Biography
Varney was born in Canning Town, which was then part of Essex but is now within the London Borough of Newham. His father worked in a rubber factory in Silvertown, and Varney was one of five children raised on Addington Road, Canning Town. He attended Star Lane Primary School in nearby West Ham. Leaving school at 14, he worked as a messenger boy and later as a page boy at the Regent Palace Hotel. Having taken piano lessons as a child, he was skilled enough to secure part-time work as a pianist. His first paid engagement was at the Plumstead Radical Club in Woolwich, earning eight shillings and sixpence (42½p). He also performed in working men's clubs, pubs, ABC cinemas, and later sang with popular big bands of the era. He and his mother agreed that a career in show business suited him, leading him to leave his day jobs behind.
During World War II, Varney joined the Royal Engineers but continued performing as an army entertainer, touring the Far East. After demobilisation in the late 1940s, he starred in a comic revue called Gaytime, partnering with Benny Hill in a double act. He then became a versatile entertainer, working across music halls.
Career
Varney gained widespread recognition playing a foreman in the television sitcom The Rag Trade (1961–63). Aware that he was the only cast member without West End acting experience, he worked diligently to compensate. He later starred in the BBC TV show The Valiant Varneys (1964–65), portraying various characters before a live audience. He also appeared in the comedy series Beggar My Neighbour (1966–68), alongside Pat Coombs, June Whitfield, and Peter Jones; Coombs played the wife of his character. Varney featured in The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery (1966) with Frankie Howerd, Dora Bryan, and George Cole.
His most notable lead role was as Stan Butler, a bus driver with little romantic success, in the sitcom On the Buses (1969–73). Varney prepared extensively for the role, even taking bus-driving lessons and passing a public service vehicle licence test to authentically film driving scenes. The series spawned three spin-off films: On the Buses (1971), Mutiny on the Buses (1972), and Holiday on the Buses (1973). Although Varney was 52 when the first series aired, his character, who lived with his mother and often pursued young women, was meant to be around 35. Notably, Doris Hare, who played his mother, was only eleven years his senior.
Later, Varney worked as a cruise ship entertainer and toured Australia with his one-man show. Reflecting on his career, he said, "Whatever I did after On the Buses, nobody wanted to know about it. But I can't knock the programme because it brought me offers to do concert tours in Australia, New Zealand and Canada."
The world's first voucher-based cash dispensing machine was installed at Barclays Bank's Enfield Town branch. At the time, Varney lived in Enfield and was photographed for publicity making the first withdrawal from the machine on Tuesday, 27 June 1967.
