Wilfrid Brambell was gay and an alcoholic, notorious for his outrageous behaviour (on one infamous occasion he exposed himself to a woman at a party). He routinely told adoring fans who met him in the street to 'fuck off'. Harry H Corbett was a womaniser who hated his role in Steptoe and died a bitter and disappointed man. When Steptoe finished in 1974, Corbett loathed Brambell. Within three years, the feeling was mutual.īrambell, fearful of fans' reactions in a less permissive time, worked hard to keep his sexuality a secret. Once or twice a year, he disappeared to Hong Kong to party with the colony's top English-language broadcaster, who many believed was his lover. On one trip he brought a young Malayan man back with him to London to be his 'valet'.īrambell's drinking caused serious problems both on the show and off it. At rehearsals, he constantly forgot his lines.
Once, being interviewed on television in New Zealand after he'd had one too many, he was asked by the presenter what he thought of the country.
It's the lowest place I've been in all my life.' Flying back the end of the tour, he urinated in the captain's cabin thinking it was the toilet, had to be restrained and was thrown off the plane at Singapore.
