Christopher Biggins has quit acting because it's difficult to remember lines now he's in his 70s.
Christopher Biggins bids farewell to acting career
The 74-year-old showbiz legend is best known for his roles in the '70s TV classics 'Porridge', 'Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?' and 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em', but transitioned into children's television, pantomime, presenting and reality shows.
And the former 'Celebrity Big Brother' star insists his acting days are behind him as it's a "strain" to learn lines at his age.
He told the Daily Star newspaper's HOT TV column: "My acting days are done. I don't want to do it anymore.
"I can't learn all the lines. It's a strain as you get older.
"It's a lot of effort being an actor. It's boring."
The 'Poldark' actor is proudest of his roles as Lukewarm in the situation comedy 'Porridge' and Nero in the BBC's version of 'I, Claudius' and the lasting legacy of both shows.
He said: "It's fantastic to have done so much. Things I've done like 'Porridge' and 'I, Claudius' are still being shown on TV now. That's great."
The former 'Surprise Surprise' co-host will still dip his toe into the acting world at Christmas as he plans to continue doing panto.
He added: "I love doing panto... you don't really have to learn the lines!"
The veteran entertainer was just 24 years old when he was approached to star in his first panto as the "dame" - a role typically played by older men - and he was rather "insulted" and took some convincing before he agreed to the career departure.
He told the Sunday Post newspaper in 2019: "I remember when I was asked to do my first pantomime, I was absolutely amazed. Funnily enough, I was quite insulted! The reason for that was because every pantomime dame I had seen was in their 60s.
"They were much older but suddenly here they were, asking a 24-year-old to do pantomime, and I thought, 'No, I'm not going to do that.' These people kept asking and asking and asking, until eventually they mentioned money.
"This was in Darlington, at the Civic Theatre, and they told me it would be a thousand pounds a week. I couldn't believe it. Tickets were one-and-six! So I thought, well, I'd better do it. Of course, once I did it I loved it."
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