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Diaries of actor who inspired character of Withnail to be auctioned in London

Vivian MacKerrell – who really did drink lighter fluid – shared a house with Withnail and I director Bruce Robinson

His diaries chronicle the squalid life endured and – with the help of a cocktail of cheap wine, lighter fluid and benefits payments – enjoyed by the pair during their time as skint creatives living in Camden Town. The 1987 film stars Grant and Paul McGann as two actors, Withnail and Marwood, who retreat to a country house in an attempt to escape their chaotic lifestyles in 1960s London, but the pair’s holiday turns disastrous as they get into scrapes with locals and continue to drink heavily. Despite the film ending when the character based on Robinson moves out, the diaries carry on after his departure and show that MacKerrell stayed on in the same squalid home with new housemates, continuing his heavy drinking and drugtaking.

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