Nicholas Smith

Nicholas John Smith (5 March 1934 – 6 December 2015) was an English comedian and actor. He appeared in the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served?, playing original character Mr (Cuthbert) Rumbold, the manager of the fictional Grace Brothers department store. Early life Smith, the son of a chartered surveyor, attended a preparatory school and St John's School, Leatherhead. He learned to play musical instruments, studied singing and trained as an actor at RADA. He then appeared in repertory theatres, on the West End stage, at the Bristol Old Vic and on Broadway. Roles Smith's earliest TV roles were as a non-speaking extra in various ITV programmes. He had his first speaking role in the BBC's Doctor Who serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964). Smith persuaded the serial's director, Richard Martin, to expand the role so that his character, Wells, appeared in three of the serial's six episodes instead of only one or two as originally scripted. This was followed by small roles in many other adventure series, such as The Saint, The Avengers, The Champions and Ace of Wands. In 1969 he appeared in the television period drama The First Churchills as the historical figure of Titus Oates. Are You Being Served? Are You Being Served? began with a pilot episode in 1972, with Smith playing Mr Cuthbert "Jug Ears" Rumbold, the manager of the menswear and ladieswear departments in a large fictional London store called Grace Brothers.