Anthony Samuel Selby (26 February 1938 – 5 September 2021) was an English actor. With a career that spanned 71 years, he was known for his roles as Corporal Percy Marsh in the ITV sitcom Get Some In! (1975–1978), Sabalom Glitz in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who (1986–1987) and Clive Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders (2002).
Early life Anthony Samuel Selby was born in Chelsea, London, England on 26 February 1938,England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007: JAN 1938 1a 491 CHELSEA — Anthony S Selby as the younger child to Samuel Joseph Selby,England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837–1915: JAN 1908 1a 541 ST MARYLEBONE — Samuel Joseph SelbyEngland & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007: JUL 1968 (aged 60) 5b 285 FULHAM — Samuel J Selby a taxi driver,1939 England and Wales Register and his wife,England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916–2005: JUL 1930 1a 1434 ST. GEORGE HANOVER SQUARE — Samuel J Selby = Annie E Weaver Annie Elizabeth (née Weaver),England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837–1915: JUL 1909 1a 413 ST GEORGE HANOVER SQUARE — Annie Elizabeth WeaverEngland & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007: OCT 1998 (aged 89) B57B 266 KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA — Annie Elizabeth Selby a seamstress and waitress. He had an elder sister, Kathleen Vera KeeganEngland & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916–2005: JUL 1953 5c 806 WESTMINSTER — Kathleen V Selby = James Keegan (née Selby).England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007: JUL 1932 1a 494 ST. GEORGE HANOVER SQUARE — Kathleen V SelbyEngland and Wales, Death Index, 1989–2023: 14 April 2009 (aged 76) PURLEY ON THAMES — Kathleen Vera Keegan
Selby was brought up on the Peabody estate. He came from a family of taxi drivers and musical theatre performers. His father drove a black cab and was known as "taxi Sam". He performed in public for the first time at the age of seven, as Al Jolson, to sing for wounded wartime soldiers in London hospitals. He credited his start in showbiz to his maternal aunt, Helen "Nellie" BoneEngland & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916–2005: APR 1948 5c 733 WESTMINSTER — Helen Weaver = Arthur J Bone (née Weaver).England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007: APR 1926 1a 626 ST. GEORGE HANOVER SQUARE — Helen WeaverEngland & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007: MAY 1988 (aged 62) 23 2128 SWINDON — Helen Bone
Selby trained in acting and dramatics at the Italia Conti Stage School for six years from the age of 10. He attended Buckingham Gate School in Victoria, a section of the City of Westminster, where he gained his School Certificate.
Career Selby made his professional debut in 1949, on stage, playing Curly in the annual production of Peter Pan at the Scala Theatre in Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia. He appeared in numerous theatre productions,including Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop.
He made his television debut at the age of 13, as a child actor, with the role of Pig in the television film, Mencius Was a Bad Boy (1951). He was billed as Anthony Selby until 1964. Selby appeared in various uncredited film roles, including in John and Julie (1955), Alfie (1966) and Carry On Loving (1970); he made his credited debut in 1961, with the role of Kishu in the military drama, The Queen's Guards. His film credits included; Witchfinder General (1968), Villain (1971), Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1973), If You Go Down in the Woods Today (1981), and Loop (1997).
He appeared in many episodic television programmes, including; The Explorer (1955), King of the River (1966), The Avengers (1968), Callan (1972), Black and Blue (1973), The Sweeney (1975), Two's Company (1975), Bergerac (1984), Duty Free (1986), Lovejoy (1991), Renford Rejects (1998), Holby City (1999), Mike and Angelo (2000), and Rose and Maloney (2005). Selby played Fred in Edward Bond's controversial play Saved, at the Royal Court Theatre, in Sloane Square, in 1965, having joined the English Stage Company. Cameron Cobbold, 1st Baron Cobbold, then Lord Chamberlain, was appalled by Saved and refused to grant it a licence, so William Gaskill showed it to a private audience under "club conditions". Selby frequently worked with Ken Loach. In 1965, he played Danny Lee, a convict under sentence of death, in Three Clear Sundays, one of Loach's earlier productions for the BBC anthology series The Wednesday Play. Three Clear Sundays dealt with capital punishment and was broadcast to 11 million viewers at a time when the debate was at a height in the United Kingdom. His first television role for Loach came as a singer in Catherine (1964), an episode of Telecast. He was cast in Loach's kitchen sink drama film Poor Cow (1967).
Selby often appeared in television advertisements, and portrayed Sam Maxstead for the first two runs of the ITV fantasy children's television series Ace of Wands from 1970 to 1971. Selby appeared as Peter Triman in the comedy drama film, Nobody Ordered Love, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis. The film was released on 5 November 1972 and focused on the events after film director Paul Medbury (John Ronane) attempts to replace Alice Allison (Ingrid Pitt), the alcoholic star of his new First World War movie entitled The Somme, with up-and-coming starlet Caroline Johnson (Judy Huxtable), a series of tragic events begins to unfold. According to the British Film Institute (BFI), which holds an annotated shooting script in its collection, Nobody Ordered Love is considered a lost film and is on its 75 Most Wanted list. Kevin Lyons of the BFI National Library Filmographic Unit writes: "Rank released Nobody Ordered Love in 1972 and it certainly played the New Victoria in London, regular home to low-budget exploitation fare. Star Ingrid Pitt has suggested – in an interview with the Celluloid Slammer blog as well as in one of her on-going series of columns for the Den of Geek website that Hartford-Davis had a falling out with Rank over the lack of promotion they were giving the film and stormed off with the prints, decamping to the States, where he continued to work. After his death, Pitt claims, his widow arranged for his belongings to be disposed of and the cans of film were among those items thrown out."
From 1975 to 1978, Selby portrayed Corporal Percy Marsh in the ITV sitcom Get Some In!. The series focused on National Service life in the Royal Air Force. The series was written by [John] Esmonde and [Bob] Larbey, with Selby in mind. Get Some In! regularly attracted 15 million viewers and was one of a number of shows from that decade to have never been repeated. He appeared on the ITV comedy game show Celebrity Squares in 1975, and then again the following year. He appeared on several other game shows, including; Give Us a Clue (1979, 1980), The Generation Game (1979), Blankety Blank (1980), and 3-2-1 (1982, 1986). In 1978, he appeared in an uncredited role as a Hood in the American superhero film Superman.
Selby made his radio debut, as the voice of Eddie on the BBC Radio 4 radio drama strand Saturday Night Theatre in 1981. He worked on several other radio plays.
He appeared on three episodes of the ITV, and later BBC One, biographical television documentary, This Is Your Life. The first episode, for John Thaw, was broadcast in 1981. The second episode, for Glen Murphy, was broadcast in 1992. The third episode, for Geoffrey Hughes, was broadcast in 2001. Selby subsequently portrayed Sabalom Glitz in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1986 to 1987, with Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy. He appeared in The Mysterious Planet, The Ultimate Foe and Dragonfire. He appeared as Max Taplow in the BBC One comedy-drama series Love Hurts. The series was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, and ran from 1992 to 1994.
Selby was a lyricist, and wrote songs with the jazz pianist Tony Lee. In 1995, Lee said "We've written one for Tony Bennett, but have yet to persuade him to record it,". He played Ben Rumson in the 1996 revival of the Broadway musical comedy, Paint Your Wagon, at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. His role earned him a 1997 Laurence Olivier Award nomination for best supporting performance in a musical.
Selby portrayed Clive Mitchell, a member of the Mitchell family, in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders. He appeared in two episodes during early October 2002, and was credited as Uncle Clive. His character was mentioned a handful of times during the 1990s, and was briefly mentioned in 2003. He appeared as Danny Paye, an East End loan shark, in the BBC One police procedural comedy drama, New Tricks. The episode, "Meat Is Murder", was broadcast in 2009. He then portrayed Vic Bishop in the ITV crime drama mystery series Midsomer Murders. The episode, "The Silent Land", was broadcast in 2010.
Selby portrayed Arthur Harper, Susan Harper's long-lost father, in the BBC One sitcom My Family. The episode, "A Decent Proposal", was broadcast in 2011. Selby made his final film appearance, as Darryl, in the zombie action comedy, Cockneys vs Zombies. The film was released in 2012. He portrayed Gabriel Franks in the Sky One superhero crime drama series Stan Lee's Lucky Man. The episode, "Evil Eye", was broadcast in 2016, and marked his final appearance as an actor. Selby retired in March 2016, after his final television appearance, as himself in the documentary film, Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach.
Personal life Selby married his first wife, Jacqueline A "Jacqui" Milburn,England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007: JAN 1942 1d 221 LAMBETH — Jacqueline A Milburn an actress and dancer, in Westminster, Middlesex, on 30 October 1964,England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916–2005: OCT 1964 5c 641 WESTMINSTER — Anthony S Selby = Jacqueline A Milburn having been together since 1958. They had two children together; Samantha Selby (born 2 August 1966,England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007: JUL 1966 5e 1267 WESTMINSTER — Samantha Selby at Westminster Hospital) and Matthew James "Matt" Selby (born October 1968).England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007: OCT 1968 5d 800 MERTON — Matthew James Selby The couple separated in 1980. The former couple were granted a "quicky" divorce in the London Divorce Court on 1 July 1982, after 17 years of marriage.
Selby married his second wife, Georgina P "Gina" SellersEngland & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916–2005: OCT 1972 9e 1488 WESTMINSTER — Georgina P Chalmers = John A Sellers (née Bright),England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007: JUL 1942 3b 872 CAMBRIDGE — Georgina P Bright a public relations consultant, in Westminster, Greater London on 22 November 1986.England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916–2005: NOV 1986 15 993 WESTMINSTER — Anthony S Selby = Georgina P Sellers The couple spent their honeymoon in Kenya. He had a stepson, Richard A Chalmers (born April 1962),England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007: APR 1962 5a 750 ROMFORD — Richard A Chalmers from his wife's first marriage.England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916–2005: APR 1961 5c 1607 HAMPSTEAD — Georgina P Bright = Stanley B Chalmers
Selby was an avid football fan. He supported Queens Park Rangers and was close friends with the team's full-back, Terry Fenwick. He played for the showbiz charity football team, Television Entertainers' XI.
Death