Lawrence Douglas Lamb (born 1 October 1947)^[1] is an English actor and radio presenter. He played Archie Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, Michael Shipman in the BBC comedy series Gavin & Stacey and Ted Case in the final series of the BBC drama New Tricks. He also appeared on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2016.

Early life

Lamb was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, to Jessie White and Ronald Douglas Lamb, the eldest of four including his brother, Wesley, and a sister Penelope. Lamb had a turbulent childhood; he was verbally abused by his father and often had to keep his parents from fighting.^[2]

In 2011, Lamb participated in the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are? and discovered that he is descended from a line of proprietors of a well-known travelling menagerie, Day's Menagerie, and a lion tamer named Martini Bartlett.^[3]

Lamb attended Edmonton County School and on leaving school he worked as a lorry driver's mate (assistant) for, at that time, the UK's largest Waste Paper Merchant, J & J Maybank. Later, he worked as an encyclopaedia salesman,^[4] before joining the oil industry, which resulted in his working in Libya and Canada, where he attended St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. This developed his amateur interest in acting to a professional level, and he performed at Canada's Stratford Festival in 1975–1976. Lamb is distantly related to Edward Buckton Lamb (1806–1869), a Victorian architect who designed St Martin's Gospel Oak and St Mary Magdalene Church in Addiscombe.

Career

Personal life

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Lamb's first marriage was to Anita Wisbey, with whom he had a daughter, Vanessa Lamb (born 1969).^[11] Lamb stated on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! that Vanessa has a daughter. Lamb's second marriage was to Linda Martin, with whom he has a son, radio DJ and television presenter George Lamb (born 1979).^[11]

Lamb was in a relationship with Clare Burt from 1996 to 2014. They had two daughters, Eloise Alexandra (born 1998), and Eva-Mathilde (born 2003).^[11] As of 2017, Lamb resided in Cornwall, and was in a relationship with artist Marie Hugo.^[11]

Lamb's autobiography Mummy's Boy was published in 2011.^[12] In 2025 he published his debut novel All Wrapped Up.^[13]

Awards and nominations

Lamb won the award for Best Villain at the 2010 British Soap Awards.^[14]

Bibliography

• —— (2011). Mummy's Boy (autobiography). Coronet Books. ISBN 978-1444715279.
• —— (2025). All Wrapped Up (novel). Softwood Books. ISBN 9781838173562.

Filmography

References

External links

• Larry Lamb at IMDb
• Larry Lamb at Biogs.com