The actor and writer Arnold Yarrow has died at the age of 104.
Arnold Yarrow was the oldest surviving cast member of Doctor Who, appearing in the series in 1974 at the spritely age of 53. He is believed to be the longest-lived actor to have ever had a credited role in the series and one of only six actors to have reached the age of 100.
Arnold Yarrow was born in the east end of London in April 1920, just 17 months after the end of the First World War. He served in the Second World War fighting in the army in India and China.
In the 1940's he became an actor working in weekly rep where he met the future Doctor Who producer Barry Letts. It was under Letts's stewardship of Doctor Who that Yarrow was cast as Bellal in the Third Doctor story Death to the Daleks. The role required Yarrow to be stitched into an all-enveloping costume made of several strips of material glued together. He told Toby Hadoke
I was stuck in there for three hours at a time. They were very restricting. I was filled with horror the first time I put it on. There were two tiny pinholes for eyes to look out of and nostrils to breathe through. My vision was extremely limited.
He also talked about the movement he put into the character
I visited a zoo and saw some marmosets and bush babies and this inspired me – looking at the way they conveyed their feelings. I thought the script echoed the underground Morlocks from The Time Machine.
Doctor Who was a tiny part of the actor's long career, first appearing on television in the early 1950's. Appearances included roles in London's Burning, One by One, The Chinese Detective, Wainwright's Law, The Onedin Line, Dr. Finlay's Casebook, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Coronation Street, Boyd Q.C., The Andromeda Breakthrough, Dial 999, Macbeth. He returned to his Jewish roots in London when he played Benny Bloom in EastEnders.
As a writer, he contributed scripts to EastEnders, Warship, Crown Court, Z-cars and Softly Softly Task Force where he was script editor.
He was proudest of his stage work and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Arnold Yarrow died peacefully in his sleep at Herne Bay, Kent, at the age of 104 years, 236 days.
He is survived by his brother who is aged 100 and by a number of nephews and nieces, many of whom work in the entertainment business.
The oldest surviving Doctor Who actor is now believed to be Laurie Webb who is 100
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