Clive Walter Swift was an English actor and songwriter. He was best known for his role as Richard Bucket, the long-suffering husband of Hyacinth in the British television seriesKeeping Up Appearances, but played many other film and television roles.
Life and career
Swift was born in Liverpool on 9 February 1936, the son of Lily Rebecca and Abram Sampson Swift. His elder brother David was also an actor. Both were educated at Clifton College and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where Clive read English literature. He was previously a teacher at LAMDA and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His family was Jewish. He appeared as Snug in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1968 film production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as part of a cast that included Diana Rigg, Helen Mirren and Ian Richardson. During the 1970s, he appeared as Doctor Black in two of the BBC's M. R. James adaptations: The Stalls of Barchester and A Warning to the Curious, as well as the BBC adaptation of The Barchester Chronicles. He is best known for his role on Keeping Up Appearances as Richard Bucket, the long-suffering husband of Hyacinth. Swift made two appearances in Doctor Who, in the 1985 story Revelation of the Daleks and the 2007 Christmas special. He also played Sir Ector, the adoptive father of King Arthur in John Boorman's 1981 film Excalibur. In addition to acting, he was a songwriter. Many of his songs were included in his shows Richard Bucket Overflows: An Audience with Clive Swift, which toured the UK in 2007, and Clive Swift Entertains, in which he performed his own music and lyrics, which toured the UK in 2009. He also played the part of the Reverend Eustacius Brewer in Born and Bred, which aired on BBC One from 2002 to 2005.
Swift was married to novelist Margaret Drabble from 1960 until their divorce in 1975. He was the father of one daughter, Rebecca, known for running The Literary Consultancy in London, and two sons, Adam Swift, an academic, and Joe Swift, a garden designer, journalist and television presenter. Swift died at home on 1 February 2019, following a short illness, eight days before his 83rd birthday. Paying tribute to Swift, fellow actor James Dreyfus said "Loved this extremely talented, subtle actor". His Keeping Up Appearances co-star Dame Patricia Routledge said: "Clive was a skilful and inventive actor with wide experience, as his successful career proved," and that she was very sad to hear of her former co-star's death.
