Editing Leonard Rossiter (section)

==Film and television career==
Rossiter soon established himself as a character actor in films and television, as well as on stage. He stated: "I think I sensed fairly early on that I was not physically or facially built in the way that would ever fit even remotely into heroic or what used to be called juvenile parts. I always played character parts – right from the start."<ref>{{cite news|last=Sutcliffe|first=Tom|title=Rossiter's irresistible rise|date=4 September 1982|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> His first film role was in ''[[A Kind of Loving (film)|A Kind of Loving]]'' (1962). In ''[[Billy Liar (film)|Billy Liar]]'' (1963) he played the title character's boss. His first major television role was as Detective-Inspector Bamber in the long-running police television series ''[[Z-Cars]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Some Joe You Don't Know: An American Biographical Guide to 100 British Television Personalities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_S4f-nobIxEC|first=Anthony|last=Slide|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=1996|isbn=9780313295508|page=213}}</ref> He also had guest roles in series as diverse as ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]'' ("[[Dressed to Kill (The Avengers)|Dressed to Kill]]", 1963) and ''[[Steptoe and Son]]'' ("The Lead Man Cometh", 1964; "The Desperate Hours", 1972). Among his early film credits were four films directed by [[Bryan Forbes]], namely ''[[King Rat (film)|King Rat]]'' (1965), ''[[The Wrong Box]]'' (1966), ''[[The Whisperers]]'' (1967), and ''[[Deadfall (1968 film)|Deadfall]]'' (1968).

In 1968, he played Mr Sowerberry in the film version of [[Lionel Bart]]'s musical ''[[Oliver! (film)|Oliver!]]'' and took one of the few speaking supporting roles in ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' as the Russian scientist Smyslov. He worked with [[Stanley Kubrick]] again in ''[[Barry Lyndon]]'' (1975), in the role of Captain John Quin. He appeared opposite [[Peter Sellers]] in ''[[The Pink Panther Strikes Again]]'' (1976) as Superintendent Quinlan. In 1968, he appeared in [[Nigel Kneale]]'s television play ''[[The Year of the Sex Olympics]]'', an episode of [[BBC2]]'s ''[[Theatre 625]]'', one of his four appearances in the series.

In ''[[Rising Damp]]'', on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]], Rossiter played Rupert Rigsby, the lecherous [[landlord]] of a house converted into shabby [[bedsit]]s, reprising the role from the successful stage version, ''The Banana Box''. While he was in ''Rising Damp'' he also took the lead role in ''[[The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin]]'', adapted by [[David Nobbs]] from his own comic novels and broadcast on the BBC. Rossiter was given a surprise tribute on ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' in 1975.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Rossiter revels in Rising Damp|quote=Having Rossiter in the part, incidentally, is all down to a former girlfriend who is called Ida. She was in an amateur group and when the young Rossiter watched her at rehearsals he told her he thought he could do better. 'I suppose you could do better!' she snapped. 'I couldn't do worse,' he said. So he joined the group. When 'This Is Your Life' descended on Rossiter who do you think was one of the surprise guests? That's right. Ida.|date=7 November 1975|newspaper=[[TVTimes]]}}</ref> He appeared in ''I Tell You It's Burt Reynolds'', an episode of the 1977 [[Yorkshire Television]] series ''The Galton & Simpson Playhouse'',<ref>{{cite web|title=Leonard Rossiter: a conviction in comedy|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/features/leonard-rossiter-conviction-comedy|author=Gary Mills|date= 4 March 2015|website=British Film Institute|access-date=18 December 2017}}</ref> as well as the short films ''The Waterloo Bridge Handicap'' (1978), and the [[Galton and Simpson]]-scripted ''[[Le Pétomane (film)|Le Pétomane]]'' (1979). After his portrayal of Reginald Perrin, Rossiter's non-comedy roles on television became less frequent, although there were exceptions, such as a debt collector in the one-off [[ITV Wales & West|HTV]] thriller ''Machinegunner'' (1976), and [[Frank Harris]] in ''Fearless Frank, or Tit-bits from the Life of an Adventurer'' (1978), a BBC ''Play of the Week''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rossiter, Leonard (1926–1984)|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/839917/index.html|website=BFI Screenonline|author=John Oliver|access-date=20 December 2017}}</ref>

From 1978 to 1983, Rossiter performed in ten commercials for [[Cinzano]]. The series of adverts was created by film director [[Alan Parker]] and, at Rossiter's suggestion, used an old music hall joke where he spills a drink over his wife, played by [[Joan Collins]]. In the [[Channel 4]] programme ''[[The 100 Greatest TV Ads]]'' (2000) Terry Lovelock, the director of two of the commercials, said that Rossiter used to refer jokingly to Collins as "The Prop".<ref name=telegraphreview/><ref>[http://www.leonardrossiter.com/Cinzano.html The Cinzano commercials, LeonardRossiter.com]. Retrieved 26 August 2012.</ref>

Rossiter reprised Rigsby for a [[Rising Damp (film)|film version of ''Rising Damp'']] in 1980, thus achieving the distinction of playing the same role on stage, television, and film. He continued to make a steady stream of film appearances, including a role in [[Lindsay Anderson]]'s ''[[Britannia Hospital]]'' (1982).<ref>{{cite news|last=Utting|first=David|title=Mr. Rossiter is anxious not to bore the kids|date=23 November 1981|newspaper=[[Liverpool Echo]]}}</ref> His last television role was as the [[supermarket]] manager in another ITV sitcom, ''[[Tripper's Day]]'' (1984).<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Rossiter's hated hair apparent|last=Knowles|first=Stewart|quote=When I was offered Tripper, it was pointed out that it wasn't terribly deep stuff, just smash-bang basic comedy in short, sharp scenes. I said I wasn't averse to doing anything if I liked it, and this is fast and funny, very well written by Brian Cooke.|date=22 September 1984|newspaper=[[TVTimes]]}}</ref>

He performed comic monologues in ''[[The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog]]'', which was recorded 1982, and broadcast by [[Channel 4]] in 1983.<ref>[https://www.bright-thoughts.co.uk/monologues-02.html] The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog production website</ref>

Rossiter also played the title role in the ''[[BBC Television Shakespeare]]'' production of ''[[The Life and Death of King John]]'' (1984). His last film appearance was in ''[[Water (1985 film)|Water]]'' (1985).