After eight decades of career, actor Bill Maynard, who played Heartbeat, died yesterday at the age of 89.
Maynard was born in Heath End, Farnham, Surrey, the son of Walter, a gardener, and Edith, a laundress. After his family moved to Leicestershire, Maynard enrolled at Kibworth Beauchamp High School.
Performing comedic turns in clubs at the age of 11, Bill was already earning more money than his father.
The actor also appeared in the films Carry On Carry On at Your Convenience and Carry On Matron, and he starred in the ITV comedy Oh No, It’s Selwyn Froggatt. As Sgt Beetroot in the 1980s television comedy Worzel Gummidge, he also made guest appearances in Heartbeat spinoffs The Royal and The Moorside.
The 2017 drama The Moorside featured Maynard most recently and centered around the disappearance of Shannon Matthews.
Bill Maynard
What happened to Claude Greengrass in Heartbeat?
Nothing happened to the character of Claude Greengrass in the television series Heartbeat. The character’s performer, however, died in 2018 from injuries sustained in a mobility scooter accident.
ITV Studios produced the British historical drama series Heartbeat from 1992 to 2010. It is based on the ‘Constable’ books by Nicholas Rhea. The series’ first episodes often drew over 10 million viewers, and it had a strong viewership of 13.82 million viewers in 2001 and 12.8 million viewers in 2003.
From season one through season ten, Bill portrayed the humorous Claude Greengrass. He was known to steal game from other farms and get in trouble on the show. The actor returned to the Royal after leaving the show due to health issues. He also spent eight years as the endearing thug Claude Jeremiah Greengrass on ITV’s Heartbeat.
Actor Bill Maynard died at 89: what illness did he suffer from?
Maynard died in a Leicestershire hospital shortly after injuring his hip in a fall from his mobility scooter, according to his stepdaughter. She also said he loves show business and is larger than life.
Actors, athletes and fans have all paid tribute to him since his passing. Leicestershire-based snooker player and broadcaster Willie Thorne tweeted: ‘It’s a sad day because Bill Maynard passed away today. He was a great actor and friend who lived near me in Leicester and had a passion for snooker. TO TEAR APART.”
Tricia Penrose, who portrayed Gina on the soap opera Bill’s Heartbeat and was Bill’s rival on the television quiz show Pointless, also paid tribute to Bill. She mentioned in her post that she had just collaborated with him.
Richard Willis, another actor, also shared how he met Bill. He wrote in a social media post: “Bill Maynard performed his charming solo play on Charles Dickens at my father’s theater in Guernsey. I remember he was trying to talk me out of acting when I was ten. I have always enjoyed this meeting.
Who replaced the character of Claude Greengrass?
Greengrass was replaced as the charming villain of Hamlet by Geoffrey Hughes as Vernon Scripps, a Liverpool actor. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was known to millions of fans as Twiggy on The Royle Family, Onslow on Keeping Up Appearances and Coronation Street binman Eddie Yeats. He died of prostate cancer in 2012 at the age of 68.
The last time we saw Claude Jeremiah Greengrass was in the Heatbeat Cold Turkey episode. Bill Maynard had to leave the series because of his illness. He did, however, make an appearance in the Heartbeat spin-off series “The Royal”. For some yard work he did for Stringer, Greengrass (Bill Maynard) struggles to get paid in this episode.
