Records (BUY 12), backed with "Dream Tobacco" and given away with the album Hits Greatest Stiffs. Wall also appeared onstage with Dury at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1978, but was poorly received, and said "They only want the walk". In 1981, Wall played "Ernie", a central character in the Minder TV series episode "The Birdman of Wormwood Scrubs". Between 1982 and 1984 he appeared as Tombs in the BBC Two adaptation of Jane based on the Daily Mirror comic-strip character and filmed with similar "comic-strip frames". In the second series his place in the castlist was upgraded to second, after Glynis Barber. He also appeared in Thames Televisions 1978 12 part series, Born and Bred, as retired music hall legend Tommy Tonsley, trying with various degrees of success, to keep his huge south London family in line. Unfortunately, this little gem is largely forgotten and there are no plans to release a DVD or re-show on TV. His last film appearance was in 1989 in the 12-minute film A Fear of Silence, a dark tale of a man who drives a stranger to a confession of murder by answering only "yes" or "no" to his questions; those two words, repeated, were his only dialogue. The film won a gold award in the New York Film and TV Festival. Death On the afternoon of 20 May 1990 Wall fell at Simpson's-in-the-Strand in central London, fracturing his skull. He was conveyed by ambulance to Westminster Hospital in an unconscious state, but never regained consciousness, and died there early in the next morning, at the age of 82. His body was buried at Highgate Cemetery. Wall had four sons, Michael, Melvyn, Martin and Meredith, and a daughter, Maxine. Legacy There is a Max Wall Society, which aims to perpetuate his memory. In 2006 the Society placed an unofficial blue plaque on Wall's birthplace in South London. Filmography References External links New York Times Obituary Max Wall's grandfather Will Mitcham and family 1908 births 1990 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Accidental deaths in London Accidental deaths from falls English male film actors English male comedians English people of Scottish descent English male soap opera actors English male stage actors Music hall performers People from Brixton 20th-century English male actors 20th-century English comedians British male comedy actors Royal Air Force personnel of World War II