Barry Evans also had a sad ending >
Former sitcom star Barry Evans drank himself to death because he could not cope with his declining fame, an inquest heard yesterday. Evans 52 was found dead on his sofa with an empty whisky bottle and a spilled container of aspirin at his side. In the weeks before his death from acute alcohol poisoning in February last year, he had been drinking a bottle of whisky every two days. His body was found to have four-and-a-half times the legal drinking limit of alcohol.
Evans found fame, in 1967, in the Cult Film: Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush. He later, landed the part of Dr Michael Upton, in the Doctor in the House series, before taking on, his best-known role, as the Teacher, in the nineteen seventies Sitcom: Mind Your Language. His friend: RSC Actor: Jimmy Gardner, who had known him, for thirty five years, told the inquest, in Leicester, that Evans, had left London, four years ago, after his acting work, had dried up.
He suffered from mood swings and depression said Mr Gardner adding "For the last four or five years in London, he had worked very little. Evans lived alone in the village of Claybrooke Magna, Leicestershire, where he worked as a taxi driver. Another friend, Lawrence Brown, told the inquest: "I got the impression he was missing the publicity of being an actor and that he'd like to get back into acting, but never really did anything about it. He used to discuss what he had done and showed me videos of his work"
Police discovered the actor's body after going to his house to tell him they had recovered his stolen car. James Leadbitter, eighteen years old, was arrested over the theft and later accused of attempted murder. He told police he was a friend of Evans and had visited him, on the day he died to say he would not be calling round again. Leadbitter said after, the actor became upset and drank half a bottle of whisky. The charge of attempted murder was later dropped.
Recording an open verdict, coroner Martin Symington said there was insufficient evidence to prove Evans had intended to kill himself. He added: "Was he perhaps contemplating taking the tablets and the alcohol together, but passed out, before he could use the tablets?"
