Born in
Glascote, Tamworth,
Staffordshire, and then was brought up in the
Lancashire town of
Bolton. After boarding at
St Bees School, Cumberland, he trained at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art,
London, winning the 1954 Bancroft Gold Medal, graduating in 1955 with an Acting (RADA Diploma). In 1958, he married character actress Anne Jameson; together they had two children. She died in 1999, three years before he did. He then moved to
Nottingham Playhouse, where he appeared in the
Willis Hall drama ''Boys It's All Hell''. Later that year, in October, Pringle appeared opposite Robert Shaw again in
Guy Hamilton's production of the
Beverley Cross play
One More River at the
Duke of York's Theatre. Then, having joined the
Royal Shakespeare Company, he scored two personal successes in the summer of 1964, first as Stanley in
Harold Pinter's
The Birthday Party (directed by the playwright), then as the dustbin-bound Nagg in the
Samuel Beckett play
Endgame. Among later theatre credits, he starred with
Jane Asher and
Brian Murphy in the
Romain Weingarten play
Summer at the
Fortune Theatre in 1968, appeared as Malvolio in
Twelfth Night at the Bankside Globe in 1973 (reprising the role at the
Ludlow Festival 15 years later), was
Michael Crawford's father in
Billy at the
Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 1974, returned to Nottingham Playhouse in 1977 to play Dogberry in
Much Ado About Nothing and appeared opposite
David Suchet in the
John Hopkins play
This Story of Yours (Hampstead Theatre, 1987). In his final decade he appeared in major revivals of
My Fair Lady (as Doolittle; 1992) and
Joe Orton's
Entertaining Mr Sloane (as Kemp; 1999–2001).
Film work Pringle appeared in many films, beginning with
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)
Television work Pringle also made numerous television appearances, gaining fame as 'Cheese & Egg' in the
Granada Television sitcom
The Dustbinmen (1969–70). Other notable appearances were as landlord Arthur Pringle in Series 2 of
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1986), In the early 1980s he also appeared in a series of International Direct Dialling adverts. In the first advert he had the classic line "Sydney who?" only to be told "Not Sydney who, Sydney Australia", at which point the shock causes him to forcefully spit out a mouthful of tea he has just taken. The theme continued in further adverts. ==Death==