 The name "Withnail" came from man called Jonathan Withnall that  Robinson knew as a little boy. He was a local character who reversed  his Aston Martin into a police car in a pub car park. Bruce Robinson  said hes never been able to spell very well, and spelled his last  name With"nail" by mistake.  The character of Withnail was based on Bruce Robinsons close  friend; actor Vivian Mackerall who died of throat cancer in 1990.  They met at The Central School of Speech and Drama in 1964. The pair  lived with David Dundas, Michael Feast and others in a Victorian  townhouse bought by David Dundass parents in Camden Town, London.