated him. The Trotter brothers came back together, and Mickey remained a fixture all the way to the last holiday special in 2003.

Development of Mickey

Mickey Pearce was alluded to repeatedly after the show began in 1981, like in episodes where Mickey stole Rodney's girlfriend, but hadn't been portrayed originally. As the writer wanted to expand the supporting cast, Ray Butt thought of Murray's performance in a TV commercial, trying to flirt with two women, and suggested him for the part. The actor tried out on a Friday and started filming within three days.

Mickey was conceived as a lighter version of Del Boy, less shrewd but, similar to Del, often seeing his business ventures fall apart. “Mickey will try anything, but he's unreliable,” Murray remarked. “He’s always stitching Rodney up, and Del regularly warns to thump him for it.” The spiv persistently ridicules Rodney about not having a girlfriend while exaggerating his dating successes and changing occupations often.

On-Set Incidents

A plot in 1989 had to be rapidly revamped following an incident in which the actor stumbled over his dog at home and smashed into a window, injuring a tendon in his right arm and suffering major blood loss. With Murray's arm in a plaster cast, John Sullivan adjusted the following episode to incorporate Mickey facing violence by neighborhood thugs.

Later Years

The sitcom’s final episode was screened in 1991, but Murray was among the actors who returned for Christmas specials for a dozen more years – and stayed in favor at gatherings for enthusiasts.

He was born in Greenwich, south London, to Juana, a dancer, and Patrick, a public transport inspector. He went to St Thomas the Apostle college in Nunhead. Aged 15, he saw an advertisement for an acting agency in the Daily Mirror and in just a week landed a role in a stage play. He quickly started roles on TV, beginning in 1973, aged 16, in Places Where They Sing, a BBC play inspired by a novel about campus protests. Shortly after, he appeared prominently in the children’s adventure serial The Terracotta Horse, filmed in Spain and Morocco.

He also had roles a television drama Hanging Around (1978), depicting rebellious young people, and the film The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978), featuring Glenda Jackson as a dedicated educator, prior to his major role arrived.

In the drama Scum, a production depicting the harsh youth detention system, he played Dougan, a kind-hearted prisoner whose mathematical ability allowed him to be trusted to manage funds smuggled in by visitors, which he retrieved on his rounds with a trolley. He was able to lower the “daddy’s” percentage when Ray Winstone's Carlin became the leader.

The drama, created for television in 1977, the BBC banned it for its graphic violence, although it was eventually broadcast in 1991. In the interim, the filmmaker adapted it into a film in 1979, with Murray among six from the initial cast reprising their roles.

He later took 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).

His popularity from the sitcom earned him multiple guest spots in the 1980s and 90s in series such as Dempsey and Makepeace, Lovejoy, The Return of Shelley and The Upper Hand. He appeared in two parts in The Bill.

But his life took a downturn after he became a Kent pub manager in 1998, overindulging in alcohol and finally seeking assistance from Alcoholics Anonymous. He went to Thailand, where he married his second wife in 2016. Soon after, he moved back to Britain and became a taxi driver. He briefly returned to acting in 2019 as a cockney gangster Frank Bridges in the TV series Conditions, still to be screened.

Medical Challenges

He received a diagnosis with the lung disease COPD in 2018 and, in 2021, lung cancer and a tumour on his liver. Even though he was declared cancer-free in 2022 post-treatment, the cancer returned soon after.

Family and Relationships

During 1981, he wed Shelley Wilkinson; the union dissolved. He is survived by Anong, their daughter, Josie, and three sons from his first marriage, Lee, Ricky and Robert, plus three sisters and male siblings.