Michael Darbyshire (15 October 1917 – 20 November 1979) was an English actor of stage and screen.^[1][2] He is perhaps best known for his role as Hubert Davenport, the Victorian ghost, in the long running BBC TV children's comedy series Rentaghost.^[2][3]

He also played one of the eccentric inventors in the 1968 film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.^[4] On stage, he appeared in the original West End cast of the musical Pickwick in 1963, its Broadway transfer in 1965, and a BBC TV adaptation in 1969.^[5][1][6]

He was a member of the Players Theatre Company based in London in Villiers Street, appearing regularly and also on many occasions on the BBC TV series The Good Old Days.^[7][8][9]

Michael Darbyshire died in 1979, during the interval of the first performance of a production of the Ray Cooney farce, Chase Me Comrade, at the Theatre Royal, Windsor, aged 62.^[1][10]