Celebrating Actor Patrick Murray: The Man Behind Mickey Pearce

Patrick Noel Murray, who died aged 68, became well-known for his portrayal as Mickey Pearce in Only Fools and Horses, the trilby-wearing chancer who briefly partners with his former schoolmate Rodney Trotter in the beloved TV sitcom Only Fools and Horses.

First Episode

He first appeared in season three in the 1983 installment called Healthy Competition, in which Rodney's goal to advance from being just a lookout for his brother was immediately foiled when Mickey ripped him off. Del and Rodney joined forces again, and Mickey remained a regular presence all the way to the last holiday special in 2003.

Character Background

This figure was referenced on multiple occasions since the series started in 1981, including in stories where Mickey stole Rodney's girlfriend, but wasn't seen on screen at first. As the writer decided to broaden the secondary roles, the show's producer thought of Murray's appearance in an advertisement, trying to flirt with two women, and suggested him for the part. Murray was auditioned on a Friday and began work a few days after.

Mickey was conceived as “Del Boy lite”, not as clever but, in the same vein as Del, frequently experiencing his money-making schemes go wrong. Mickey dabbles in everything, but you can't depend on him,” Murray remarked. “He’s always stitching Rodney up, and Del regularly warns to clump him for it.” Mickey frequently teases Rodney about his romantic failures while exaggerating his dating successes and hopping from job to job.

On-Set Incidents

A plot in 1989 needed quick rewriting after an accident in which Murray fell over his dog at home and crashed through a glass window, injuring a tendon in his right arm and losing a significant amount of blood. With Murray's arm in a plaster cast, the writer rewrote the next episode to incorporate Mickey getting beaten up by area criminals.

Post-Fame Journey

The last regular episode aired in 1991, but Murray was among the cast members who came back for holiday episodes for another 12 years – and remained popular at fan events.

He was born in south London's Greenwich, to Juana, a dancer, and his father Patrick, a transport official. He studied at St Thomas the Apostle college in Nunhead. At 15 years old, he spotted an advert for a theatrical agency in the Daily Mirror and shortly after had been cast in a stage play. He quickly started television roles, debuting in 1973, aged 16, in Places Where They Sing, a BBC play adapted from a novel about student unrest. This was soon followed, he starred in the youthful adventure show The Terracotta Horse, filmed in Spain and Morocco.

He appeared in a short TV play Hanging Around (1978), depicting rebellious young people, and the feature The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978), with Glenda Jackson as an idealistic teacher, ahead of his breakthrough arrived.

In the drama Scum, a play about the harsh youth detention system, he portrayed Dougan, a friendly detainee whose head for figures allowed him to be trusted to manage funds smuggled in by visitors, that he gathered on his tea trolley round. He successfully to lower the “daddy’s” percentage when Carlin (Ray Winstone) became the leader.

This play, produced for a TV series in 1977, was prohibited by the BBC for its graphic violence, but it finally aired in 1991. In the interim, Alan Clarke adapted it into a film in 1979, with Murray as one of six from the initial cast reprising their roles.

He later took small parts in the movies Quadrophenia (1979) and Breaking Glass (1980), and appeared as a bellboy in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983).

Fame in Only Fools and Horses earned him a string of guest appearances in the 80s and 90s in programs such as Dempsey and Makepeace, Lovejoy, The Return of Shelley and The Upper Hand. He appeared in two roles in The Bill.

Yet his personal life took a downturn after he became a Kent pub manager in 1998, drinking too much and finally seeking assistance from a support group. He went to Thailand, where he married his second wife in 2016. Not long after, he moved back to Britain and drove a taxi. He came back shortly to acting in 2019 as a tough guy playing Frank Bridges in the show Conditions, yet to air.

Health Struggles

He received a diagnosis with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 2018 and, a few years after, pulmonary cancer and a liver tumor. Even though he was declared cancer-free in 2022 following surgery and chemotherapy, the illness came back soon after.

Family and Relationships

During 1981, Murray married Shelley Wilkinson; they later divorced. He is survived by Anong, daughter Josie, Josie, and his three boys from his first marriage, Lee, Ricky and Robert, as well as sisters and male siblings.