Larry Lamb


Lawrence Douglas Lamb is an English actor and radio presenter. He played Archie Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, Mick Shipman in the BBC romantic comedy series Gavin & Stacey and Ted Case in the final series of the BBC Crime Drama New Tricks. He was also on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here 2016.

Early life

Lamb was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, to Jessie White and Ronald Douglas Lamb, the eldest of four including his brother, Wesley, and a sister. Lamb had a turbulent childhood; he was verbally abused by his father and often had to keep his parents from fighting.
In 2011, Lamb participated in the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are? and discovered that he is descended from a line of proprietors of a well-known travelling menagerie, Day's Menagerie, and a lion tamer named Martini Bartlett.
Lamb attended Edmonton County School and later joined the oil industry, which resulted in his working in Libya and Canada, where he attended St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. This developed his amateur interest in acting to a professional level, and he performed at Canada's Stratford Festival in 1975–1976. Lamb is distantly related to Edward Buckton Lamb, a Victorian architect who designed St Martin's Gospel Oak and St Mary Addiscombe.

Career

Acting

After returning to Britain from Canada, Lamb became a regular cast member, along with Kate O'Mara, in the BBC's North Sea ferry-based soap Triangle, in which he played Matt Taylor, the ship's Chief Engineer.
Other credits include The New Avengers, The Professionals, Fox, Minder, Lovejoy, Get Back, A Touch of Frost, Our Friends in the North, Taggart, Casualty, Kavanagh QC, Spooks, Midsomer Murders, and The Bill.
Between 2007 and 2010, Lamb appeared in Gavin & Stacey playing Gavin's father, Michael "Mick" Shipman.
In 2008, Lamb began playing Archie Mitchell, the father of Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell in EastEnders. He based his portrayal of Archie on his own father. He left the show in April, 2009, but returned in July the same year, around the same time that Danniella Westbrook returned to her role of Archie's niece, Sam Mitchell. Archie was killed off in a murder story line at Christmas, 2009. In 2009, Lamb starred alongside Liam Cunningham in , in the role of General McKee. On 19 February 2010, Lamb appeared with his son, George Lamb, in EastEnders Live: The Aftermath, after Stacey Branning was revealed to be Archie's killer in the closing moments of the 25th-anniversary live episode.
In April, 2011, BBC Learning launched "Off By Heart Shakespeare", a school-recital contest for secondary school pupils. For the project, Larry took on the role of Jaques from the play As You Like It and delivered the speech: "All the world's a stage".
It was announced that Lamb would join the cast of New Tricks as Ted Case in series 12, taking over from Gerry Standing, played by Dennis Waterman.
Lamb's films include Buster and Essex Boys. In 1983, he had a small speaking role in Superman III.

Theatre

In 2013, Lamb began presenting a regular Sunday morning show on LBC. He is an occasional reporter for the BBC programme The One Show. Lamb took part in Gareth's All Star Choir in 2014, as part of the BBC's Children in Need appeal.
In 2016, he appeared in the sixteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. He became the 6th celebrity to be voted out of the jungle in the 2016 series.

Personal life

Lamb has a daughter Vanessa Lamb with his first wife Anita Wisbey. He is also the father of radio DJ and television presenter George Lamb, from his second marriage to Linda Martin. Lamb recently split up with his partner Clare Burt, with whom he has two daughters: Eloise Alexandra, and Eva-Mathilde Lamb. Lamb has one granddaughter from his daughter Vanessa, as revealed on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.
In 2011, Lamb's autobiography Mummy's Boy was published by Coronet.
Larry has a sister who works in a supported living for the elderly accommodation in Brighton.

Awards and nominations

Lamb won the award for Best Villain at the 2010 British Soap Awards.

Filmography

;Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
1978SupermanReporter 1
1983Superman IIIMiner 2
1984Mon ami WashingtonEnglish title: My Friend Washington
1984Flight to BerlinSpecialist Dale Sizemore
1985ShadeyDick Darnley
1985UnderworldRoy Bain
1987UbacLarry
1987Hearts of FireJack Rosner
1988BusterBruce Reynolds
1998'Place Vendôme'Christopher Makos
2000Essex BoysPeter Chase
2000One of the Hollywood TenWill Geer
2004DeadlinesPaul Baker
2004FakersHarvey Steed
2009'General McKee
2011Two MinutesWilliamShort Film
2012Rose, Mary and TimeBarneys DadShort Film
2017The Hatton Garden JobBrian ReaderBased on the Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary
2017Rise of the Footsoldier 3Mr. Harris

;Television