Cast & creator
Leonard Rossiter
Best known for Arena, Play for Today, Play for Today
Leonard Rossiter (21 October 1926 – 5 October 1984) was an English actor known for his roles as Rupert Rigsby, in the British comedy television series Rising Damp (1974–78), and Reginald Iolanthe Perrin, in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976–79). He also had a long and distinguished career in the theatre and gained some notoriety for a series of Cinzano commercials (1978–1983), with Joan Collins.
Also known as: Len Rossiter
48
film credits
40
television credits
88
1961–2022 · acting roles
6.6
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (88)
Showing 88 of 88 credits
Arena
1975
Play for Today
1970Play for Today
Arthur
1970
The Wednesday Play
Mr. Marcus
1964The Wednesday Play
Mr. Jeffs
1964
BBC Play of the Month
The Prime Minister
1965BBC Play of the Month
Colonel Lukyn
1965
ITV Playhouse
Fred Tomlinson
1967ITV Playhouse
Nikolai Krobnevsky
1967
Z-Cars
1962
Theatre 625
Doctor Knock
1964Theatre 625
Fred Midway
1964Theatre 625
François-Marie Aroue / Voltaire
1964Theatre 625
Co-Ordinator Ugo Priest
1964
Thirty-Minute Theatre
Mike Schofield
1965Thirty-Minute Theatre
Andrew
1965Thirty-Minute Theatre
Sergeant Tax
1965
2001: A Space Odyssey
Dr. Andrei Smyslov
1968
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
'X'
1969Thursday Theatre
Frank Broadbent
1964
The BBC Television Shakespeare
King John
1978
BBC2 Play of the Week
Frank Harris
1977
Steptoe and Son
Johnny Spooner
1962Steptoe and Son
Welsh Hughie
1962Festival
Daudet
1963
Barry Lyndon
Captain Quin
1975Studio 4
Gerard Moustier
1962
Redcap
Sergeant Rolfe
1964
Trail of the Pink Panther
Superintendant Quinlan
1982
Half Hour Story
Owen
1967
Rising Damp
Rigsby
1974
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Reginald 'Reggie' Iolanthe Perrin
1976
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
Quinlan
1976
The Carnforth Practice
Aaros Boswell
1974
The Galton & Simpson Playhouse
Jim
1977
You Can't Win
1966
Voyage of the Damned
Commander von Bonin
1976
Oliver!
Sowerberry
1968
Tripper's Day
Norman Tripper
1984
Alice in Wonderland
King of Hearts
1985
The Perishers
Boot (voice)
1979
Britannia Hospital
Vincent Potter
1982
Water
Sir Malcolm Leveridge
1985You Can't Win
Fenny
1961
Deadlier Than the Male
Henry Bridgenorth
1967
The Wrong Box
Vyvyan Alistair Montague
1966
A Kind of Loving
Whymper
1962Out of Town Theatre
Man
1966The Fanatics
Voltaire
1968
Deadfall
Fillmore
1968
Rising Damp
Rigsby
1980
Machinegunner
Cyril Dugdale
1976
The Year of the Sex Olympics
Co-ordinator Ugo Priest
1968
Billy Liar
Emanuel Shadrack
1963The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
Reginald Perrin (archive footage) (uncredited)
2005
The Long Ships
Persian Soldier Who Falls On Sword (uncredited)
1964
A Jolly Bad Fellow
Dr. Fisher
1964
King Rat
McCoy
1965Masquerade
Leslie Lewis
1974
The Witches
Dr. Wallis
1966
The Funny Side of Christmas
Reginald Perrin
1982
The Life and Death of King John
King John
1984Death is a Good Living
1966
This Sporting Life
Phillips, Sports Writer
1963
The Unforgettable Leonard Rossiter
Various (archive footage)
2000
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Reginald Perrin
1983If There Weren't Any Blacks You'd Have to Invent Them
The Blind Man
1974
The Moon Over Soho
Max von Konigsberg
1985
Drums Along The Avon
Mr. Marcus
1967
Hotel Paradiso
Inspector
1966
The Losers
1978
Alice in Wonderland
King (voice)
1985
Diamonds for Breakfast
Inspector Dudley
1968
The Italian Table
Mr. Jeffs
1970
The Factory
Harry Meadows
1981
Luther
Brother Weinand
1974
Otley
Johnson
1969The Waterloo Bridge Handicap
Charles Barker
1978
Leonard Rossiter: Comedy Great
Self (Archive footage)
2022
After the Solo
Dawson
1975
'Oh, Miss Jones!': The Very Best of Leonard Rossiter
Self
1996The Devil's Eggshell
Prime Minister
1966
The Whisperers
Assistance Board Officer
1967
Dog Ends
Arthur
1984
Fearless Frank
1978
Le Petomane
Monsieur Joseph Pujol
1979The Double Agent
Nikolai Krobnevsky
1969After Loch Lomond
Mickey Grant
1973