A well-known greengrocer who is thought to have inspired a character in the film Mrs Henderson Presents died on October 14.

Frank West, 86, passed away at Epsom Hospital

He had been admitted there from Firtree House Nursing Home, in Fir Tree Road, Banstead, where he had been a resident since August.

The youngest of nine boys and one girl born to a fishmonger family in Plumstead, South East London, most of Mr West's brothers went to fight in World War Two and he was left behind to help with the family business. 

He would hump 56-pound bags of potatoes and help his father load a cart in Covent Garden at four in the morning.  

A keen piano player, Mr West taught himself how to play but never learned to read music. 

He played by ear and never forgot a tune once it was absorbed into his repertoire. 

Mr West worked in his brother's greengrocery shop in Lewisham, where he caught the showbiz bug at the Old Lewisham Hippodrome theatre.  He would watch the audiences go in and out from each performance and wanted to get into the entertainment business himself.

Between the ages of 14 and 17, Mr West got a job as stagehand at the famous Windmill Theatre in London. 

According to his daughter Trudy Hampton, her father always claimed that his persona was used as the character of Bertie played by singer Will Young in the film Mrs Henderson Presents, which also starred Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins.

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Aged 18, Mr West served in the Gloucester Regiment as a cook. 

Street-smart, he used lorry exhausts to cook food on the move and made sure his fellow soldiers were well-fed even in times of rationing and shortages. 

Mr West was married to the late Eileen West, a shy lady who her future husband charmed with jokes.  Within weeks of meeting, he knew she was the only one he wanted to spend his life with and the pair married in February 1949.

After living in Cheam, the Wests moved to Ewell in 1955 where Mr West ran F.L. West Greengrocers, on Chessington Road, West Ewell, for 20 years.

Well known in the town, Ms Hampton said people lined the streets on her wedding day "to watch Frank West’s daughter get married".

She said he was a Rotarian and a "pillar of society" with a charitable heart. 

Mr West retired aged 65, following the death of his wife. 

Ms Hampton said no one could replace her in his life and that he loved her until his dying day.

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