Not Just George

A Long and Varied Career John Lyons started his acting career as a founder member of the ‘East 15 Acting School’ in 1961. Upon leaving he went into the Professional company of the school ‘Theatre Workshop’ which at the time was under the direction of Joan Littlewood. In the intervening 50 years John’s career has been both long and varied, covering both West End musicals and straight plays, including three separate years in ‘The Mousetrap’ and tours both in England and The Continent with the Musical " Oh! What a Lovely War" But his career went beyond the stage. His TV appearances are numerous (over 500) ranging from ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ Play for Today’ ‘The Sweeney’ to ‘On the Buses’ ‘George & Mildred’ and ‘The 19th Hole with Eric Sykes. John Lyons is of course best known for playing Sir David Jason’s long suffering sidekick D.S. George Toolan in ‘A Touch of Frost’ which ran for a very successful 17 ½ years and currently being repeated daily on ITV3. Panto has played a very big and fun time in John’s life, starting in 1997 with productions of Dick Whittington and Aladdin with the Comedian Jim Davidson, playing Bristol. Palace Theatre Manchester, Mayflower Southampton etc, over a period of ten years. And John is still working. John is in great demand on the after dinner speaking circuit, personal appearances at ‘On the Buses’ reunions and numerous P & O Cruises talking about ‘An actor's life - the beginning and conclusion’ – ‘The Touch of Frost Years’ (his 17 years in a Touch of Frost with clips, outtakes, clips of pranks played on him). This is the story of John Lyons, Not Just George. You'll laugh, we promise, you might cry, and you'll get a look at the life of one of the most prolific actors of our time.