British actor Lionel Jeffries dies at 83

LONDON, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- British actor Lionel Jeffries, an eccentric in scores of films such as "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," died after a long illness, his agent said. He was 83.

Bald at age 19 and mustachioed, Jeffries appeared alongside Peter Sellers, Terry-Thomas, Jeremy Irons and Anthony Hopkins. He perhaps was best known for his role as Grandpa Potts in the 1968 Disney classic "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" starring Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts. At the time he was six months younger than Van Dyke.

Jeffries died Friday after a long illness, his publicist at the Liz Hobbs Group told The Times of London.

"He was one of the greatest comic actors this country ever possessed. He could make any line interesting and comedic," film director Michael Winner said.

Jeffries appeared in a host of British television series popular worldwide including Inspector Morse and Lovejoy, and made his directorial debut in the 1970 adaptation of The Railway Children, the classic novel by E. Nesbitt.

Jeffries was born in southeast London June 10, 1926, and served in what was then Burma (Myanmar now) during World War II.

He is survived by Eileen, his wife of 59 years, a son and two daughters.