David Jason's life – real age, unknown daughter and Nicholas Lyndhurst 'fallout'

30 January 2024 , 18:00

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David Jason's life – real age, unknown daughter and Nicholas Lyndhurst 'fallout'

Sir David Jason's off-screen life is hardly on the scale of his chaotic character Del Boy, but there's been one part in particular that producers may have argued could have been too far-fetched for Only Fools And Horses.

As the TV icon provided a fresh update on his health this weekend, fans are hoping he makes a quick recovery after the 83-year-old confirmed he is undergoing surgery. It's not his only struggle in recent years but, Sir David was his usually light-hearted self in a statement announcing the health news.

During his incredibly successful career, the British legend has chosen to keep his family largely out of the spotlight, but there are few occasions when he's opened up about his nearest and dearest. That includes when he discovered a now middle-aged daughter he never knew he had.

Here, Mirror Online take a close look at the life of a comedy icon loved by millions as fans all over the world wish him a speedy recovery following his operation. We just know he'll be Cushty within a few weeks!

Health battles

Sir David left his millions of fans concerned this weekend (Getty Images)

The TV great pulled out of an Only Fools and Horses convention (SWNS)

When Sir David Jason had to postpone an Only Fools And Horses convention over the weekend, it naturally left fans concerned. He announced he had to undergo surgery to have "a new bionic body part fitted" but didn't specify what surgery he was having.

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He released a statement on Sunday saying: "I am so very sorry for the disappointment and all the inconvenience it may cause but we are having to change the date of the forthcoming Only Fools and Horses Convention. Unfortunately I have just been advised I need a new bionic body part fitted. I won’t tell you which part it is, or you will all want one! And don’t worry it’s not being supplied by Monkey Harris, it’ll be the pukka gear."

Back in July, last year, the actor endured a "seriously bad" battle with Covid and recalled his traumatic experience with the deadly coronavirus. Getting up in the middle of the night to use the toilet, Sir John "collapsed" as his "muscles weren't working".

"I crawled to the bed... I used the bed to try and stand up so that I could go to where I wanted to get, and also get back into bed, and I couldn't," he told BBC Breakfast. "I tried for about a quarter of an hour, trying all sorts of things to stand up so I could walk about."

Co-stars 'no longer speak'

Nicholas Lyndhurst and David don't talk as much as they once did (Getty Images)

Last year when Sir David Jason said he and Nicholas Lyndhurst no longer really talk, every TV fan was thinking the same thing: say it ain't so! The actors of course played market trader brothers Del and Rodney in the classic comedy sitcom, which began in 1981. The hugely successful series ran on the BBC for more than 20 years. Life-long friendships made? Well, it seems not.

After filming their final scenes as the Trotters for a one-off charity special in 2014, the pair have lost contact and no longer speak. Sir David Jason has spoken about their friendship but also revealed the pair have lost touch in recent years. The 82-year-old actor said: "He's much more, how can I say, self-contained, perhaps, than he used to be.

"So, unfortunately, we don't see each other as much as I'd like to. But that's how things work out sometimes," he added. It's believed that Nicholas has also stayed out of the limelight after his 20-year-old son Archie died suddenly in 2020. Archie tragically died from a brain haemorrhage caused by acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Cancer heartache

Before Sir David married Gill Hinchcliffe back in 2005, he was in a relationship with his girlfriend Myfanwy Talog for more than 18 years. She was to be taken from him far too soon.

The couple began dating in 1977 and stayed together while he nursed her through breast cancer. Tragically, she lost her life to the disease and passed away in 1995, inspiring David to set up his own charity in her honour, The David Jason Trust for terminally ill children.

Becoming a father at 61

Sir David became a dad late in life but he says he's loved every minute of fatherhood (SWNS)

Sir David met his current wife when he was acting in a popular ITV drama, A Touch of Frost, where Gill was working as a production assistant. Over two decades ago, the couple decided to start a family, when he turned 61 and she was aged 40.

He wrote in his ­autobiography: "We were older than people conventionally are when they think about these things. The idea scared us a lot. We batted it back and forth." But "fate answered" and they welcomed their daughter Sophie Mae into the world in 2001, despite Sir David thinking his chance had "swept by" due to his workload.

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At the time, David thought Sophie was his first child – but later went on to discover that he had an unknown elder daughter.

Discovering unknown daughter

Sir David discovered he had a newly-found daughter Abi Harris after five decades

Sir David vowed to make up for lost time after discovering he has a 52-year-old daughter and grandchild he knew nothing about. It was his newly-found child Abi Harris who started to suspect the pair were related, after conversations with her actor mum Jennifer Hill.

Sir David and Jennifer's brief relationship began at the start of 1970, when they both starred in Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood at London's May Fair theatre. The pair stayed in touch through a shared circle of friends and Abi was born in October that year. She and Sir David crossed paths several times, but he had no idea they were related. They happened to be standing beside one another at an event when she spotted they had similar side profiles, then became convinced he was her father.

She felt reluctant to broach such a sensitive subject for many years afterwards but finally decided to bravely write Sir David a letter to ask if he would take a paternity test. A source told the Mirror: "It's a lovely letter, which David has kept. It was light-hearted but serious, without being overwhelming. It was obvious whoever had written it was a nice person who just wanted to find out her heritage."

The 83-year-old agreed to take the DNA test but it still came as a complete surprise to everyone when it showed he was Abi's biological dad. Sir David said: "My wife, Gill, and daughter, Sophie, have been very supportive and understanding and have embraced Abi and welcomed her and her young son into her now wider family."

Sam Elliott-Gibbs