Z-Cars been running for seven years but which some considered 'cosy'. The one character present throughout the entire run (though not in every episode) was Bert Lynch, played by James Ellis (though John Phillips as Det. Chief Supt. Robins would reappear sporadically during the show's run – by the end of the series he had become Chief Constable). Other characters in the early days were Stratford Johns (Inspector Barlow), Frank Windsor (Det. Sgt Watt), Robert Keegan (Sgt Blackitt), Joseph Brady (PC "Jock" Weir) and Brian Blessed ("Fancy" Smith). Also in 1960s episodes as David Graham was Colin Welland, later a screenwriter.
Paul Smith (American actor, born 1929) Paul Smith (American actor, born 1929) Paul Smith (born February 5, 1929) is an American comic character actor with a perpetually perplexed or, alternatively, bemused expression, who, during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, appeared in scores of television episodes, primarily sitcoms, including regular roles in five series, and was also seen in numerous theatrical features, television films and commercials, frequently in brief, sometimes unbilled, comedic bits. Born in Pennsylvania's second-largest city, Pittsburgh, Arthur Paul Smith moved to Los Angeles and, by the time of his 22nd birthday in 1951, began an uninterrupted 25-year acting career which lasted until