New Year Honours: Kevin Whately, star of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Lewis, gets OBE from King
Kevin Whately, who played Neville Hope in popular TV show Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, is recognised for services to drama and to charity
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet actor Kevin Whately paid tribute to charity workers as he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the New Year Honours.
The 73-year-old, who rose to fame as Neville in the classic comedy drama, has been recognised for services to drama and to charity.
He said: “I am grateful and delighted to be given this award, and I appreciate that actors can sometimes help to raise awareness and money for charities, but the full-time charity workers dedicate their lives to their causes, and every one of them deserves a medal.”
Born in Brampton, Cumbria, Kevin grew up in North Tyneside and was educated at Barnard Castle School before studying accountancy at Newcastle Polytechnic. He then trained as an actor, performing at the People’ Theatre in Newcastle, and graduated from the Central School of Speech and Drama in the 1975.
His TV debut came in a 1979 episode of Shoestring, which was later followed by a stint on ITV soap Coronation Street. His big break came in 1983 when he landed the role of Neville Hope in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, the Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement series which told the story of a group of British workmen escaping 1980s unemployment to make a living in Germany.
In 1987, he made his first appearance as Sgt Robert Lewis in Inspector Morse and has since appeared in Peak Practice, the TV dramas Trip Trap, Gobble and The Broker’s Man, as well as Oscar-winning drama The English Patient. Other projects include Paranoid, Silent Cry, Murder In Mind, Purely Belter, Promoted To Glory and The Children.
From 2006, he took centre stage in the Inspector Morse spin-off, ITV’s Lewis, which also featured actor Laurence Fox as James Hathaway. Set five years after the death of his long-term partner Morse, Lewis found himself teamed up with a much younger partner, and reporting to a new boss in the form of Chief Superintendent Jean Innocent (Rebecca Front). In November 2015, it was announced that Lewis would be coming to an end as Whately and Fox bowed out of the popular crime drama.
During his career, Whately has supported many charities including acting as a trustee for the Wavendon Foundation, which supports creation and education in the performing arts. He is also an ambassador for Action For Children, which supports vulnerable children in the UK. He is also a supporter of global children’s charity Plan International.
The actor has previously spoken about the challenges his mother experienced after being diagnosed with dementia in a campaign for Alzheimer’s Society, for which he is an ambassador.