Editing Enn Reitel (section)

===Acting===
In 1982, Reitel starred in ''[[The Further Adventures of Lucky Jim]]'', a sitcom on [[BBC Two]] written by [[Dick Clement]] and [[Ian La Frenais]]. Reitel played Jim Dixon, based on the character created by [[Kingsley Amis]].

He appeared on stage in ''[[Me and My Girl]]'' at the [[Adelphi Theatre]] in 1986. On television he worked as an impressionist on the [[Satire|satirical]] [[puppet]] show ''[[Spitting Image]]'' and starred in the [[ITV1|ITV]] sitcom ''[[Mog (TV series)|Mog]]'' as a burglar who spent his days in a [[psychiatric hospital]], pretending to be insane.

[[File:On location in London for the shoot of The Optimist, Season Two (The Brush Off).jpg|thumb|Reitel in ''[[The Optimist (TV series)|The Optimist]]''|263x263px]]
He played the lead role in the UK television comedy series ''[[The Optimist (TV series)|The Optimist]]'' which ran from 1983 for two series. The programme was almost entirely silent. In each episode 'The Optimist' wandered through life doing his best to look on the bright side. He was usually thwarted in his endeavours by the people he encountered. He also appeared in the first series of the UK comedy show ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway? (British TV series)|Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]''.

Reitel also appeared in a number of BBC radio comedy programmes in the 1980s, including [[Dial M For Pizza]] and the radio adaptation of the cartoon strip [[The Fosdyke Saga]].

In 2001, he appeared in a short film called ''Coconuts'' with [[Michael Palin]], in which they did a demonstration on how coconuts can be used in place of horses.<ref>{{YouTube|IFy_0xVIG0M|Monty Python- How to Use your Coconuts}}</ref> This film can be seen on the second disk of the collector's edition of ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]''.

He played the lead role in the 2007 film ''[[Trust Me (2007 film)|Trust Me]]'', a comedy about a pair of con men.

Reitel was the second choice to play [[Del Boy|Del Boy Trotter]] in ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]'' (behind [[Jim Broadbent]] aka Roy Slater in the series), but was busy with other projects (the role ultimately went to [[David Jason]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uktv.co.uk/gold/item/aid/538287 |title=Behind the scenes of Only Fools and Horses|date=6 July 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8877163/Only-Fools-and-Horses-by-Graham-McCann-review.html |title=Only Fools and Horses by Graham McCann: review | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Martin |last=Chilton |date=9 November 2011}}</ref>

He also played two roles in different episodes of long-running sitcom ''[[One Foot in the Grave]]''. In the first Christmas special, he played "Mr. Starkey", a down and out who holds [[Victor Meldrew]] ([[Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)|Richard Wilson]]) and his neighbour Pippa's father, Reverend Croker ([[Geoffrey Chater]]) at gunpoint to wait for [[Armageddon]] on Christmas Day. In the second episode of series 3, "Dreamland", he played a tramp who took a fancy to Victor's shoes, but drew the line at his [[Noel Edmonds]]-esque sweater.