Leonard Rossiter film. His last television role was as the supermarket manager in another ITV sitcom, "Tripper's Day" (1984). He continued to make a steady stream of film appearances, including a role in Lindsay Anderson's "Britannia Hospital" (1982). Rossiter also played the title role in the "BBC Television Shakespeare" production of "The Life and Death of King John" (1984). His last film appearance was in "Water" (1985). Rossiter displayed his acid wit in two books: "The Devil's Bedside Book" (1980), a collection of cynical dictionary definitions in the style of Ambrose Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary", and "The Lowest Form of Wit" (1981),
British sitcom world's longest running sitcom. The commercial station ITV had popular successes with "Rising Damp" (1974–78, sometimes called the best of all ITV sitcoms), "Man About the House" (1973–76) and "George and Mildred" (1976–79). "Rising Damp"'s star, Leonard Rossiter, also played the lead role in the BBC's highly popular "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin" (1976–79). The decline in cinema attendance in this period meant that many of these series were turned into cinema films; the first film version of "On the Buses" (1969–73) was the biggest hit at the British box office in 1971. According to Jeff Evans, "On