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Michael Bilton (14 December 1919 – 5 November 1993) was an English actor renowned for his roles in British television sitcoms such as To the Manor Born, where he played Ned, the gardener and occasional butler, and Waiting for God, portraying Basil, a womanizing septuagenarian.
He was educated at Hymers College in Hull. During World War II, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and was wounded at the Battle of El Alamein. Following his recovery, he began his acting career in repertory theatre.
Bilton had a strong comedic talent and appeared in shows including Keeping Up Appearances, One Foot in the Grave, and Grace and Favour (1992). His credits also include Pennies From Heaven, The Saint, The Avengers, The Prisoner, Quatermass II, and The Champions. Additionally, he featured as a hotel doorman in Terry and June. In Doctor Who, he appeared in the stories The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, Pyramids of Mars, and The Deadly Assassin. He portrayed the butler Stevens in "The Adventure of Shoscombe Olde Place," an episode of The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, which also featured Jude Law as an aspiring jockey. His film roles included A Taste of Honey (1961), The Thirty Nine Steps (1978), and The Fourth Protocol (1987), in which he played Kim Philby.
Bilton’s most notable television successes were as the woman-chasing Basil in the sitcom Waiting for God, set in a retirement home, and as the gardener in a Yellow Pages commercial, where he worked with a battered lawn mower before being informed by his employers of its replacement just as he thought he was about to retire.
He passed away on 5 November 1993 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, at the age of 73.
