'Only Fools And Horses' star Nicholas Lyndhurst 'utterly grief stricken' after son's death

Julia Hunt
·Contributor
Updated ·3-min read
Nicholas Lyndhurst, Lucy Smith and Archie Lyndhurst attend the National Film Awards at Porchester Hall on March 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Joe Maher/FilmMagic)
Nicholas Lyndhurst, Lucy Smith and Archie Lyndhurst (Joe Maher/FilmMagic)

Nicholas Lyndhurst has spoken out for the first time following the death of his 19-year-old son, saying he and his wife Lucy are “utterly grief stricken”.

So Awkward actor Archie Lyndhurst passed away after a short illness.

Only Fools And Horses star Lyndhurst said in a statement: “Lucy and I are utterly grief stricken and respectfully request privacy.”

Read more: Archie Lyndhurst dies aged 19

Archie’s death was announced on Thursday, with a message sent from the official CBBC Twitter account saying: “We're so sorry to have to tell you that Archie Lyndhurst, who so brilliantly played Ollie in So Awkward on CBBC, has very sadly died after a short illness.

“Archie will be hugely missed by all who worked with him, and by all the fans who laughed along with Ollie in the show.”

Many of his fellow stars paid tribute online after the news.

Cleo Demetriou, who played Lily Hampton on the children's series, wrote: "Archie, I can’t even believe I am writing this. It’s taken me a while to be able to find things to say as I am at an absolute loss for words.

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Archie, I can’t even believe I am writing this. It’s taken me a while to be able to find things to say as I am at an absolute loss for words. You were the most beautiful soul I have ever known, the most unique, loving and caring person on this planet. My heart is completely broken knowing I that I can never see you again, never speak to you again and never hug you again. Thank you so much for being you, an absolute light in this sometimes very dark world. You were the best Godbrother I could ever have asked for and you were always by my side through my harder moments. We also shared my most favourite moments of my life so far. What can I say, We were together through thick and thin. I’ll never forget the mornings you’d come downstairs and say ‘Mornin Dud’. I’ll never forget when we first started filming the show. We were all 13 and learning how to deal with stress and the long hours. But you came and sat in the girls bathroom with us for an hour, you made us cry with laughter. You helped us forget everything that was going on and we left with pain from laughing so hard. For the past 7 years, you’ve never failed to have my back, You always knew how to make me feel better and gave me arm tickles on demand. You had such a bright future ahead of you, the world clearly wasn’t ready for what you had in store for us. It’s gonna be so much harder going about my days without you and I just hate to believe that you’re gone. I just know you’re showing them how it’s done, wherever you are. I’ll miss you forever Archie Lyndhurst 🤍

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"You were the most beautiful soul I have ever known, the most unique, loving and caring person on this planet. My heart is completely broken knowing I that I can never see you again, never speak to you again and never hug you again."

Game Of Thrones’ Samuel Small wrote: "To my brother Archie. I still can’t quite comprehend that you have passed. You still had so much life to live and I’d give anything for you to keep on living it.

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To my brother Archie. I still can’t quite comprehend that you have passed. You still had so much life to live and I’d give anything for you to keep on living it. My heart aches all day and everyday thinking about you and I just wish I could talk to you just one more time so you could know how much I loved you. I vow to make you proud with every last breath. Love you from now until infinity. Rest in power bro. I wish you could’ve all known Archie how we knew him. I’ve never met someone so full of life and had touched so many peoples hearts. Archie was there for me in my lowest lows but my highest highs were with him. Archie’s my best friend and to say goodbye so soon is absolutely devastating, but his calling was obviously somewhere else and I hope he is brightening up wherever he is. To be honest, I still can’t find the words that do him justice and show how much of a beautiful soul he was, but his mission was to make as many people happy as he could and trust me, he really really did. Archie loved his friends and family so so dearly and we hope he knows how much he truly was loved. We never know what tomorrow will bring so hug the ones you love extra tight as Archie always did🕊🤍

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“My heart aches all day and everyday thinking about you and I just wish I could talk to you just one more time so you could know how much I loved you.

"I vow to make you proud with every last breath. Love you from now until infinity. Rest in power bro."

Comedian Jack Whitehall wrote a tribute to Archie on Instagram, saying: “Archie Lyndhurst came in to my life nearly 10 years ago, playing the young me in a short film I’d written.

“He was brilliant, so talented and funny. An utter joy to work with.”

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I write this with an extremely heavy heart. Archie Lyndhurst came In to my life nearly ten years ago, playing the young me in a short film I’d written. He was brilliant, so talented and funny. An utter joy to work with. So much so that it proved to be the start of a wonderful partnership, we did a skit at the London Palladium, he played me again in a sketch for my arena tour and special, and when we needed to find an actor to play the young Alfie Wickers in Bad Education it was the easiest piece of casting we ever had to do. Every time I worked with Archie he was the same - passionate, generous and pitch perfect, he was loved by everyone on set. I have no doubt he would have had a long and illustrious career and would have continued lighting up the lives of all those who encountered him. The enthusiastic and talented boy I met all those years ago had grown into an equally charming young man, during lockdown he would take shopping and groceries to my parents house for them when they couldn’t leave the house, it’s testament to what a wonderful and kind person he was. The world has been robbed of a truly special soul. He will never be forgotten, i feel utterly devastated that he is gone but i also feel so blessed to have met him. Goodbye Archie. 🙏

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Whitehall said the “enthusiastic and talented boy” he met all those years ago had become an “equally charming young man”.

“During lockdown he would take shopping and groceries to my parents house for them when they couldn’t leave the house, it’s testament to what a wonderful and kind person he was,” he added.

Only Fools And Horses star John Challis said on Twitter that his “heart aches for Nick and Lucy”.

“They could not have loved him more,” he said.

Read more: Nicholas Lyndhurst ends Only Fools And Horses revival talk

Lyndhurst and his wife Lucy Smith welcomed Archie – their only child – in 2000.

He played Ollie Coulton in So Awkward and his other credits included TV series Bad Education and voicing a character in video game Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward.

Additional reporting by PA.

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