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on 1 January 1951, until his death in 2009, when he was the longest-serving member of the cast. His last episode, recorded two days before he died, was broadcast on 22 November 2009. The character lived on until Phil was "found dead" in his armchair in
February 2010. According to
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in
Warwickshire. His body was found in his home in October 2009, shortly after he had died from heart failure. His ashes were scattered at Painting's Plantation in Leamington Spa, with a memorial service at
322:. Artistic disagreements with a then editor, plus a general disillusionment with the BBC management, led him to retire from writing scripts in 1982 and to stick to just performing them.
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The character of Phil Archer developed from the lusty young romantic lead of the early episodes, working on the neighbouring
Fairbrother estate, into a father and grandfather, replacing
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Painting had worked as a performer, interviewer, writer and producer for the BBC before he first appeared as Philip in
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Painting suffered from poor health in later life, with several heart attacks in 1982 and later
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while at the
University of Birmingham, and continued while also performing as an actor with
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in 1950. He became a script writer for the series in 1966, following in the footsteps of
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in 1976, for services to broadcasting. He published two books on the
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instead, graduating with a first-class degree. He did post-graduate research at
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and John Keir Cross. He wrote in his memoir of the programme,
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Gillian
Reynolds, 'Painting, Norman George (1924–2009)',
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world record for an actor playing a continuous role
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479:Norman Painting, star of The Archers, dies aged 85
407:surgery. In 2000, he stated he was suffering from
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619:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
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379:in 1991. On 12 September 2008, along with
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111:Learn how and when to remove this message
448:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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599:Alumni of the University of Birmingham
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463:Voice of Phil Archer dies aged 85
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624:Male actors from Leamington Spa
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261:King Edward VI School, Nuneaton
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486:. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
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527:. University of Birmingham
188:Actor, broadcaster, writer
604:English male radio actors
428:University of Birmingham
385:Birmingham Walk of Stars
351:Birmingham Walk of Stars
265:University of Birmingham
177:Warmington, Warwickshire
421:St Martin-in-the-Fields
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195:Norman George Painting
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629:The Archers
589:2009 deaths
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381:The Archers
320:Bruno Milna
296:The Archers
213:The Archers
210:soap opera
208:BBC Radio 4
204:Phil Archer
578:Categories
434:References
416:Warmington
391:Later life
327:Dan Archer
243:Early life
150:1924-04-23
101:March 2013
71:newspapers
531:20 August
285:BBC radio
179:, England
570:obituary
506:18 March
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349:Star on
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