Kinnear was born on 8 January 1934 in Wigan,[1][2]Lancashire, the son of Annie (née Durie, previously Smith) and Roy Kinnear.[1] He had a sister, Marjory. His parents were Scottish, originally from Edinburgh.[1] His father was an international in both rugby union and rugby league, having played for Scotland and Great Britain; he scored 81 tries in 184 games for Wigan. He collapsed and died while playing rugby union with the RAF in 1942 at the age of 38.[1]Scotland Rugby League have named their Student Player of the Year Award after him.
Kinnear's television debut was on the STV children's series Mr. Fixit in 1959,[2] before gaining national attention as a participant in the television show That Was the Week That Was.[2]
He narrated Towser (1990-1991),[6] and voiced Pipkin in the animated film Watership Down (1978),[6] and voiced Texas Pete's henchman Bulk in SuperTed (also with Victor Spinetti, who voiced the evil Texas Pete). Kinnear appeared regularly on the stage. In later life he appeared in productions such as The Travails of Sancho Panza (playing the title role),[5] and in The Cherry Orchard, in 1985.[5]
His final completed roles were in A Man for All Seasons (1988),[7] a made-for-television film directed by and starring Charlton Heston, John Gielgud and Vanessa Redgrave, as a patient in the BBC One hospital drama Casualty, and a voice role as Mump in The Princess and the Goblin (1992),[6] four years after his sudden death in September 1988.[6] Following his death, the Casualty episode was postponed, and not aired until August 1989.[13] In October 1988 Radio 4 first broadcast The T Machine, an episode of the comedy series The Fall of the Mausoleum Club in which he played the lead character, Mr Tilly.[14]
Personal life and death
Roy Kinnear's grave in East Sheen Cemetery, London
In May 1994, the Roy Kinnear Trust, which was inspired by his daughter, Karina, was founded to help improve the life of young adults with physical and mental disabilities.
