Dennis Waterman's Putney Links Remembered

Minder and New Tricks star attended Granard School


A young Dennis Waterman in Just William. Picture: BBC

Actor Dennis Waterman died this Sunday (8 May) due to lung cancer.

Having been one of the biggest stars on British TV in the seventies and eighties due to his roles in The Sweeney and Minder he became known to a later generation of viewers through appearing on New Tricks and being gently mocked in the Little Britain series.

A statement from his family said, "We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved Dennis passed away very peacefully in hospital in Spain." His wife Pam was at his side.

Born in Clapham, he spent much of his childhood in the Putney area and attended Granard Primary School. According to one local resident he lived on the Ashburton Estate shortly after it was rebuilt in the fifties with his parents Rose and Harry and his siblings Ken, Peter, Stella, Norma and Myrna. He was the youngest of nine children by six years. His father worked as a ticket collector at Clapham Junction station and his mother made soft furnishings and curtains.

He moved from Granard to the Corona Stage School which was in Ravenscourt Park near Hammersmith. His acting career began aged 12 when he appeared in the Night Train for Inverness in 1960. In the same year he also appeared in two productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

It was his role in Just William that brought him fame and he was rarely off TV screens after that point.

In his role as Terry McCann in Minder he lived nearby in Fulham and Putney was used for a location many times in both The Sweeney and Minder.

 

 

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May 13, 2022