legend Lennard Pearce once met – and shook his hand.
The comedy star, who played Granddad alongside Nicholas Lyndhurst and David Jason, was touring Europe in the 1930s when he reportedly met the Nazi party leader.
His co-star Nicholas Lyndhurst revealed: “He was a young actor touring Europe and they were playing some German city and the Nazis walked in. The top honchos of the Nazi party had seen the play and came to congratulate them afterwards.
“Lennard shook hands with Adolf Hitler. He only ever told me once, but he said, ‘Had I known then what I know now, I would have drawn the pistol from one of the bodyguards and I’d have done my best to kill him.’”
During , Lennard went on to perform for the Entertainments National Service Association, established in 1939 to boost morale for British troops.
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Only Fools and Horses star Lennard Pearce once met (Image: Getty)
It operated as part of the Navy, Army and Air Force.
Only Fools biographer Steve Clark, who wrote the Official Inside Story book about the show, said: “We’re used to hearing Uncle Albert’s stories about his rather dubious wartime service in the navy, but it’s incredible that Lennard Pearce actually met Hitler during his rise to power and could have put a stop to him before he was able to do so much evil.”
The comedy star supported the troops in WW2 (Image: Getty)
Lennard sadly died in 1984 aged 69, during production of series four of the sitcom. He had been diagnosed with critical hypertension in 1980 and had smoked for many years.
A heart attack in December 1984 saw him rushed to hospital. He recovered, but shortly after being discharged suffered another heart attack which killed him instantly in his flat.