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.