What happened to the stars of Only Fools and Horses? From tragic deaths and TV comebacks to the discovery of a secret child - the cast's varied fates on sitcom's 45th anniversary

This week marked 45 years since Only Fools and Horses appeared on our screens, depicting the Trotter brothers’ increasingly absurd schemes to get rich.

Set in Peckham, south London, the show starred Sir David Jason as Derek Trotter – or Del Boy – alongside Nicholas Lyndhurst as his younger half-brother Rodney and quickly cemented itself as one of Britain’s most beloved sit-coms.

To mark the anniversary, unseen footage from The Jolly Boys’ Outing Christmas special – which aired in 1989 and sees the Trotter brothers organise a trip to Margate – was released by show bosses this week.

A two-part series called Only Fools and Horses: The Lost Archive, is also set to come out in October and will feature more unreleased clips from the series as well as interviews with cast members.

Ahead of its release, the Daily Mail reveals what became of the stars of the show, from the tragic deaths of beloved actors to late career resurgences and even the discovery of a secret child…

Sir David Jason - Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter  

Despite a string of TV hits under his belt, Sir David Jason, now 86, will forever be known as enterprising cockney Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter, who drove a three-wheeled 1967 Reliant Regal Supervan III and wanted nothing more than to be a millionaire – with the least effort required possible.

Born in Edmonton, north London, Sir David began his acting career in 1964, playing the part of Bert Bradshaw in Crossroads, before going on to play spoof super-hero Captain Fantastic, among other roles, in the children's comedy series Do Not Adjust Your Set, alongside Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Denise Coffey and Michael Palin.

His career very nearly didn't take off when he missed out on the part of Lance Corporal Jones in Dad's Army; after initially being cast by David Croft, he was swiftly replaced by Clive Dunn after BBC exec Bill Cotton stepped in.

Sir David joked that he was 'cast at 12 o'clock and saved by three'. He also missed out on the starring role of Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em in 1973 because BBC honchos thought he lacked 'star quality'.

He spent 18 months in the West End in 1973, in the farce No Sex Please, We're British, and appeared as the support act for Dick Emery in a number of variety shows, where he caught the eye of Ronnie Barker.

Jason was subsequently recruited to play Granville with Barker in the sitcom Open All Hours, also starring as jailbird Bianco Webb in Porridge in 1973.

He reprised his role of shopkeeper Granville in the sequel, Still Open All Hours, in 2014, which ran until 2019.

Sir David also starred as Pop Larkin in The Darling Buds of May in 1991, the show that launched the career of Catherine Zeta Jones.

But arguably his biggest role after Del Boy came as Detective Inspector Jack Frost in the crime drama A Touch of Frost from the 1992 until 2010.

In 1993 he was awarded an OBE, and 12 years later, in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 2005, Jason was knighted for services to acting and comedy. 

In recent years, a plethora of documentaries including David Jason's Great British Inventions and David Jason: Planes, Trains & Automobiles have kept him in the limelight and given a bank balance so healthy, it would turn Del Boy's eyes green.

There's been tragedy too, though. In 1995, Jason was left grief-stricken after his girlfriend of 18 years, Welsh actress Myfanwy Talog, died of breast cancer.

He found happiness again with Gill Hinchcliffe, 20 years his junior, whom he married in 2005. Gill gave birth to the couple's daughter, Sophie Mae, in February 2001 when the actor was 61. The couple now live in Buckinghamshire.

But in March last year, his life had a remarkable twist when he found out that he actually had another daughter who was 30 years older than Sophie.

Sir David was left shocked to find he was the father to 54-year-old Abi Harris and grandfather to her son Charlie after having a brief fling with her mother Jennifer Hill in 1970.

Jennifer starred in the James Bond film Octopussy and alongside Sir David in a stage production of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood at the Mayfair Theatre in London.

They had a brief relationship, during which he fathered Ms Harris - although he was unaware of their connection even when he appeared in a revival performance of Under Milk Wood in 2008 with Ms Harris and her mother.

Despite his advancing years, the actor's status as a national treasure has ensured his earnings have stayed buoyant. 

In 2017, he was one of the BBC's top earners, with an estimated salary from the broadcaster of between £300,000 and £349,999.

Nicholas Lyndhurst - Rodney Trotter 

Born in 1961 in Emsworth, Hampshire, Nicholas Lyndhurst was intent on being an actor as a child although after graduating from drama school, he might not have envisioned the role that would mould his career.

Lyndhurst bagged the role of gangly sibling sidekick Rodney Trotter, Del Boy's younger brother, in 1981 and quickly became known to the nation as 'Rodders' - a moniker that has stuck.

During the mid 1980s and 1990s, Lyndhurst played Ashley Phillips in ITV's The Two of Us and MI5 agent Peter 'Piglet' Chapman in The Piglet Files.

Now 65, the actor also achieved success playing Gary Sparrow in the popular time-travelling sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart. He won two National Television Awards for his performance in the show, which aired from 1993 to 1999 and returned for a one-off special in 2016.

From 1997 to 1999, Lyndhurst was the public face of the stationery chain store WH Smith, starring in their adverts as all four members of one family, and even winning a Bafta for his acting in the commercials.

In 2007, Lyndhurst returned to the BBC with his first new sitcom in 14 years, After You've Gone, in which he played a divorced father moving back into the marital home to look after his daughter (Dani Harmer) and son (Ryan Sampson), together with his mother-in-law, played by Celia Imrie, after his ex-wife went to work as a recovery nurse on a third world disaster relief mission.

Then there was the Only Fools and Horses prequel Rock & Chips, which also starred Inbetweeners actor James Buckley, in 2010. Lyndhurst played Rodney's biological father Freddie Robdal.

But he missed an opportunity in 1997 when he turned down the role to play Gary in the film The Full Monty.

The UK-made film, about a group of men left unemployed by the collapse of the steel industry, went on to be a huge hit, turning its central star, Robert Carlyle, into a household name.

Lyndhurst's co-star on Only Fools and Horses, Paul Barber who played Denzil, did appear in the film as Barrington 'Horse' Mitchell.

A role in the long-running BBC detective drama New Tricks, as the aloof retired Detective Chief Inspector Dan Griffin, followed in 2013.

His earnings, like his on-screen big brother's, have remained handsome, with both Sir David and Lyndhurst offered £100,000 an episode to film the 2003 comeback series of Only Fools and Horses.

Lyndhurst married his former ballerina wife Lucy in 1999 and the couple live in West Wittering on England's south coast.

But tragedy hit them in September 2020 when their 19-year-old son Archie, a children's TV star, died in his sleep from a brain haemorrhage caused by Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma/Leukaemia. He was found dead at his home in Fulham, west London.

Lucy Lyndhurst wrote at the time on Instagram that losing Archie, who had starred as Ollie in So Awkward on CBBC, had had a 'catastrophic effect' on their family.

She posted a photo of father and son and called her husband 'My soul mate and Archie's hero'.

She added: 'I never thought this would be part of our story but I will be forever grateful for every moment we all had together. Every day an absolute joy, filled with adventure, laughter and incredible love.

'Archie is immensely proud of you as I am. It is an honour to be your wife and journey the rest of my days with you even though they are tough without our boy.'

Lyndhurst's hobbies reportedly include underwater diving, beekeeping and piloting his own planes.

More recently Lyndhurst played Professor Alan Cornwall in the 2023 reboot of Frasier, with his role seeing him play A friend of Kelsey Grammer's character Dr Frasier Crane. 

While the reboot received good reviews, it was scrapped after two seasons.  

Grammer and Lyndhurst became friends when they starred together in the 2019 West End production of The Man of La Mancha. 

Patrick Murray - Mickey Pearce  

Patrick Murray became a familiar face thanks to his recurring role as mustachioed wheeler dealer Mickey Pearce in Only Fools and Horses.

Rodney's friend Mickey was prone to exaggerating his achievements both in business and with women, and would think nothing of waltzing off with a girl that Rodney liked. 

After appearing in 20 episodes of Only Fools And Horses, Murray went on to star in films the Curse of the Pink Panther and The Firm before turning his attention away from acting. 

A brief career as a professional poker player, a bricklayer and a job as a taxi driver also followed. 

After marrying his wife, Anong, 45, from Thailand, the couple faced heartache when they were separated due to visa restrictions for almost two years. 

Murray then worked as a chauffeur to earn enough money to bring his wife and their young daughter Josie, 11, to live in the UK.

He said at the time: 'I only saw my baby on the phone for two years, I was a Skype dad.' 

He revealed on Loose Women in 2018 that the family had successfully been reunited.

In January 2021, Murray announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer and had an operation to have a lung tumour in its early stages removed, followed by chemotherapy. He shared that he had received the all-clear the following year.

But in 2023 he confirmed that his lung cancer had returned.

The actor had said the previous year that the tumour in his liver was shrinking and his cancer appeared to be 'cured'.

He said at the time: 'I thought I had a painful groin strain a couple of months ago, unfortunately that turned out to be the cancer getting into my pelvis and leg bones. It has also entered my lymphatic system.' 

Murray died last September at the age of 68. 

Tessa Peake-Jones - Rachel 'Raquel' Turner 

It's a brave woman who would take on Del Boy Trotter, but Tessa Peake-Jones' character Rachel 'Raquel' Turner didn't shy away from the task, becoming a hugely popular star in the comedy.

The actress first appeared in the Dates Christmas special and despite only being written into one episode became a staple in the series, starred on the show from 1988 to 2003.

In 1985, the actress, now 69, married co-star Douglas Hodge, 66, who would later portray an adult version of her on-screen son Damien, and they spent 27 years together before separating in February 2013. They have two children, Mollie Rose and Charlie.

While she starred in a number of shows after Only Fools and Horses, it was her role in ITV series Grantchester as Mrs Sylvia Maguire, a belligerent housekeeper, that kept her firmly in the public eye.

The British drama follows an Anglican vicar and former Scots Guards officer who solve crime in the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester during the 1950s, with the devoutly religious Sylvia keeping a keen eye on goings-on in the village.

While Ms Peake-Jones has been vocal about her fondness for Only Fools and Horses, she disappointed fans after being asked whether she would consider a reunion episode on Channel 4's Steph's Packed Lunch in April 2021.

After being asked whether she and the other cast members would consider returning, she said: 'I think we all probably feel the same now if you asked any of us.

'I think we feel that time has now gone and because John Sullivan the wonderful writer who isn't here anymore, who was a genius at writing the scripts, I think probably wouldn't be the same.

'I wonder if it's best left where people remember it for what it was rather than seeing us sort of all elderly and perhaps not remembering our lines quite as well. It may be better to leave it.'

In April 2022, Ms Peake-Jones and Gwyneth Strong - who played Rodney's wife Cassandra - made a surprise appearance on Loose Women to discuss Only Fools

They revealed that they were originally only set to star in one episode of the show in 1988, but were so popular they remained a part of the cast until its end.

Peake-Jones, who lives in London, has also opened up about how her mother developed bipolar disorder while growing up. 

She revealed how her mother would spend long stretches of her childhood in psychiatric units, and continued to battle her demons until her death in 2014.

Speaking to the Daily Mail in April 2021, she said: 'The slight chaos, emotionally speaking, that must have caused me, and also seeing her fight this awful illness, taught me to make the most of every day because you never knew what was round the next corner.'

Gwyneth Strong - Cassandra Trotter  

Ms Strong, now 66, played Del Boy's younger brother Rodney's longstanding love interest and eventual wife, Cassandra.

Like Ms Peake-Jones, she was brought in by scriptwriter John Sullivan who wanted to write women into the show to balance out the abundance of male characters.

Ms Strong was reunited with Sir David when she appeared in a two-part episode of A Touch of Frost, and later took on roles in the West End and made an appearance in Midsomer Murders. 

She currently plays Ceri Mayland in Casualty and previously starred as pub landlady and darts fan Geraldine Clough in EastEnders.

Ms Strong is also a vocal campaigner on awareness of ovarian cancer after losing her mother to the disease.

She is patron of a charity Ovarian Cancer Action and said of her campaigning: 'Ovarian cancer kills more women than all the other gynaecological cancers together.

'It's not right, then, that it doesn't get the attention it deserves. More awareness will lead to better funding, and that means fewer lives lost.

'That's why I am so dedicated to my role as patron to the charity. I will do all I can to make more people aware and improve outcomes for women affected by the disease.'

Ms Strong, now a grandmother, is married to Footballer's Wives star Jesse Birdsall, and the couple, who live in East Sussex, are parents to Oscar and Lottie.

Benjamin Smith - Damien Trotter  

The role of Del Boy's son Damien was played by various child actors in the early years, but went to Benjamin Smith in 2001. 

One of the show's funniest moments came when Uncle Rodney was told of his new nephew's name - and he instantly associated Del Boy and Raquel's newborn son with Damien from 1976 horror movie, The Omen. 

The now 36-year-old has since gone on to win roles in Holby City and Doctor Who, and has appeared in both EastEnders and Skins. 

Smith played the main character in episode two of the BBC programme Accused, starred in the Channel 4 comedy-drama No Offence in 2015 and portrayed a soldier in the TV short Native. 

Most recently, he played Robbie Lennox, a British journalist sympathetic to Irish republicanism, in Netflix mini-series Resistance in 2019.

John Challis - Boycie  

John Challis, born in Bristol, worked as a trainee estate agent before becoming a professional actor.

Early roles included gangster drama Big Breadwinner Hog in 1969 and a recurring role on Z-Cars as Sergeant Culshaw between 1971 and 1975.

Yet it was his role as second hand car dealer Aubrey 'Boycie' Boyce in Only Fools and Horses that proved to be most memorable, and he later reprised the role in spin-off series called Green Green Grass that aired between 2005 and 2009.

Challis also got more mileage out of the popular character - publishing two autobiographies - Being Boycie, and Boycie and Beyond, and touring a one-man show, Only Fools and Boycie, in 2014.

He was also known for playing Monty Staines in ITV sitcom Benidorm.

However in April 2020, the star admitted in an interview with Norfolk magazine Iceni that work had dried up since his stint on Benidorm ended in 2018.

'As for television, my career came to an end with the end of Benidorm,' he said. 'Thankful as I am for what Boycie has brought me, I'm still an actor and actors want to show off their capabilities. I really thought my Benidorm character had legs, so that's a sadness.'

Challis died from cancer at the age of 79 in September 2021.

He had cancelled a 30-date speaking tour earlier that month after only one appearance due to ill health.

In the years before his death he became an honorary citizen of Serbia, where the BBC sitcom remains hugely popular.

Challis made the documentary Boycie In Belgrade, exploring why the show was so beloved in the Balkan country.

The film explored the legendary sitcom's cult following there, with murals across the city including a painting of Del Boy sipping drinks from the Nags Head.

In February 2020, Challis revealed the finale of Only Fools And Horses would have seen millionaire Del Boy celebrate his retirement in the Nag's Head.

Challis explained that the 'lost episode' was supposed to mark the show's 30th anniversary, but the sitcom's writer Sullivan died before he could finish the script.

Sullivan, who also wrote hit shows Citizen Smith and Just Good Friends, died at the age of 64 in April 2011 after a battle with viral pneumonia.

Challis married his fourth wife Carol Davies in 1995 in Brighton. He had no children and lived with his wife near Leintwardine, Herefordshire.

Carol had his famous quote 'I Am Here' inscribed onto his headstone as a tribute.

The phrase refers to the episode where Boycie, Del Boy, Rodney, Trigger and Uncle Albert held a séance in the Nag's Head.

When the woman conducting the séance told the group a spirit wished to speak to a person called Aubrey, Boycie popped up, and said 'I Am Here' revealing his unusual middle name to the group.

Sue Holderness - Marlene Boyce 

Sue Holderness played Boycie’s wife Marlene in Only Fools and Horses from 1985 to 2003, and then its spin-off The Green Green Grass from 2005 to 2009.

Boycie’s catchphrase ‘Marleeeeeeene’ was directed at her character, who was also known to be popular among the male characters and very flirtatious.

While Ms Holderness was best known for Only Fools and Horses, she also made appearances on stage in the West End and on TV shows such as Doctors, Still Open All Hours and EastEnders.

Last year, she launched a national appeal to warn the general public about online scams after she was targeted by fraudsters who conned her out of hundreds of pounds.

Ms Holderness, now 77, was tricked by scammers who hacked into her computer and convinced her to pay them to 'fix' her online security.

She now supports a campaign, Take Five To Stop Fraud, which provides advice to help people protect themselves from financial fraud.

Last summer, Ms Holderness was reunited with co-star Sir David Jason at an Only Fools And Horses convention in Milton Keynes.

The pair were seen posing for a photo, and she wrote: 'So lovely to be with Sir DJ again.'

Paul Barber - Denzil Tulser  

Paul Barber played Denzil in Only Fools and Horses, with audiences wincing as he would be repeatedly persuaded to join in on Del Boy's madcap schemes. 

Barber, now 75, carved out a successful acting career despite a horrific childhood in foster care in Liverpool. 

He was taken into care at the age of seven following his mother's death from tuberculosis, and said he was beaten by nuns before being sent into a foster home. 

There he claimed his foster parents would also beat and berate him, and he claimed he was forced to perform a sex act on a paedophile he encountered while out playing. 

Barber almost fell into a life of crime, breaking into a shop in Liverpool to snatch jewellery after leaving care, but he vowed to get his life on track after being caught and put on remand for two weeks.

It was then he heard about auditions for the musical Hair, going along to audition with a friend and managing to land a role.  

His biggest role came in 1997, when he was cast as Barrington 'Horse' Mitchell in The Full Monty, a film about unemployed Sheffield steel workers who stripped off to earn money. 

He reprised his role in a 2023 miniseries of the same name that followed the steelworker's lives three decade on.  

Barber's career continued with shows including Coronation Street, Casualty and Death in Paradise under his belt. In 2017, he starred alongside Ricky Tomlinson in the film Gloves Off. 

He now lives alone in Clacton, Essex, and believes his childhood trauma is why he never had a desire to marry and have children. 

Roger Lloyd-Pack - Trigger  

Roger Lloyd-Pack played one of the show's most likeable characters, road sweeper Colin 'Trigger' Ball, who famously always referred to Rodney as Dave.

He went on to appear in another much-loved British comedy, as Owen Newitt in The Vicar of Dibley, which aired in the Nineties and also returned for one-off specials right up until 2007.

Lloyd-Pack also starred as Barty Crouch Sr in the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, as well as in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Made in Dagenham.

His first marriage to Sheila Ball in 1967 led to the birth of their daughter Emily, who rose to prominence with a role in the film Wish You Were Here at the age of 16.

Lloyd-Pack then had three sons with his second wife, Ms Markham.

The actor died aged 69 in 2014 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. 

His final role was in Law & Order: UK. 

It later emerged that Lloyd-Pack never made a will for his £1.4million fortune, meaning his estate was shared between his widow, Jehane Markham, and his four children – actress Emily Lloyd and sons Spencer, Hartley and Louis.

Kenneth Macdonald - Mike Fisher  

Kenneth MacDonald was known for playing pub landlord Mike Fisher in Only Fools and Horses.

When he landed the part in 1983, it was initially believed to be a one-episode role, however, the character became a series regular, appearing until Christmas 1996.

MacDonald was the son of Scottish heavyweight wrestling champion Bill MacDonald, who died of kidney failure at the age of 43 when Kenneth was 13.

As well as Only Fools, MacDonald was known for playing Gunner Nobby Clark in It Ain't Half Hot Mum and he also appeared in the National Theatre's production of Guys and Dolls and My Night With Reg in the West End.

MacDonald filmed scenes as Stephen Pearce in the TV series The Last Detective, starring Peter Davison, but suffered a massive heart attack and died at just 50 in 2001 while on holiday in Hawaii, before the show aired.

His role in Only Fools and Horses was referenced in the show's revival that year, in which they said the pub landlord had been imprisoned for embezzling the brewery.

MacDonald previously said: 'I'm a very, very lucky man. I've been blessed with the good fortune to have been in two great sitcoms.'

He was married to his wife Sheila, with whom he had a son and daughter.

Lennard Pearce - Grandad  

Lennard Pearce worked mostly in theatre, but will always be remembered for his role as Grandad in Only Fools and Horses.

He starred in the series from 1981 up until his death in 1984, at the age of 69.

Pearce had been in the middle of filming an episode with Sir David and Lyndhurst, but days later he was found by his landlady at the foot of the stairs to his flat after suffering a heart attack and was taken to Whittington Hospital in Highgate, north London.

Pearce, who had suffered problems with his balance and critical hypertension, then suffered a second heart attack three days later and died on December 15 that year.

They had been filming the episode Hole In One, which saw Grandad fall into a pub's beer cellar, before Del and Rodney try to claim compensation against the brewery.

The episode was eventually reshot with Buster Merryfield, who joined the cast as Uncle Albert after Pearce's death, and broadcast in series four in March 1985.

Sir David wrote about filming the episode in the last few days of Pearce's life in his 2017 biography Only Fools and Stories.

He said they were filming for a 'daft series four story in which Grandad takes a tumble into a pub's beer cellar and Del and Rodney then join him in pursuing a hefty compensation claim against the brewery, only to discover, when their case is heard, that this is not the first time that Grandad has tried this ruse'.

Sir David also recalled being told about the news of Pearce's death while in make-up with Lyndhurst on a Sunday morning. He said the show's director Ray Butt stood in the doorway, adding: 'He didn't say anything. He just shook his head and walked away.'

He added that he thought the show was over following Pearce's death, but a meeting was called – led by then BBC comedy chief Gareth Gwenlan – about what to do next.

But the BBC said its transmission dates had been locked into the schedules, and they needed to come up with ideas of how to keep the hugely popular show alive.

One idea that was initially floated was to bring in a lookalike to play Grandad, but this was crushed by Sir David and Sullivan over fears it would be an 'insult' to Pearce.

However, Sullivan suggested the show could go on if they wrote Grandad's death into the show, gave him a proper funeral scene and marked the exit of his character.

Buster Merryfield - Uncle Albert  

Harry 'Buster' Merryfield was best known for his role as Uncle Albert in the hit BBC programme but was a bank manager before he became an actor.

He starred in Only Fools and Horses from 1985 after his character was written in to the show following Pearce's death in 1984.

Merryfield's character had the catchphrase 'during the war' when he would refer to his exploits in the Royal Navy.

In real life, he was in fact an army officer in Africa during the Second World War.

Speaking about auditioning for the role, Merryfield previously said: 'All they wanted to know was whether I could put on a Cockney accent. As a Battersea boy, I told them, I would have no problem.'

He also fluffed his entrance lines on his debut in front of a studio audience, but Sir David rescued him by deliberately doing the same and joking to the crowd: 'What are you lot sniggering at? You got in for nothing, didn't you?'

Merryfield – who grew up in Battersea, south-west London – died aged 78 in 1999 after being admitted to hospital with a brain tumour. 

He and his wife Iris were married for 57 years and had one daughter