Brian Pettifer was born on January 1, 1953, in South Africa, and is a younger brother to the renowned folk musician Linda Thompson. Initially, he aimed to pursue a career as a photographer, but ultimately chose to become an actor.
Pettifer's acting career began at a young age, with appearances in the BBC's This Man Craig and Dr Finlay's Casebook, as well as Madame Bovary alongside his friend Alex Norton. This early exposure sparked his interest in acting on television.
His first film role was in Lindsay Anderson's if.... (1968),followed by appearances in Anderson's O Lucky Man! (1973) and Britannia Hospital (1982),where he played the character of Biles in all three films. Pettifer's other notable film credits include roles in Amadeus (1984),A Christmas Carol (1984),Gulag (1985),Heavenly Pursuits (1986),Little Dorrit (1987),The Great Escape II: The Untold Story (1988),Loch Ness (1996),The House of Mirth (2000),Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (2002),The Rocket Post (2004),Vanity Fair (2004),and Lassie (2005).
On television, Pettifer was a regular in the popular sitcom Rab C. Nesbitt, where he played the role of a bar patron. He also appeared as aircraftman Bruce Leckie in Get Some In!, where he was often the target of jokes by Corporal Marsh. Additionally, he played the character of cousin Hughie in the long-running Liverpool-based sitcom The Liver Birds.
Pettifer has also appeared in various other television shows, including Conspiracy, where he played the role of Alfred Meyer, and Dr. Finlay's Casebook, where he appeared in several episodes. He has also guest-starred in Still Game and Hamish Macbeth, and appeared in the BBC drama Bleak House in 2005.
In recent years, Pettifer has continued to work extensively in television, with roles in The Field of Blood, where he played Father Richards in 2011 and 2013, and The Musketeers, where he portrayed Poupart. He has also appeared in the episode Old School Ties in the series New Tricks, as Archie Milgrow, in 2012.
In addition to his work in television, Pettifer has a strong background in theatre, having written, directed, and acted in numerous productions. One notable example is his involvement in a production of The Fairy-Queen at Glyndebourne, which toured to Paris and New York in 2010.
In 2015, Pettifer appeared alongside his Hamish Macbeth co-star Robert Carlyle in the crime comedy The Legend of Barney Thomson. More recently, he appeared in an episode of Holby City, playing the role of patient Laurie Stocks, in 2019.
