Only Fools and Horses

Only Fools and Horses star Sir David Jason’s unlikely day job before he became a famous actor

Imagine a world where David Jason didn’t give us comedy fans Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter in Only Fools and Horses, it would be pretty dull, eh?!

The 81-year-old has graced our television screens for decades bringing viewers unforgettable laughs and drama throughout his acting career on shows including Still Open All Hours, The Darling Buds of May, A Touch of Frost, Porridge and so many more great shows.

His humour spans generations.

Sir David Jason is a British television icon, but it hasn’t always been glitz and glamour for the actor.

Let’s rewind the clock to 1960 when David Jason was known as David White and was fresh out of college.

According to his autobiography Del of a Life: The Lessons I’ve Learned, David had completed an apprenticeship with the Electricity Board at Enfield Technical College before being let out into the real world.

Thanks to his love of acting out dramas during class and pranking other students, he left the college without being allocated a job.

So along with his pal Bob Bevil, he launched his own electrical business known as BW Installations & Co during the ‘golden period for intercom fitters’.

But even as a young entrepreneur shooting his shot as an electrician, David had huge dreams.

He explains: “So picture us, if you will, driving Hyde Park Corner in London, on our way perhaps, to a flat in Victoria, and heading down Grosvenor Place, with Buckingham Palace on the left.

“Now, imagine that, at this exact moment, as the high wall bordering the immense gardens of the Royal Family’s main London residence passes by the Standard’s side window, I am granted by some mysterious force a vision of the future.

“The vision dances briefly but gloriously in my mind and then, its message from tomorrow imparted, fades as quickly as it came.

“At which point, I turn to my fellow electrician and gesturing to the tall garden wall on our left, say: ‘You know what Bob, I’ll be driving in there one day, on my the way to collect my knighthood.”

This vision became a reality as on December 1, 2005, David received his knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for services to acting and comedy.

It would seem being an electrician was not meant to be as David started his television career in 1964 playing the part of Bert Bradshaw in Crossroads.

A career choice fans will be forever thankful for.

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