Paul Barber, born Patrick Barber, (18 March 1951), is a British actor best known for playing Denzil Tulser in Only Fools and Horses.
He was taken into care during his childhood after the death of his mother and was physically and mentally abused. Luckily for Barber, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, as he channeled those emotions into his acting. His stage debut came in a production of Hair. In 1974, he starred in an episode of ITV Playhouse as "Lucky" Ubootu, and then in 1975 did the same for an episode of Play for Today as gang leader Malleson, which he continued when it became the series Gangsters.
The same year Gangsters began, Barber played Louis St John in a few episodes of I Didn't Know You Cared from 1976 to 1978. In 1983, Barber joined the cast of Only Fools and Horses as unlucky everyman Denzil Tulser, quickly becoming a series regular, racking up 18 appearances by the final Christmas Episode in 2003. In 1985, he and Philip Whitchurch starred in the Coronation Street Spin-Off, The Brothers McGregor as Wesley and Cyril McGregor, respectively.
In 1991, was once more starring in an episode of an Anthology series, playing Earl Preston in Screen One. Barber's biggest film role came as Horse in The Full Monty, one of many steelworkers turned male strippers, and returned to the role for The Full Monty (2023). Barber also had five guest roles in CASUAL+Y, before returning for a six-episode run as Ernest Maxwell across 2018 and 2019.
Works on TV Tropes he appeared in:
Films- The Long Good Friday (1980) — Erroll
- Priest (1994) — Charlie
- The Full Monty (1997) — Barrington "Horse" Mitchell
- The 51st State (2001) — Frederick
- Going Postal (2010) — Dave Pins
- Play for Today, episode "Gangsters" (1975) — Malleson
- Z Cars, episode "Eviction" (1975) — Gambler
- Return of the Saint, episode "The Obono Affair" (1979) — Winston (Uncredited Role)
- To the Manor Born, episode "The Summer Hunt Ball" (1979) — Mackenzie McLeod
- Minder, episode "Don't Tell Them Willie Boy Was Here" (1980) — Willie Reynolds
- Boys from the Blackstuff, episode "Moonlighter" (1982) — Scotty
- Only Fools and Horses, 18 episodes (1983-2003) — Denzil Tulser
- ScreenPlay, episode "Needle" (1990) — Drugs Councillor
- CASUAL+Y, 11 episodes:
- "Joy Ride" (1991) — Cliff Sidwell
- "Riders on the Storm" (1993) — Mungo
- "Loco Parentis" (1998) — Carl Myers
- "The Evil That Men Do" (2008) — Taylor Blair
- "Partners" (2011) — William Paynter
- 6 episodes (2018-19) — Ernest Maxwell
- Screen One, episode "Alive and Kicking" (1991) — Earl Preston
- The Bill, 2 episodes:
- "Blood Counts" (1993) — Ade Fellowes
- "A Bird in the Hand" (1995) — Ted
- Cracker, 1 episode of 2-episode story "Best Boys" (1995) — Ian McVerry
- The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling, 1 episode (1997) — Adderley
- Taggart, episode "Football Crazy" (2000) — Jimmy McEvoy
- Holby City, episode "Gamblers" (2002) — Sean Meacher
- Doctors, 2 episodes:
- "Keeping the Peace" (2003) — Gary Alan
- "Rough Injustice" (2018) — Ned Heath
- Coronation Street, 3 episodes:
- 1 episode (2004) — Billy Arrowsmith
- 2 episodes (2008) — Nelson
- The Green Green Grass, episode "Keep on Running" (2005) — Denzil Tulser
- Dalziel and Pascoe, 2-episode story "Houdini's Ghost" (2006) — Clive Griffin
- The Street, episode "Stan" (2006) — Patient
- Sinbad, episode "Pilot" (2012) — Captain
- The Slammer, episode "The Balloonatic" (2013) — The Balloonatic
- Death in Paradise, episode "The Early Bird" (2014) — Captain Jack Parrot
- The Dumping Ground, 2 episodesshow list (2017) — George
- The Full Monty, 8 episodesshow list (2023) — Barrington "Horse" Mitchell
