Whether he was playing seedy landlord Rupert Rigsby in Rising Damp or frustrated suburban dreamer Reggie Perrin, Leonard Rossiter gave us performances so iconic, so utterly memorable, that they achieve timelessness. Like Peter Sellers or Ronnie Barker, his characters are more real in our national consciousness than the actor who played them, who to this day remains a mystery. There has never been a biography or autobiography, and the fragments we hear about him, e.g. his rumoured ruthlessness and disdain for other actors, are partial and don't offer any real insight into his undoubtedly complex character. This book will redress the balance, offering for the first time an in-depth account of Rossiter's life and work. Through interviews with his daughter, Camilla; widow, Gillian Raines; lover Sue MacGregor and friends and colleagues from Don Warrington to Geoffrey Palmer it will bring to life the man behind the threadbare cardigan and manic grimace and reveal why he was able to produce such epoch-defining performances.

As well as examining the great TV roles for which he became famous, the book also explores Rossiter's lesser-known work in theatre and his parts in classic films such as Lionel Bart's Oliver!, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and Lindsay Anderson's Britannia Hospital. We'll also learn what went on behind the scenes in the famous series of Cinzano adverts he made with Joan Collins in the mid 1970s. Exhaustive, affectionate, honest and long overdue, Character Driven will finally give a personality to the man behind some of the greatest comic performances of the twentieth century.

First published: Monday 25th October 2010