Bob Goody dies: The classically trained actor and co-writer of BBC comedy Wilderness Road was 71

Bob Goody, accomplished British stage and screen actor and co-writer of the 1985 BBC1 comedy wilderness awaydied at the age of 71.

He died on March 5 after a long battle with cancer, which he wrote down in a book of poems.

Born in Brighton in 1951, Goody studied at RADA and became known as a charismatic actor and poet. He presented his own ITV children’s sketch show, Smith & Goodiesin the 1980s with writer and comedian Mel Smith before writing wilderness awaya sitcom set in a seedy London pub starring Richard Cottan.

Goody’s TV acting roles include appearances dull house, east, love joy, Castle stock and two smoking barrels TV spin-off Closing stock… And Queens of Mysteryand his film roles include that of Peter Greenaway The cook, the thief, his wife and her loverby Mike Leigh Mr. Turner And PeterlooAnd The Borrowers. He also toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company and was part of Patrick Barlow’s National Theater of Brent.

Cottan, his writing partner, called him “outgoing, warm-hearted, unspeakably generous” and “a natural artist”. With his signature look and unique comedic talent, he was an unforgettable presence on both stage and screen.”

He has written a number of two-person comedy theater shows, one of which won an Edinburgh Fringe First Award, and was a founding member of the Shared Experience theater company, which presented a one-man show. The insomniac in drawer 9 of the morgue1982

As a writer, he also wrote the libretto for the opera at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein The fashion 2008 and recently published a book of verse, war and paracetamol, which chronicled his life and the path of his illness. “Funny, profound and often in extremely bad taste, these verses are in many ways Bob’s true artistic legacy,” said Cottan.

He is survived by his wife Gina, brother Dave, daughters Gemma, Seonaid and Sophie, and four grandchildren.