Sir David Jason discovers he has a 52-year-old daughter who he had no idea existed – and also learns he is grandfather to a 10-year-old boy
- The Only Fools and Horses icon received the news after taking a paternity test
- He found out he was the father of actress Abi Harris from a relationship in 1970
Legendary actor Sir David Jason has been reunited with a daughter he was unaware even existed for more than five decades.
The Only Fools and Horses star, who previously believed he only had one 22-year-old daughter, was shocked to discover he had a 52-year-old child and is actually the grandfather of a 10-year-old boy.
The TV icon has now welcomed his newfound daughter, Abi Harris, and grandson, Charlie, into the family and told the Mirror he is making up for lost time by doing as much as he can with them.
He revealed to the publication it was ‘a surprise’ to find out he had an older child – Ms Harris is the daughter of actress Jennifer Hill and was born after the pair had a brief relationship.
The news came as a shock to Sir David, as well as his wife Gill Hinchcliffe and daughter Sophie, but the family say they have since welcomed the pair with open arms.
Sir David Jason, pictured here at the Royal Albert Hall in January 2022, has discovered he has a 52-year-old daughter
The legendary actor thought he only had his 22-year-old daughter Sophie from his current relationship with Gill Hinchcliffe (pictured together)
Speaking to the Mirror, the former A Touch of Frost star said: ‘To say it was a surprise to find out I had a daughter from years ago is an understatement.
READ MORE HERE: Sir David Jason takes to the skies in his own Robinson R44 helicopter before touching down in Buckinghamshire
‘However, on settling with the news, I am delighted that I am now able to get to know Abi and so we meet up when we can.
‘My wife, Gill, and daughter, Sophie, have been very supportive and understanding and have embraced Abi and welcomed her and her young son into her now wider family.’
For her part, Abi says while she had no idea who her father was – she had her suspicions after hearing about Jason’s relationship with her mother while they both starred in a stage adaptation of the Dylan Thomas radio play Under Milk Wood in 1970.
Her belief grew stronger after realising she shared the same shaped nose as him, and her parentage has now been confirmed.
She had previously thought her father was Geoffrey Davion, who was married to her mother, until his death in 1996.
Since the surprise discovery was made, Abi and Charlie have been to visit him and spent a period over Christmas with him and his family at his home in Ellesborough, Buckinghamshire.
She also seems to have inherited some of his famed acting ability, having appeared in an episode of Doctor Who and remarkably a revival performance of Under Milk Wood in 2008 where Sir David and her mother also took part.
Friends who saw the legendary actor and Abi stood next to each other remarked on their similar facial profiles, and as the years went past, she worked up the courage to find out the truth.
The Mirror reports she wrote a letter to Sir David asking him to take a paternity test, emotionally beginning it with a line from the Thomas play, saying: ‘To begin at the beginning. Or to be more precise, my beginning…’
Abi was born after her mother Jennifer Hill had a brief relationship with Sir David Jason. Pictured: Jennifer Hill and David Jason (circled) stand with the cast of Under Milk Wood at the Mayfair theatre in 1970
The revelation he has another daughter and a grandson has shocked the former Only Fools and Horses star, pictured here as his character from the show Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter
A source told the publication the letter came as a shock to Sir David, but he was touched by the request and agreed to do it.
The insider said: ‘It’s a lovely letter, which David has kept.
‘It was light-hearted but serious, without being overwhelming. It was obvious whoever had written it was a nice person who just wanted to find out her heritage. The Dylan quote was the perfect way to start it.
‘It was a sympathetic way of saying, ‘Brace yourself’.’
After the bombshell, the two families agreed to meet up in London to figure out how to move forward from this life-changing news.
Abi said: ‘In discovering my father’s identity, I am starting to piece together my own.
‘Of course, I am tickled pink and incredibly proud but, frequently, completely overwhelmed with sorrow for the years we have lost.
‘After a measured start, now I hope we can consciously make time to see each other more often, so that I can master the art of being the best big sister and build a meaningful father-daughter relationship in its truest sense.’
Sir David was knighted for his services to acting and comedy in 2005. He married Ms Hinchcliffe in November of that year.
He started dating Ms Hinchcliffe after his long-term partner of 20 years, Welsh actress Myfanwy Talog, died from breast cancer aged 45 in 1995.
The TV star believed he became a father for the first time at the age of 61, and after Sophie was was born he said it had been ‘thrust upon him’ as most of his life was focused only on being a success.
He previously said: ‘My life has been in reverse. It wasn’t fame and it wasn’t money, but I always wanted to succeed. The only way I could do that was to try with every job to be better than I was in the last one, and to learn.
‘Because of that I needed to be footloose and fancy free.’
One of the nation’s best-loved TV stars, other roles have included starring as Pop Larkin in The Darling Buds of May, alongside Catherine Zeta Jones and Granville in Open All Hours with Ronnie Barker.
He also provided the voice for Mr Toad in an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows.
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