Richard O’Sullivan, a British actor who starred in popular sitcoms of the 1970s including “Man About the House”, died Friday at 82, an entertainment industry charity said.
O’Sullivan played Robin Tripp, a young catering student, in “Man About the House,” a sitcom about a man sharing a flat in London with two single women that ran from 1973 to 1976, attracting millions of viewers.
The sitcom was “considered pretty daring for its time”, The Hollywood Reporter wrote, since it was unusual for young unmarried men and women to rent together.
“People were a little bit shocked that young, fanciable men and women could live together and it not be a den of sin,” co-star Paula Wilcox told The Telegraph newspaper this year.
The show also played on the then-unusual fact that O’Sullivan’s character was an apron-wearing chef while his office worker flatmates could not cook.
The show spawned two spin-off series, “George and Mildred” and “Robin’s Nest”, where O’Sullivan’s character opens a bistro. There were also U.S. remakes: “Three’s Company” and “Three’s a Crowd”.
The actor also starred in a popular children’s series about the 18th-century highwayman Dick Turpin.
O’Sullivan was born in London and began his career as a child actor, appearing in films such as “The Young Ones” starring popular singer Cliff Richard.
The actor spent the last 23 years of his life at a care home for actors in London run by the Royal Variety Charity, which announced his death there.
