Norman Painting His ashes were scattered at Painting's Plantation in Leamington Spa, with a memorial service at St Martin-in-the-Fields in May 2010. He left his recordings, scripts, books, papers and letters to Birmingham University Special Collections. Norman Painting Norman George Painting (23 April 1924 – 29 October 2009) was an English actor, broadcaster and writer. He played Phil Archer in the BBC Radio 4 soap opera "The Archers" from the pilot episodes aired on the BBC Midlands Home Service in summer 1950, after the series went national on the Light Programme on 1 January 1951, until his death in 2009, when he
Phil Archer for almost 60 years a central figure in one of Radio 4's hallmark programmes. As Phil Archer, he became a wonderful patriarch yet he had started decades earlier as a young romantic hero." Following Painting's death, the producers and scripwriters met to plan Phil's exit storyline. They decided not to kill him off straight away and let him spend Christmas with his family. Painting's final appearance featuring his voice was broadcast on 22 November 2009. Phil was referred to, but never heard since then. On 12 February 2010, Phil's wife, Jill (Patricia Greene), discovered Phil had died at home. Phil