Despite announcing his retirement from acting just two months ago, screen legend Larry Lamb has insisted that he will not be ‘slowing down’.
Larry kick-started his acting career by bagging roles in various films, such as Superman (1978).
The 77-year-old actor has since become a British national treasure thanks to the characters he’s played over the years, most famously EastEnders’ evil Archie Mitchell and beloved dad Mick Shipman in Gavin and Stacey.
In July this year, he shared the sad update that he would be stepping out of the spotlight, declaring that he’d had a ‘very fortunate career’.
However, he’s now clarified that retirement might mean something different to him than it does to most.
In fact, he reckons it would be ‘terrible’ if he were to stop working completely.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Larry began: ‘I don’t want to just sit there and vegetate.
‘You know, I’m a working-class bloke who feels that if he’s not busy doing something, then I don’t really have any value, and that’s unfortunately why a lot of working-class guys, ladies as well, they just give up.’
Larry proceeded to agree with his 45-year-old son, George, that he’d ‘drive everybody completely round the bend’, as well as himself, should he have nothing to fill his time.
‘I’d always be looking for something to do,’ said Larry.
Larry, who started acting in his late twenties, admits he had to work extra hard to get his foot in the industry to begin with, recalling being asked by an older actor as a young man, ‘What do you want to do when you retire?’
‘And the guy said, “Well, if you don’t retire when you’re an actor, you just suddenly realise that the phone doesn’t ring anymore. That’s it. You are retired. You just wait until nobody wants you anymore and you get depressed”.’
Larry is determined to flip the script on retirement, though, stating: ‘So, no slowing down, just keep going and sending everybody potty.’
In his original comments about retiring, Larry, who reprised the role of Mick one last time for 2024’s Gavin and Stacey finale, said the father figure was the ‘closest’ to his heart.
It also marked his final television appearance as an actor, with a whopping 18.49million total viewers tuning in as the cherished cast bowed out and Nessa (Ruth Jones) and Smithy (James Corden) finally got their happy ending.
‘I’ve done so much that I am really proud of that maybe not so many people know,’ Larry continued.
‘If you have been through a life in entertainment and people don’t all know you, to suddenly where pretty much everybody knows you as a character… I find it’s a reward; it’s better to be known than unknown, as far as I’m concerned.
‘Particularly if you are known as a character that people really love… what a way to finish your working life.’
Now, the TV icon is focusing on his writing, having released his debut fiction novel, All Wrapped Up, in spring and preparing for his first poetry gig later this month.
And he’s hoping to spend more time with a pen in his hand in the near future, his work inspired by him ‘reflecting on old age and the past’.
Outside of work, though, Larry’s main priority is his family, as less acting means more memories to make with his children.
As well as TV presenter George, who has also retreated from the small screen to focus on his farming business, Larry is a proud dad to daughters Vanessa, 56, Eloise, 26, and Eva, 22.
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