Deryck Guyler (29 April 1914 – 7 October 1999) was an English actor, best known for his portrayal of officious, short-tempered middle-aged men in sitcoms such as Please Sir! and Sykes.

Biography

In 1941 Guyler married Paddy Lennox from the three-sister variety harmony act the Lennox Sisters, and they had two sons, Peter and Christopher.

Guyler's passion was collecting jazz records and as of 1986, he had about 1,600 78rpm records, collecting records up to about the year 1947. He was also a virtuoso on the "wash board" (both facts courtesy of It's A Funny Business interview). He was also a well known wargamer, and was a founding member of the Society of Ancients, a group of wargamers specialising in the classical era. Very active in the society in its early years, being elected its first president in 1966, Guyler was later made an honorary life president of the society.

A long-time resident of Norbury, South London, he retired to Ashgrove, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in 1993, to be near his younger son Chris, daughter-in-law Judy and his grandchildren.

He died on 7 October 1999 and his funeral service was held at St. Mark's Catholic Church, Inala, Queensland, on 13 October. In 1995 Danny Baker and the BBC had made a 10-minute tribute to Guyler, which was used as a part of the eulogy delivered by his son Chris. Guyler was cremated at Mount Gravatt Cemetery and his ashes were placed at Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens in the Brisbane suburb of Holland Park in a family "garden seat" estate.

His wife Paddy died on 6 January 2002 and is buried with her husband.