Oxo advert star Michael Redfern dies aged 79 in Spain

Michael Redfern – who iconically starred in the Oxo adverts – has died aged 79.

His son Ashley confirmed the sad news on Friday as he paid tribute to the ‘much-loved figure’ who was part of one of ‘Britain’s favourite television families’.   

Actor Michael, who appeared alongside his on-screen wife Lynda Bellingham in the adverts, passed away last Friday at his home in Spain following an illness.  

Ashley, told the Mirror: ‘Over the years, he was cast in a variety of roles including leading parts in the soap opera United!, The Newcomers as well as roles in classics such as The Two Ronnies, Porridge and Some Mothers Do Av ‘Em.

‘He of course was best known for his role in the Oxo commercials, which he did for 17 years and became a much loved figure in one of Britain’s favourite television families.

‘He will be greatly missed by his wife Carol and his family.’for 16 years between 1983 and 1999.

Michael was best known for his role at the Oxo dad on the advert which aired for 16 years between 1983 and 1999 where he starred alongside Lynda as Oxo mum.

Lynda died aged 66 in husband Michael Pattemore’s arms in a London hospital in 2014 after a year-long battle with colon cancer, which had spread to her lungs and liver. 

Just before her death the Loose Women star had revealed plans to end her chemotherapy but hoped to spend one last Christmas with her family. 

In a statement on behalf of Bellingham’s family, her agent, Sue Latimer, said: ‘Lynda died peacefully in her husband’s arms yesterday at a London hospital.

‘Her family would like to thank the nurses and staff for their tremendous care and support. Actor, writer and presenter – to the end Lynda was a consummate professional.’ 

Michael previously said of working with Lynda: ‘I was a face but she was a name and a very good actress.’ 

He kept a low profile after the ads came to an end in 1999 and left the UK with his wife Carol.

The star previously told the Dorset Echo of his life after the Oxo ads: ‘The other work dried up over those years because I was so high-profile. 

‘But it was fabulous, they were really nice people. Linda was smashing – it was a very happy job.’

As well as the iconic adverts Michael also starred in The Young Detectives, Crossroads, The Offence, And Mother Makes Five, George & Mildred, Robin’s Nest, The Young Ones, Filthy, Rich and Catflap, Boon and Fool’s Gold: The Story of the Brink’s-Mat Robbery.

He also had roles in comedies such as Man About the House with Richard O’Sullivan, Bless This House with Sid James and Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em with Michael Crawford. 

He was also in one episode of EastEnders and Doctors, while also making an appearance in the 1982 Porridge and The Two Ronnies Christmas Special. 

The first Oxo family appeared on screen in 1958 in the form of Katie – played by Mary Holland – a devoted wife committed to caring for her husband Philip, played by Richard Clarke.

Katie and her catchphrase that Oxo ‘gives each meal man-appeal’ proved so popular that housewives across Britain began writing to her for advice.

She appeared for 18 years before she was phased out in the 1970s to be replaced by Minder star Dennis Waterman.

The Oxo family was then launched in 1983 – prompting a 10 per cent rise in sales as Britain warmed to the squabbling, bickering family.

The award-winning campaign was hailed as ground-breaking because it showed a working mother juggling a job with taking care of her warts-and-all family, rather than an idealised ‘domestic goddess’.

It ran for 16 years, spanning 42 ‘episodes’, before it was axed with a final instalment, showing the family packing up their belongings as they prepared to move house.

Oxo tried a new, ‘modern’ family in 2001 featuring a script from Four Weddings and a Funeral writer Richard Curtis.

And in 2009 the brand was revamped again when it launched ‘The Oxo Factor’. 

Real-life families filmed their own dinners and the winning film was shown during The X Factor final on ITV1.

Director of grocery brands at Premier Foods, Mark Tyldesley, said: ‘Because the OXO TV family were so well-loved, we wanted to bring back a piece of the brand’s iconic heritage but at the same time update it to reflect family life today.

‘We recognise that the ‘traditional’ roles within the typical British family have changed and that children are just as likely to turn to their dad for advice in the kitchen – or life in general, as they are their mum, which why we’ve decided to return to the popular OXO family but with the twist that this time, ‘dad’s in charge’.‘