Trained (1958 - 1960) at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, and graduated
with an Honours Diploma. Fellow students included: Tom Courtney, John Thaw, Susannah York, William Gaunt, Sarah Miles and Edward Fox.
Educated at Ashlyns School, a former Secondary Modern School in the historic town of Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire.
Lifelong fan of Chelsea Football Club, England.
Son of Ketha Muriel (née Treacher) and James Witney Fowlds, a salesman.
His first job on leaving school was as an apprentice printer in 1953.
Lived near Bath with teacher Jo Lindsay from 1977 to his death in 2020.
His second marriage, to Blue Peter presenter Lesley Judd, lasted 8 weeks.
He was considered for the roles of Dr. Armstrong, Dr. Bukovsky and Sir Percy Heseltine in Lifeforce (1985).
In the film Over the Hill (1992) he had a love scene with Olympia Dukakis in which they had to roll in the surf together. They did it in one take and Derek was so overjoyed that he picked her up and gave her a bear hug and broke one of her ribs.