Roy Castle OBE (31 August 1932[1] – 2 September 1994)[2] was an English dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician.

This was also where he met lifelong friend, Harry Secombe, with whom he went on to work on numerous occasions [4] As a singer, he released one charting single in 1960, the Christmas song "Little White Berry".

[citation needed] In 1967 and 1968, Castle co-starred with Jimmy Edwards in the London West End run of the comedy farce show Big Bad Mouse when Eric Sykes had to withdraw because of illness.

The show was resident at the Shaftesbury Theatre and, being loosely scripted, it offered both Edwards and Castle the chance to freely ad-lib and generally break the fourth wall with the audience, Castle breaking into trumpet performances while Edwards walked into a front stall seat to read a newspaper, tap dancing and firing ping-pong balls into the stalls.

He made many appearances on BBC television's long running variety show The Good Old Days, making use of his multi instrumental and performing skills.

In 1988, Castle presented and performed in the Anglia Television series Marching as to War, which traced and re-enacted the early history of The Salvation Army.

Side 2 was spoken by Kenneth Williams, Dora Bryan, Derek Nimmo, and Thora Hird, who narrated one story each.

[citation needed] Castle married dancer Fiona Dickson on 29 July 1963 with Harry Secombe acting as Best Man.

[11][12] They had been introduced to each other by Eric Morecambe[13] Both Castle and his wife were committed Christians and they regularly attended the Baptist church near their home.

Their youngest son, Ben Castle (born 1973), is a jazz saxophonist who has played with a wide range of artists, including Jamie Cullum, Carleen Anderson, Beth Rowley, Marillion and Radiohead, and performed on film soundtracks.

At that time Ronnie Barker paid tribute to him, referring to their portrayal of characters that bore a strong resemblance to Laurel and Hardy in Another Fine Mess.