1 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:08,920 Of all the Dad's Army cast, he was my favourite. 2 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:11,280 I think he was one of my favourite people of all time. 3 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:12,480 Oh, hello. 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:13,920 LAUGHTER 5 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,800 How awfully nice to hear from you again. It has been such a long time. 6 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:23,800 He had me on the edge of the seat whenever I watched him. 7 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:26,360 I didn't want to, you know, miss a moment. 8 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,200 You show me yours, I'll show you mine. 9 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,720 You'd just wait for that twitch of an eyebrow. 10 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:35,320 The slightly quizzical look. 11 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:42,080 He had depths to him that nobody knew about, I think. 12 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:48,920 He would always have that elegant, relaxed facade 13 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,080 and, underneath, it was tumult. 14 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:59,760 He was the typical English gentleman in so many ways. 15 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:03,800 That sort of type of actor has disappeared. 16 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:06,000 Shame. 17 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:10,960 I do believe you like butter. 18 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:13,080 - HE CHUCKLES - What? 19 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:15,080 Oh, don't be ridiculous. 20 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:37,040 What do you think of this? 21 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:41,400 Well, it's awful. 22 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:42,720 What? 23 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,200 HE LAUGHS No, no, no. It's awfully good, awfully good. 24 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:49,000 Dear, oh, dear. HE CHUCKLES 25 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,040 Dear, oh, dear, oh, dear. 26 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:53,160 HE LAUGHS OUT LOUD 27 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,280 HE LAUGHS MORE LOUDLY 28 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:58,320 Watch it, Wilson! 29 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:01,240 You might snap your girdle. 30 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:05,160 Who, me, yes? 31 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,680 I'm told you, you have to tell a joke, you see. 32 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,040 Yes, all right. Yes. 33 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,080 I'd forgotten. That fascinating journey on the train, yes. 34 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,560 Do you mind if I have a look at that pharmacy book of yours? 35 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:19,320 Do so, by all means. 36 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,680 Will it tell me all I want to know? 37 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:32,600 Despite being a seemingly ever-present face on cinema 38 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:37,040 and television screens for over 50 years, John Le Mesurier never considered himself 39 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:39,240 anything other than an ordinary, jobbing actor. 40 00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:42,560 I went into the workmen's canteen 41 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,880 and a young man said to me when I was having my coffee, 42 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:49,240 "Were you in such a such a film?" 43 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,400 And I said, "Yes, I think I might have been." 44 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:53,840 I don't find that particularly amusing! 45 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,280 And I wasn't helping him at all. I was naughty, really. 46 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,560 I could see his embarrassment, poor little thing. 47 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,840 He was getting redder and redder in the face. 48 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,680 - Do you think that's wise? - No, no, that's Morecambe. 49 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:11,400 Finally, he blurted out, "It is Daphne du Maurier, isn't it?" 50 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:17,200 He was one of those actors that worked all the time, 51 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:20,280 but never became a big star. 52 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:21,640 But that suited him. 53 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:25,520 He liked to go in and get the laughs, play the small parts 54 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,640 and come home and go down to Ramsgate and put his feet up. 55 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:30,720 I got back from Dijon this afternoon. 56 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,960 I've heard some disturbing rumours about Mademoiselle Anna. 57 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,040 Nowadays, he would have had agents and people rushing down saying, 58 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:38,520 "You've got to be in Harry Potter, 59 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:40,360 you've got to do this, that and the other." 60 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,160 "You've got to be in Casualty." Can you imagine that? 61 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:45,920 John Le Mesurier playing a patient in bed in Casualty, 62 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,680 with his legs sawn off, or something like that. 63 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:53,240 (IMITATES JOHN LE MESURIER) Yes, not a leg I-I use very much, 64 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:54,560 um, the left one. 65 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:57,960 A relatively modest leg. 66 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:01,240 Are we to call the sergeant The Honourable Sergeant Wilson, 67 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:03,320 or Sergeant The Honourable Wilson? 68 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:08,840 I don't want any fuss, I just want to be like an ordinary sergeant. 69 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,200 I'm sure that would suit us all, Wilson. 70 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:18,440 Before joining the annals of television history 71 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:20,360 as Sergeant Wilson in Dad's Army, 72 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,600 John Le Mesurier was the go-to man for any director 73 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,600 wanting a slightly uncomfortable, but oh-so-British authority figure, 74 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:31,400 appearing in 100 films in the '50s and '60s alone. 75 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,480 Would you tell his Lordship how your married life went? 76 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,560 Well, it wasn't a life at all, really, not what I'd call life. 77 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:40,720 Would you explain what you mean by that? 78 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,360 Well, he was always picking on me, 79 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,480 said I'd paid more attention to the boarders than I did to him. 80 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:48,160 And did you, madam? 81 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,920 He stole moments in films, John, little cameos. 82 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:56,040 Every film he was in, when he came on, everything I saw of him, 83 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,040 I just felt very comfortable. 84 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:00,480 I knew he knew what to do. 85 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:04,240 - You've never committed misconduct except on this one occasion? - No, my lord. 86 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:06,360 Has he asked you to? 87 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:09,240 Certainly not! 88 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:11,080 Why not? 89 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:16,080 What you saw on screen with John 90 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:18,480 was almost exactly the way he was. 91 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:20,360 It was only in extension of him. 92 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,000 How do you do? It's awfully nice to meet you. 93 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,760 Did you have a jolly crossing? 94 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:30,600 - It was very jolly, except for one thing. - What was that? 95 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,760 Those beastly Kraut submarines that kept firing torpedoes at us. 96 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:35,480 Oh, my dear, how awful. 97 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:39,680 I never heard John raise his voice, ever, which is quite a... 98 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,280 I mean he was just really a very gentle 99 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:47,240 and a very funny and a very easy-going man. 100 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,480 John Laurie did describe him as a dilettante 101 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:50,840 and he was a dilettante. 102 00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:53,000 He just enjoyed doing what he was doing. 103 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,880 It was fun to do. In that respect, John never grew up. 104 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:58,600 Oh, yes, it's all sparkly! 105 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:00,720 You know, it's just like fairyland, sir. 106 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,040 He did say to me once, he said, "At a very early age, 107 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,560 - "I pretended to know - BLEEP - all about anything." 108 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,560 He said, "As a consequence, nobody ever asked me to do anything." 109 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:16,000 I think he cultivated a kind of "don't ask John to do it because he'll make a mess of it". 110 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,600 I suppose everything'll be all right on the night. 111 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:20,480 This is the night. 112 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:24,160 Ah. Oh, yes, yes! 113 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:28,080 Totally useless. He really couldn't make a cup of tea. 114 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,200 And adorable, always. 115 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,640 Because he was so liked by everybody, that was no problem, 116 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:38,040 because there was always somebody to do it for him. 117 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:41,480 And that's how he sailed through life. 118 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,000 When John decided to give up driving... 119 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,080 And he was the worst driver ever. 120 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:47,600 CAR MISFIRES 121 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:51,520 He got out of his car under Hammersmith flyover, 122 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:53,680 in a traffic jam, and he thought, 123 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,000 "I can't handle this any more." 124 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,120 Left the keys in the ignition, 125 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:02,440 left the doors open and just walked away from his car. 126 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,720 Never went back and decided, "I've done with driving now." 127 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:07,000 And that was very John. 128 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,560 Just left the thing under Hammersmith flyover! 129 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:11,400 I trust you had a comfortable journey? 130 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:13,720 Yes, very smooth, thank you, uneventful. 131 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:16,960 - Quite without incident, I'm glad to say. - Good, that's splendid! 132 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:21,240 John is a fragment of what it was like in a certain time. 133 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:27,480 A sort of upbringing in Edwardian, well, 1920s England, that sort of thing. 134 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:29,120 And he carried that with him, 135 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:32,160 without it ever being made a point of his performance. 136 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:34,280 It just informed everything he did. 137 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:36,960 This feeling of a bit like the Empire, really, 138 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:38,440 slightly sort of faded. 139 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:42,360 Oh, a jolly good time, now it's gone. 140 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:43,600 Right, over! 141 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:45,880 Over! 142 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,480 Come along, Wilson, pretend that you're doing a cartwheel. 143 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:55,360 Um, I've never done a cartwheel. 144 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:56,800 What about when you were a child? 145 00:07:56,800 --> 00:07:58,960 I just never did that sort of thing. 146 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:01,760 Extraordinary. 147 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,440 John Le Mesurier was born in 1912 148 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:10,120 and grew up in genteel Bury St Edmunds. 149 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,720 It was a world of tennis parties and stiff upper lips. 150 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:16,880 But, even as a child, John longed for something more. 151 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:21,240 His nanny was pushing him. And he said, "Who are those people, Nanny?" 152 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:23,080 They were made up and overdressed 153 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:25,080 and the women had lots of make-up on. 154 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:26,920 And she said, "Those are theatricals 155 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:29,320 "and you must have nothing whatever to do with them." 156 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:33,600 And he said that kind of fired his appetite up 157 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:35,960 to meet people like that. 158 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,320 And he did. He was fascinated by people 159 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:41,800 who were different from what he was used to. 160 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:44,720 - Mr Wilson does not appear as other men. - What? 161 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,360 His little legs are pointing in the wrong direction. 162 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,200 - Oh, dear. - What's the matter with them? - Do try and sort yourself out. 163 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:54,720 I haven't done it before, it's very difficult. 164 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,360 His father was a very strict man. I remember him. 165 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:02,360 I never really got close to him at all. 166 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:05,960 I don't think he suffered children very well! 167 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,600 His childhood had been dominated by his nanny. 168 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:12,600 She was the one that gave him the kisses and cuddles 169 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:14,640 and sang lullabies. 170 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,080 - Uncle Arthur? - What is it, Frank? 171 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:18,840 - I'm ever so cold. - What? 172 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:22,240 Can I cuddle up to you? 173 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:25,440 He said mummy and daddy would never let their feelings show, 174 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:27,960 and be emotional, have a row, or anything like that. 175 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,840 Frankly, I'd rather you didn't. 176 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:33,880 - I shall tell Mum! - Oh, all right. All right, then. 177 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,800 His father wanted him to go into law, 178 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:38,840 but his love was acting and theatre. 179 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:42,920 He studied law and went to work in a solicitor's office for a long time, 180 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:45,200 but his heart was never in it. 181 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:47,560 He had quite a struggle. 182 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:49,760 Repertory, thank God, 183 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:52,280 was the best way for anybody to learn to act in those days. 184 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:54,800 I remember this very handsome man. 185 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,120 That everybody was madly in love with. 186 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:02,000 We practically dropped a curtsey when we spoke to him! 187 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,760 Then he spoke to me. You sort of swooned with delight, you know? 188 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:08,200 (NEWSREEL) 'All cinemas, theatres, 189 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:11,440 'and other places of entertainment 190 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,920 'are to be closed immediately until further notice.' 191 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,000 In 1940, John's rep career 192 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:22,360 was rudely interrupted as he was called up to join the Army - 193 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:25,520 reporting for duty in his own inimitable style. 194 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:29,160 His sergeant said "When you turned up here, Le Mesurier, 195 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:33,360 "you looked as if you were coming on a weekend's holiday." 196 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:35,760 Because he took his golf clubs with him. 197 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:39,040 Arriving in the back of an open Austin 7, or whatever, 198 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:42,520 in his dinner jacket, with his golf clubs and his jazz records. 199 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:46,040 Put your shoulders back and your chin in. Stand up like a man! 200 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:47,880 - Is that better? - Not really, no. 201 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:54,240 After a while, he said, "You'll be no effing use as a soldier!" 202 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:58,280 "I'm going to recommend you to be an officer." 203 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,240 He must have thought at the time, "Thank God for that." 204 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:05,560 - We're likely to be here for some time. - Yes, sir. 205 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:08,200 - We've got keep the men cheerful till help arrives. - Of course. 206 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,280 - Whatever I do, I want you to back me up. - Right. 207 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:12,240 - With a smile on your face. - Yes! 208 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:15,440 Is that all right, sir, do you think? 209 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:19,000 Better than nothing, I suppose. 210 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,880 John didn't really let you see anything that was going on inside, 211 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:29,600 but he had this knack of pretending it wasn't there. 212 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,760 And trying to ignore it and it would all go away. 213 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:38,080 I mean, his first wife, for instance, um, 214 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:41,400 was taken to drink. 215 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:45,240 Caught up in the urgency of wartime, 216 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:48,680 John had married the rich and glamorous June Melville 217 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:51,080 not long after he was posted to India, 218 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:54,480 while June stayed in London and partied the war away. 219 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:58,200 She was a lovely lady. 220 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:00,840 Brilliant, marvellous woman. 221 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:04,160 And... But, an alcoholic. 222 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,680 And that's really what destroyed their relationship. 223 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:11,240 She was just a total alcoholic. 224 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:14,120 She would be brilliant 225 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:18,840 and talk brilliantly on three different subjects at a party, 226 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:20,440 and suddenly, boom. 227 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:21,880 Pass out completely. 228 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:26,000 He found that so humiliating for her. 229 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,040 He didn't have a thing about women being drunk, 230 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:31,560 but it pained him 231 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:37,800 that anybody would make, er, the kind of exhibition like that. 232 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:41,880 And now, ladies and gentlemen, that queen of the Players' Theatre, 233 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:44,440 your own Hattie Jacques! 234 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:49,600 His first marriage collapsed and then he met Hattie, of course, 235 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:53,400 and she was the great love of his life, she really was. 236 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:55,000 Can I help you, madam? 237 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,600 No, no thank you, just looking around for the moment. 238 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:06,040 They were ideal, because they both had very strong senses of humour. 239 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:09,160 # 'S wonderful 240 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:12,640 'S marvellous 241 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:16,600 # You should care for me... 242 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:22,400 They really got on terribly well together, you know. 243 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,160 Hattie was a very bright personality. 244 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,360 But then so was John, he was a bright personality, too. 245 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:33,320 She was a lovely woman. It was an extraordinary liaison. 246 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,680 Because Hattie was so big, John was so thin, 247 00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:41,120 it was like a sort of male and female Laurel and Hardy, really! 248 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:44,840 # C'est magnifique 249 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,720 # 'S what I seek 250 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:53,360 # You should care for me...# 251 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:58,840 They married and they had a very, very... 252 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:00,720 And two wonderful sons. 253 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:02,440 They bounced off each other. 254 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:05,440 They relied upon each other and they needed each other. 255 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:09,440 And when one was feeling a little down, 256 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:12,040 the other one would pick him or her up. 257 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:14,920 They were a good team, you know. 258 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:16,880 It did work. 259 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,160 He loved her. He adored her. She was a mother. 260 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:22,920 She was the mother that he'd never had with his own mother. 261 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:26,520 She was a mother who was genteel and polite, 262 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:30,600 but Hattie was vulgar and rumbustious and fun. 263 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,080 Wonderful sense of humour. 264 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:35,840 And loved parties and would stay up all night 265 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:38,240 and then cook everybody bacon and eggs for breakfast. 266 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:41,160 # 'S exceptional...# 267 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:45,320 Waking up and finding Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, 268 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:49,120 jamming in the basement with my dad and my mum singing was the norm. 269 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:54,320 I was very lucky to grow up in that family, really, really was. 270 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:56,640 I don't feel blase about it at all. 271 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:00,880 # Me-e-e-e-e-e-e...# 272 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:09,120 At that time, John wasn't very successful 273 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,400 and had long periods of no work and so on. 274 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:17,040 And Hattie was the breadwinner, as it were. 275 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:18,320 She was the star. 276 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:22,280 John was still a jobbing actor and getting his feet back on the rung, 277 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:25,720 because he'd been away through the war. 278 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:30,200 He'd only had a very tenuous hold before the war. 279 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,000 He'd made a couple of movies, I think, 280 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,440 but supporting. 281 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,000 And, by luck, he met the Boulting brothers. 282 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:41,560 One of the funniest performances I saw from him on film 283 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:45,480 was in I'm All Right Jack as the time-and-motion study man. 284 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:48,520 - I say, are you sure I'm not keeping you from your work? - No, no, no. 285 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:50,280 Wouldn't like to get you into trouble, 286 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:51,760 especially as you're new here. 287 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,040 Not at all. I'm learning a lot. 288 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:57,320 Oh, good. Right. Watch this. 289 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:03,280 I didn't know who John Le Mesurier was. I couldn't even say the name. 290 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:05,080 Don't want to get you into trouble. 291 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:08,000 But that was a performance I went away talking about as a teenager. 292 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:09,720 It's one of the best things he ever did. 293 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:12,000 Thanks, Charlie. 294 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:18,080 I remember, some time in the '50s, we went to see a film 295 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:21,440 and it was called The Blue Parrot 296 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:23,720 and John was the villain. 297 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:26,640 I must say, you've paid your part very well, Maureen. 298 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:28,640 He was amazing. 299 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,920 Even then, he was so laid back. 300 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:35,640 Well... 301 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:36,880 arrivederci. 302 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:42,800 People used to say he must be so rich, he's been in so many things. 303 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:45,960 But he'd be in for half a day sometimes, 304 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:51,040 in literally a cameo, and get something like £50, or 75. 305 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:54,400 It wasn't America, you know. 306 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:56,840 But he made his mark. 307 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:03,040 The parts he played were these rather small, upper-class people. 308 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:05,080 And I'd been to public school, 309 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:08,920 I knew a few of that sort of people, and he made them very funny 310 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:13,000 without ever mugging at all. That was the great thing about John. 311 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:21,640 Don't you think the nose is a little bit too large? 312 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:25,080 No, it's just a question of how one sees it, 313 00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:30,160 the underlying feature of the composition is based... 314 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:37,160 He very rarely broke a smile at all, and we loved that. 315 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,800 We thought that was so funny, but it was so selfless. 316 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:44,040 Other people, the Hancocks and the others, got the laugh in the end. 317 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:45,760 These rubbers are very good. 318 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,160 - Would you care to step into my office? - You're a busy man, 319 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:50,760 you don't want to bother with the likes of me, it will upset... 320 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:53,280 - Bring your books with you. - All of them. 321 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:54,840 All of them, yes. 322 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:56,960 Yes. 323 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:02,880 They were like best friends, as in a naughty schoolboys kind of way. 324 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,000 They were just best mates. 325 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,440 They adored each other, they were real companions 326 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:10,400 and they'd been in several movies 327 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:15,600 and shows, Hancock's Half Hours, over the years. 328 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:19,920 - How long did this rubbish take you? - Only two or three hours. - Two or three hours, hm? 329 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:23,720 Do you know how long the time-and-motion experiments allow for the preparation of accounts? 330 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,080 - Yes, sir, three minutes, 45.5 seconds. - Exactly. 331 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:34,000 He had no aspirations to be a movie star. He was always support actor. 332 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,120 He was somebody who would walk on and steal the show. 333 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:40,240 I'm not having that money running around London outside police control. 334 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:41,360 Quite right. Good point. 335 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:44,240 Yes, Parker, and I'm making it your personal responsibility 336 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,520 to see that the money is returned intact at the end of the operation. 337 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:49,520 I'm assigning Parker to you as from now. 338 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:53,600 Somebody said in films where he appeared, good or bad, 339 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:57,440 if he was in it, there was always one shining Le Mesurier moment. 340 00:18:57,440 --> 00:18:59,200 It's all right, Parker, it's all right. 341 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:01,560 - I've ridden one of these things before. - Of course, 342 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:04,080 the Cavalry, wasn't it, sir? Or was it the Hussars, sir? 343 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:06,040 Metropolitan Police, if you must know. 344 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:10,600 Rather fun, isn't it? Children would love it. 345 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:13,280 HUMS TUNE Pom-pom, pom-pom 346 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:15,000 pom, pom pom-pom pom, pom. 347 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:20,200 - Go and sit next to... Go on, get off. - But this thing's moving, sir. Yes, sir. 348 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:32,440 It was a busy, busy house. 349 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:37,200 He didn't really notice, as he wouldn't any domestic thing. 350 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,240 He was having a wonderful... He was busy, 351 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:45,720 so it kind of happened insidiously that his marriage started to crumble. 352 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:07,800 She was introduced to this charming, guy, John Schofield. 353 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:10,280 And I don't blame her at all. 354 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:12,120 He was a real rascal, actually. 355 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:15,120 I always used to say to Hattie, "He's a getaway driver, you know, 356 00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:17,120 "that's what he is." 357 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:19,360 The most brilliant driver I'd ever known. 358 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:22,480 He always drove much too fast. 359 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,680 And I said, "That's what he is, he's a getaway driver." 360 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:27,320 And I think he was, too. 361 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:29,960 He was debonair, he was kind of a rogue. 362 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:33,520 He was very good looking, he was very funny. 363 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,000 He was totally different from my dad 364 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,800 and I think she just fell for that. 365 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:44,080 I think she had been neglected by John for a little while 366 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:46,640 and she was very glad to have a lover. 367 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,440 It was getting more obvious. 368 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,760 In the end, Hattie said, "We're lovers." 369 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:54,520 And John was moved out of the bed 370 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:57,440 and a lovely big bed-sitting room was made for him, 371 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,840 but that was it. The guy was in the house 372 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,120 and there was nothing anybody could do about it. 373 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:08,920 Unwilling to damage Hattie's reputation 374 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:12,360 by revealing the truth of his shattered home life, 375 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:16,040 John reluctantly agreed to appear on her This Is Your Life. 376 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,920 It was an excruciating experience for both of them. 377 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:27,160 Well, er, John, I understand 378 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:29,680 and I know that you are a double risk now, of course. 379 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:33,400 - But I understand you were surprised that Hattie was on time at the wedding. - Well... 380 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:37,160 I must confess I am rather inclined to be a bit surprised, 381 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:41,520 when Hattie arrives for anything, really. 382 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:45,600 It was very difficult for him to be on it, you know. 383 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:46,680 And her. 384 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:50,440 When he appeared, she... 385 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:52,840 Imagine what he was going to say. 386 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:56,800 - There is never a dull moment with Hattie? - No, no, there isn't, really. 387 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,160 I would like, though... 388 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:04,040 I would like to say that I, er... I am eternally grateful 389 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:06,600 to the way she runs the home, 390 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,120 looks after the children, 391 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:10,400 looks after me. 392 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:14,920 Home comes first, really, I don't mind saying. LAUGHTER 393 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:16,040 But, er, 394 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:19,160 I think for somebody who is so busy all the time 395 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:23,000 and so much in the public eye all the time, 396 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,680 to do all these things is very difficult 397 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:28,720 and a jolly neat trick. 398 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:30,480 Thank you, John Le Mesurier. 399 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:32,120 APPLAUSE 400 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:42,080 He couldn't bear any confrontation. He didn't like that at all. 401 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:43,920 He found it really distasteful. 402 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,360 So, as a consequence, he would not... 403 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,520 He would appear to be walked all over, 404 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:52,760 but I don't think he ever was. 405 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:56,040 It was actually kindness, as opposed to foolishness. 406 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:58,200 He was the saddest person. 407 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:02,720 He was so sad about it, because he had two sons, 408 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:04,760 the house, the home. 409 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:08,920 And this boy, this man, kind of bullied him. 410 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:14,200 He was resolute he was not going to leave his home and his children. 411 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:17,840 He had his own little bedroom and bathroom 412 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:21,120 and he lived in the same house. 413 00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:23,760 You know, I don't how he did that, but he did. 414 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:28,880 He decided that to resort to anger or retaliation was futile 415 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:31,520 and he just treated people with respect. 416 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:33,560 He was kind and he was gentle. 417 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:35,560 Hattie fell in love. 418 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:38,400 And broke his heart, really. 419 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,960 But I was there to pick the pieces up, which was good. 420 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:51,840 Broken by Hattie's betrayal, it was only after meeting Joan Malin 421 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:54,840 that John finally found the strength to leave the family home. 422 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:02,160 I think she injected, to a certain extent, a new lease on living, 423 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:04,040 not on life but on living. 424 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,320 - How long have you known her? - Quite a few years now, sir. 425 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:09,800 - Why have you not asked her to marry you? - I don't know, sir. 426 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:11,520 I haven't been able to get around to it. 427 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:13,840 Well, you better get around to it, hadn't you? 428 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,280 You can't go about behaving like Errol Flynn. 429 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:21,240 Apparently, he'd proposed marriage to me 430 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:24,800 quite some time before in a place called Grumbles, 431 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:27,600 a restaurant called Grumbles. 432 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:32,040 He said, talking about Hattie, and the affair, 433 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:36,480 he said, "I don't know what to do, I don't know which way to turn now." 434 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:38,960 "I don't suppose you'd take me on for a start?" 435 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:41,680 I said, "Ooh, darling." And that was a proposal. 436 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:45,480 That was him proposing marriage. 437 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,840 And when Tony met me, he said, "You've got to grab this one, John, 438 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:51,080 "she is lovely," and this, that and the other. 439 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:54,440 John said, "I already asked her to marry me and she's turned me down." 440 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,560 I said, "When did you do that?" 441 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:00,360 He said, "Gosh, that time in Grumbles." 442 00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:03,880 I said, "Oh, gosh, I didn't know that was a proposal!" I had no idea. 443 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:05,360 Will you marry me? 444 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:06,600 DOOR LOCK RATTLES 445 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:12,960 Arthur, darling! 446 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:14,640 I couldn't not marry him. 447 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:17,600 John wanted to be married and I couldn't leave him in that mess. 448 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:20,360 He was ambling about without being able to make tea. 449 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:25,000 I loved him. I cared about him deeply. 450 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:30,080 But, in retrospect, that wasn't really being in love, 451 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:32,520 and when I met Tony, I fell in love. 452 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:35,520 They enjoyed each other's company. 453 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:37,000 It was so sad that, 454 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:41,560 having brought Tony Hancock back for dinner one night, 455 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:45,080 that it all kind of fell apart. 456 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:48,520 - You're pretty well set up here. - Oh, yes, it's quite comfortable. 457 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:51,960 Of course, it's not quite like a home, but, well, 458 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:53,880 it has its compensations. 459 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:57,800 You're very lucky. You want to hang on to it. 460 00:25:57,800 --> 00:25:59,640 When Tony's marriage split up, 461 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,040 he went to stay with John and Joan in Barons Court. 462 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:06,360 - You don't know how lucky you are. - That's a matter of opinion. 463 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:10,520 My dad was of course, "Come in, you're my best friend." 464 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:12,120 Because trusting, you know. 465 00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:16,000 You made a wise decision to stay single. 466 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:19,440 Yes, well, actually, it wasn't my decision. 467 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:20,760 The lady said no. 468 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:24,880 John went through, with Tony Hancock... 469 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:31,840 ..what he'd gone through with John Schofield, really. 470 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,480 Twice it happened to him. 471 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:41,080 With John Schofield, it was Hattie, and, with Tony Hancock, it was Joan. 472 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:45,240 And Joan left John to live with Tony. 473 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:47,840 As I understand it, marriage is a matter of give and take. 474 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,640 Not all of us are equipped for that sort of thing. 475 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,000 - Another cup? - No, thank you. 476 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:59,800 I mean, the guilt was, well, unbelievable, 477 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:01,400 that both Tony and I felt. 478 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:06,480 Tony said, "If only he had come round and smashed me in the face!" 479 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:08,560 But the fact is he didn't 480 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:12,640 and he said, "I can understand, my darling, I know." 481 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:15,080 He knew what real love was. 482 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:17,560 It wasn't a...a passing thing. 483 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:19,840 He knew it was genuine and that did grieve him, 484 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:23,400 because he thought he'd lost me completely. 485 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:25,800 I can't help feeling it's a matter for your conscience. 486 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,200 Conscience. 487 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:31,600 Thanks very much for the tea. 488 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:33,920 It was terrible. It was a terrible thing to do. 489 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:35,520 It was like shooting somebody. 490 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:44,160 She went into the room where John was sitting in the chair 491 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:46,840 and she kissed him on the forehead 492 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:49,920 and he said, "What's to become of us all?" 493 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:58,680 Joanie and Tony were the two people he loved most in the world, so 494 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,080 because of the fact that he loved them both so much, 495 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:03,000 he was so incredibly understanding 496 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:05,120 about the fact that they loved each other. 497 00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:08,280 He didn't see that as any slight towards him 498 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:10,200 and he took it on the chin. 499 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:17,720 She was living with Tony Hancock. He used to knock her about. 500 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:22,120 And I hate talk about great, clever, brilliant people, 501 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:26,000 but he liked the booze and he was rather unpleasant. 502 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,240 Oh, it was an up and down, it was a roller coaster 503 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:32,240 and John was my confidant, my best friend. 504 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:36,320 And I missed that wonderful life, and John understood. 505 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:40,720 He said, "I love him, too, I know exactly how it is, darling." 506 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:44,760 And he'd seen him through these dry-outs and things. 507 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:47,760 He was more concerned for them than he was for himself, you know, 508 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:49,760 and that was John, that was the way he was. 509 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,520 That's where that trust thing comes back. 510 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,080 I think he knew in the end that she would come back 511 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:56,280 and he waited for her. 512 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:01,960 John was incapable of resentment 513 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:05,400 as he was incapable of jealousy, really. 514 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,600 Both of them were very disruptive emotions. 515 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:13,800 They got back together again 516 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:16,400 and he never mentioned it, ever, ever again. 517 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:18,960 Not once. It's incredible, isn't it? 518 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:29,480 DAD'S ARMY THEME TUNE 519 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,400 Still reeling from Joan's affair, John received a job offer 520 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,720 that would lift his spirits and his career to a new high. 521 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:42,160 Oh, what a blessing it was, because, for John, mainly, 522 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,080 he had somewhere to get away from me! 523 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:49,360 John didn't know whether 524 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:52,280 he wanted to do the programme or not 525 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:57,600 and I didn't, and so we used to phone each other up and, eventually, 526 00:29:57,600 --> 00:29:59,600 John decided he was going to do it. 527 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:03,480 And then I said, "All right, if you do it, I'm going to do it." 528 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:06,000 Good evening, Mr Mainwaring, evening, Mr Wilson. 529 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:07,920 You know me, don't yo, sir? 530 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:11,080 - Mr Jones, the butcher, from the high street, isn't it? - That's right, sir. 531 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:13,200 Don't you think Mr Jones is a little too old, sir? 532 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:15,600 Old? Who are you calling old? 533 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:19,400 You give me a chance to get to those Jerry parachutists, I'll soon sort them out. 534 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:23,840 He took a sort of negative attitude. 535 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,520 And he didn't back the series, or anything. 536 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:32,160 And it took some time, but it was his wife Joan that awakened him 537 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:36,120 to the fact that he was starring in a hit series. 538 00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:39,320 He said, "No, it's about a lot of old codgers 539 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:42,160 "and there's no glamour in it. 540 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:46,000 "Um, in shabby old uniforms, I mean who's going to...? 541 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:47,600 "Who's going to...?" 542 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,640 He said, "I'll give it the six episodes, 543 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:52,080 "but they'll never do another." 544 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:53,120 WHISTLE 545 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:55,120 I'm a Gestapo officer. 546 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:59,160 - Are you the sergeant? - Yes. - What are you doing in France? 547 00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:00,840 - I'm not in France. - Oh, yes, you are. 548 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:02,680 You have come by parachute. 549 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:06,400 - I've captured you and now I'm interrogating you. - Oh, I see. 550 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:08,800 Oh, bonjour. 551 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:10,800 It's only looking back now 552 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:14,960 that I realise how very, very good John Le Mesurier was. 553 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:16,840 He used to drive me mad. 554 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:20,160 I'd say, "Lighten up, John, show a bit of enthusiasm." 555 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:22,640 (AS JOHN) "Oh, my dear boy. Have you got a cigarette?" 556 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:26,400 I'm putting matches underneath your fingernails. 557 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,040 I'm setting light to them. Burning down. 558 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:31,240 Now they've reached your fingers. 559 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:33,960 You're in agony. How do you like that? 560 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:37,640 Well, to be absolutely honest, 561 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,680 it isn't really bothering me very much. 562 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,640 They wanted him to be Captain Mainwaring 563 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,240 and Captain Mainwaring to be the sergeant. 564 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:49,000 I thought that's absolutely perfect, 565 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:53,320 to have a gent playing the sergeant. 566 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:56,760 That will absolutely twist the whole thing round and, of course, it did. 567 00:31:56,760 --> 00:32:01,480 That's one of the things that made Dad's Army a popular programme, I think. 568 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:04,400 They type of bomb we're going to use will be represented by this can. 569 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:07,520 Er, have you got it? Have you got the bomb? 570 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:10,760 - Yes. - Well, show it to them. 571 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:20,520 As we got to know John, we wrote the part exactly for him, 572 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:24,080 all his little idiosyncrasies, everything. 573 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,520 - Where's your hat? - Oh, here, sir. 574 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,000 - Well, put it on. - Oh, right, sir. 575 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:31,200 HE LAUGHS WEAKLY 576 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:40,320 I'm so sorry, sir, would you mind holding that for a moment? 577 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:45,640 It's jolly difficult do this without a mirror, you see? Awfully difficult. There. 578 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:49,280 - Is that...is that quite nice? - Oh, never mind that! 579 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:51,520 Sergeant Wilson was John Le Mesurier 580 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:54,160 and John Le Mesurier was Sergeant Wilson. 581 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:58,360 He was typecast he would be that gentle, erm... 582 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:02,680 ..gentle, gentle man, 583 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:06,120 who was put in a position of some sort of authority, 584 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:08,640 but didn't really know how to use it. 585 00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:11,360 I would like to say on behalf of Captain Mainwaring and myself 586 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:15,360 how very grateful we are for the trouble that you have taken in your appearance tonight. 587 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:18,240 - Wilson! - You all look absolutely lovely. 588 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:21,400 Same time, same place tomorrow. 589 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,120 Do, please, try to get here at the right time. Would you do that? 590 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:27,240 - Wilson, get in here! - Right. 591 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:31,560 He was so well mannered. That was the great thing about him. 592 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:33,880 He was nice to the underdog. 593 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:37,560 He always tipped his hat if he was wearing one to a lady. Do you know what I mean? 594 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:39,440 He was old-fashioned and a gentleman. 595 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,040 Do make yourself comfortable. 596 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:45,200 Is there any little thing I can do for you? Would you like a cup of tea? 597 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:48,360 - I don't think so. - Wilson, Wilson. - The kettle's on. 598 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:50,920 - Well, if you insist. - Wilson. Wilson! 599 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,920 Just a minute. 600 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:55,680 I'd like a word with you outside. 601 00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:59,920 He was always surrounded by women listening to him 602 00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:02,160 and he was in his element. 603 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:06,200 I remember women sobbing at parties, saying, "I love this man." 604 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:08,640 And John saying, "My darling, girl, just calm down." 605 00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:11,800 Pat them on the head and say, "Darling, how sweet." 606 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:13,160 What's the Christian name? 607 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:14,680 - Marcia. - Marcia. 608 00:34:14,680 --> 00:34:17,080 What a pretty name! 609 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:22,800 - Do you really think so? - I do. It's one of my favourites. 610 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:24,720 I really do love that name. 611 00:34:24,720 --> 00:34:27,440 When he saw a woman he'd always find something nice to say, 612 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,760 like you've done something to your hair, what a lovely dress you're wearing. 613 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:34,560 Come along, my dear. What a very pretty blouse. It's lovely. 614 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:35,920 Where did you get that? 615 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:42,120 He thought they were clever, because they could cook and do things. 616 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:45,840 Amazing, when I first met him and I made him an omelette. 617 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:48,880 He said, "You've just saved my life, my darling, 618 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:52,560 "how clever of you to make an omelette." 619 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:54,400 We've got to get this machine going. 620 00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:56,280 Do you know anything about that, Wilson? 621 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:57,920 Not really, sir, no, afraid not. 622 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:02,040 Mum says you can't even use a tin opener, doesn't she, Uncle Arthur? 623 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:05,200 People just loved to look after John. 624 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:07,920 He inspired such affection in people 625 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:09,760 and they loved to look after him. 626 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,160 He came to me one day on tour, and he said, 627 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:17,000 "Frank, what do you do with your dirty washing when you're on tour?! 628 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,360 I said, "I find the laundry will take it in on Monday 629 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:21,720 "and have it ready for the Saturday when we leave." 630 00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:22,920 He said, "Oh, I see." 631 00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:26,320 He turned to Teddy Sinclair and said, "What do you do, Teddy?" 632 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:32,200 Teddy said, "Well I take it down to the launderette and I do it there." 633 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,440 John said, "What do you mean, you sit there 634 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:38,800 "and you watch it going round and round?" 635 00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:40,480 "Oh, I couldn't do that." 636 00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:42,480 So I said, "What do you do, John?" 637 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:47,200 He said, "Well, I just sort of leave it around the room 638 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:51,920 "and somehow some kind person always comes and does it for me." 639 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:54,120 And that was absolutely typical of John. 640 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:56,560 Some kind person would always look after him. 641 00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:59,480 He pretended to be vague, 642 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:01,840 but I think he knew exactly what he was doing. 643 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:04,160 He wasn't fooling me for a second! 644 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:05,960 I think he fooled most people. 645 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:08,160 I don't want to take up too much of your time. 646 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:10,040 After all, you're a very important man. 647 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:12,360 I wouldn't say I was all that important. 648 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:15,880 Would you, Wilson? 649 00:36:20,240 --> 00:36:21,840 No, I don't think so. 650 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:27,400 Whenever he was brought in, there was a kind of energy. 651 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:29,640 Which is an odd contradiction. 652 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:32,400 Because it was such a laid-back, quiet performance. 653 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:35,880 But that was an energy, a buzz, around everyone else when he was there. 654 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:41,080 In a way, Arthur Lowe couldn't react to anybody else the way he reacted to John. 655 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:44,040 I'm going to take a very serious view of this absence without leave. 656 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:45,680 - Take his name, Sergeant. - Yes, yes. 657 00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:52,840 Now, as I was saying, the enemy is here in these phalanxes 658 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:55,560 and we... 659 00:36:58,000 --> 00:36:59,600 All the time you felt 660 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:03,680 he had this sort of rather sarcastic way with Arthur. 661 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:07,720 - Did you take his name? - Yes, sir, I did. - I didn't see you write it down. 662 00:37:07,720 --> 00:37:10,080 I don't have to write it down, sir, I know it. 663 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:11,800 When I tell you to take a man's name down, 664 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:13,840 I want you to take it down in case you forget it. 665 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:17,320 I'm hardly likely to forget it. I've known him for 19 years. 666 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:19,400 I'm not suggesting you forget the man's name. 667 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:22,640 I suggest you put it down so that you won't forget you've taken it. 668 00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:24,880 - Do I make myself clear? - Yes, you do, sir. 669 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:27,640 A world where everyone is shouting in front of the camera, 670 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:30,000 do their line, mug their part, go away. 671 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:32,680 John would be completely the opposite. 672 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:35,920 This still, small voice of rather benign confusion. 673 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:37,880 In his own head as much as anybody else's. 674 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:42,280 Now. 675 00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:44,640 At... What are you doing with that handkerchief? 676 00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:46,840 - Just tying a knot in it, sir. - What for? 677 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:49,880 To remind me to take down Pike's name. 678 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:54,360 I remember one episode where Arthur was getting pompous 679 00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:59,160 and I think organising a court-martial over some very trivial offence. 680 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:01,520 Area has ordered us to hold 681 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:05,120 a court of enquiry into the disappearance of the ammunition. 682 00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:08,200 - Oh, dear. - And John just walked round the desk 683 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:11,600 saying, "Oh, dear. Oh, dear, oh, dear." 684 00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:12,920 Oh, dear, oh, dear. 685 00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:15,600 Oh, dear. 686 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:18,120 Oh, dear. 687 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:21,960 Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear. 688 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:25,480 I used to stop reading the newspaper at rehearsal just to watch that, 689 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:30,040 because the timing between them was absolutely splendid. 690 00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:31,960 What on Earth's the matter with you? 691 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,760 Nothing, sir, it's nothing except for a few paltry shillings, 692 00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:37,000 we might been able to hush all this up. 693 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:39,360 If John was frightened of anything, 694 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:42,880 I think he was frightened of being bored for two seconds. 695 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:44,720 Have you seen Mr Snuggly? 696 00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:48,120 Mr who? 697 00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:52,040 - Mr Snuggly, my teddy. - No, I haven't. 698 00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:58,760 Half a second of worry about being bored 699 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:01,080 and he'd decide to play that line differently. 700 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:04,400 It got to be little terrifying, I wasn't ready for this sort of thing. 701 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:07,720 - Mum said she'd put him in. - Well, I haven't got it. 702 00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:09,840 I can't get to sleep without him. 703 00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:13,360 - I haven't seen him. - Have a look in your bed. Perhaps he's in there. 704 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:14,640 What? All right. 705 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:16,400 Ah, here he is. 706 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:19,280 - Don't let anybody see him! - All right, all right. 707 00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:22,160 It became terribly exciting. After two series, 708 00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:25,440 the scenes I looked forward to were scenes with John. 709 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:26,880 What have you got, Wilson? 710 00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:32,040 Er, um, Mr, er... 711 00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:35,320 Mr Snuggly. 712 00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:38,040 What?! 713 00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:40,600 He's my... My bear. 714 00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:42,560 My... 715 00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:43,600 My teddy bear. 716 00:39:44,720 --> 00:39:46,200 I can't get off without him. 717 00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:50,880 Extraordinary. 718 00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:53,360 I don't think anybody ever appreciated 719 00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:56,720 that John could have been a very great serious actor. 720 00:39:56,720 --> 00:39:59,680 John would always have one for the easy shot. 721 00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:02,920 He didn't want to put himself through anything too complicated. 722 00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:06,320 While he was being employed to do light-hearted comedy 723 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,920 with the raise an eyebrow, he was quite happy to do that. 724 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:11,600 CHILDREN SINGING 725 00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:15,760 Other people saw John's potential as an actor, even if he himself didn't. 726 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:20,360 In 1971, he was offered a role unlike any other he'd played. 727 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:24,280 A character based on Cambridge spy Kim Philby. 728 00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:33,280 I remember when he was offered Traitor, 729 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:35,880 he brought the script in. 730 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:37,800 Um, Clive took it home. 731 00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:40,920 I think Arthur took it home. 732 00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:42,200 He let me have a look at it. 733 00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:45,880 He said, "I don't know whether I should do this, I don't what I should do." 734 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:47,560 I thought it was the best thing. 735 00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:52,120 I said, "This is the peak of your career, you must do it." 736 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:53,560 He said, "Oh darling." 737 00:40:53,560 --> 00:41:01,000 There were speeches, a page and a half, non-stop, ranting speeches. 738 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:03,240 Somebody not like John at all. 739 00:41:03,240 --> 00:41:06,280 This is home, gentleman of the capitalist press. 740 00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:08,640 Not exactly House And Garden, but it's home. 741 00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:12,600 - I suppose it will be right if I take pictures? - No. No. 742 00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:14,920 - Uh? - No, no, no. 743 00:41:14,920 --> 00:41:18,160 Not here, not in this place, 744 00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:20,600 not between these four walls. Just sit down. 745 00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:24,160 Let's all sit down, shall we? Make ourselves comfortable. 746 00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:26,120 Have a little talk. 747 00:41:26,120 --> 00:41:28,120 It was a wonderful performance. 748 00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:33,600 He kept saying, "It's so ephemeral. People will forget. 749 00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:35,000 "They'll see it. 750 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,880 "I'm going to put myself through the hoop about this 751 00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:40,480 "and it's killing me! 752 00:41:40,480 --> 00:41:43,960 "And it'll all be forgotten." 753 00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:47,400 I kept nagging and nagging and nagging, saying, "Go on, 754 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:51,200 "raise your eyebrows in light comedy that's bread and butter, 755 00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:54,280 "you do that standing on your head, this is hard work." 756 00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:58,640 One night he said, "Bloody hell, then, I'll bloody well do it." 757 00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:00,040 I love England. 758 00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:03,040 Of course I do. 759 00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:07,520 But there's no need to look so affronted! 760 00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:11,920 That painting represents to me one image of my m-m-m... 761 00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:14,960 ..motherland. 762 00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:20,840 An image...that will always haunt me, 763 00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:24,160 like the paintings of Constable and Turner... 764 00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:26,880 She almost had to hit him over the head to make him do it. 765 00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:29,720 It was such a wonderful part. 766 00:42:29,720 --> 00:42:33,440 And he didn't want to do it, but he did and he won a BAFTA. 767 00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:35,000 'For his performance in Traitor, 768 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:39,160 'John Le Mesurier gets best acting award in television.' 769 00:42:39,160 --> 00:42:45,920 They called his name and he won it and I remember my mum tearing up 770 00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:51,080 and saying, "I wish I was still with him." 771 00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:54,080 You know, and it... 772 00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:57,560 It was sad to hear that and see that. 773 00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:08,600 I said, "You were marvellous in that." 774 00:43:08,600 --> 00:43:12,360 He said, "Well I didn't really like playing it very much." 775 00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:19,440 He'd always - very funny - protest if you paid him any compliment. 776 00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:22,440 "No, not quite me." 777 00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:26,880 The murder of any one man is by nature horrible 778 00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:31,720 and dehumanising. Wasn't it Auden or somebody? Auden, Isherwood, or someone. 779 00:43:31,720 --> 00:43:34,000 Auden, Auden, yes, 780 00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:36,240 who talked about the necessary in murder. 781 00:43:36,240 --> 00:43:40,560 The murder of tens or even hundreds of millions trying to prevent that 782 00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:43,840 and the continued brutalisation, victimisation... 783 00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:49,280 The exploitation of millions and millions and millions more! 784 00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:53,480 Oh, Jesus Christ. Conscience. HE LAUGHS 785 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:56,480 Oh, dear, let's talk about something else. 786 00:43:56,480 --> 00:44:01,200 HE LAUGHS Let's talk about the soul or bodily assumption. Oh God. 787 00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:03,720 Oh. 788 00:44:03,720 --> 00:44:07,400 I always remember a friend of mine congratulating him 789 00:44:07,400 --> 00:44:12,880 on winning this award and, typically John, he said, "Yes, Betty, it's lovely to have won it 790 00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:15,800 "but the thing is, all they put is name of the actor 791 00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:17,920 "and the name of the play." 792 00:44:17,920 --> 00:44:24,000 "So I've got this award that just says 'John Le Mesurier, Traitor.'" 793 00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:26,600 That was his sort of wry sense of humour. 794 00:44:26,600 --> 00:44:30,760 He wasn't nakedly ambitious in any shape or form. 795 00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:35,520 And this, in a sense, kept him always in work, 796 00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:37,840 because he would never turn something down because 797 00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:39,000 "I've done that before." 798 00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:42,440 "I want to go and play Henry V or King Lear." 799 00:44:42,440 --> 00:44:45,360 He didn't seem to have any of that. 800 00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:48,600 He was, you know, happy to be working. 801 00:44:48,600 --> 00:44:51,360 But, at the same time, one felt there should be 802 00:44:51,360 --> 00:44:55,920 a little bit more of a fire of ambition - it would have produced more things like Traitor. 803 00:44:55,920 --> 00:44:59,880 And that other thing he did on the motorbike. 804 00:44:59,880 --> 00:45:02,280 "Never go into the church, Ossian," 805 00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:09,040 My grandmother said to me, "Because God is not fun." 806 00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:12,800 I don't think John ever really wanted to be a leading actor in that respect. 807 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:18,600 Um, the duties might have been too onerous. 808 00:45:18,600 --> 00:45:23,720 He liked to go in and get the laughs and play the small parts 809 00:45:23,720 --> 00:45:26,600 and come home and go down to Ramsgate and put his feet up 810 00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:28,280 and go and look of the sea. 811 00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:32,760 A nice calm around him which you didn't want to intrude too much into. 812 00:45:32,760 --> 00:45:35,120 I just basked in it, I thought it was a very nice. 813 00:45:35,120 --> 00:45:38,400 There are so many people shouting on a film set, it's rather nice 814 00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:41,080 to have someone who is in a different world! 815 00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:51,360 - KNOCKS AT THE DOOR - Citizens! 816 00:45:51,360 --> 00:45:53,480 Nobles! 817 00:45:54,720 --> 00:45:55,880 Gentry! 818 00:45:57,800 --> 00:45:59,200 The King! 819 00:45:59,200 --> 00:46:03,200 The first time I worked with John was Jabberwocky and I remember he said, 820 00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:06,640 "I think it might be a good thing if I referred to his Majesty, 821 00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:08,480 "just occasionally, as 'darling'." 822 00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:09,640 What? 823 00:46:09,640 --> 00:46:13,480 "It just suggests something might have happened in the past." 824 00:46:13,480 --> 00:46:15,800 "I mean nothing...nothing too obvious, 825 00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:19,520 "but I thought it might be quite...quite good." 826 00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:22,120 "Oh, yes." I think you can probably hear him. 827 00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:27,840 And now you must prove yourself in mortal combat with a monster so terrifying, 828 00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:30,840 so awe-inspiring, so 'orrible, 829 00:46:30,840 --> 00:46:37,760 so soul-destroying that even I would hesitate to meet it. 830 00:46:38,760 --> 00:46:43,520 Place your fate in, er, hand-to-hand combat. 831 00:46:44,520 --> 00:46:45,560 Was that all right? 832 00:46:45,560 --> 00:46:48,480 Yes, I suppose so, my darling, yes. 833 00:46:48,480 --> 00:46:52,680 He'd occasionally, slip something into the conversation 834 00:46:52,680 --> 00:46:55,800 which knocked everybody sideways, you know. 835 00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:57,160 A witty thing. 836 00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:01,640 He was a wit when he wanted to be. 837 00:47:01,640 --> 00:47:05,360 John Le Mesurier, John, your subject, the joker. 838 00:47:05,360 --> 00:47:06,840 Any subject at all. 839 00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:10,040 - Any subject. - I see. Any subject? Really? - Yes. 840 00:47:11,280 --> 00:47:16,400 - Heavens. - You know a lot of subjects. You know a lot of subjects. - Well... 841 00:47:16,400 --> 00:47:19,320 Do one of those confident ones in the posh voice. 842 00:47:19,320 --> 00:47:21,200 Ah, yes, in a posh voice. 843 00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:24,400 John was asked to do jury service, 844 00:47:24,400 --> 00:47:29,440 which is quite a ridiculous concept, John sitting on a jury. 845 00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:31,200 He wrote back a letter saying, 846 00:47:31,200 --> 00:47:33,680 "I'm entirely unsuited to this line of work 847 00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:39,200 "owing to the fact that I'm prone to bouts of uncontrollable compassion." 848 00:47:39,200 --> 00:47:42,400 I'm quite prepared to go on that, because I remember it now. 849 00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:45,160 Somebody told me about a fellow who had a race horse 850 00:47:45,160 --> 00:47:48,800 and he was on pretty good terms, this race horse, with his jockey. 851 00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:51,800 - A lovely talker, isn't he? - Yes. 852 00:47:51,800 --> 00:47:56,160 He was kind of naughty. He had a very naughty, playful, wicked side. 853 00:47:56,160 --> 00:48:00,520 And the jockey said to the race horse one day, "Look here, 854 00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:03,360 "unless you win this race tomorrow..." 855 00:48:03,360 --> 00:48:04,480 LAUGHTER 856 00:48:04,480 --> 00:48:08,280 "..you'll find yourself on a milk rounds following day." 857 00:48:08,280 --> 00:48:10,200 - BUZZER - Interruption by Joe Brown. 858 00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:12,120 Oi! I just told it, right? 859 00:48:12,120 --> 00:48:14,600 Oh, I see, that's where I heard it. 860 00:48:14,600 --> 00:48:16,000 LAUGHTER 861 00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:17,320 APPLAUSE 862 00:48:19,840 --> 00:48:22,240 We were having dinner in, I think it was Jerry's, 863 00:48:22,240 --> 00:48:26,160 and this man came up, smoking a pipe, and slapped him on the shoulder. 864 00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:28,400 He said, "John, long time, no see." 865 00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:30,720 John said to me, "This man bores for England." 866 00:48:30,720 --> 00:48:34,240 Right in front of him. "This man bores for England." 867 00:48:34,240 --> 00:48:37,040 He said, "I believe you've taken the word abroad." 868 00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:40,120 "You've taken it to the Antipodes, boredom, haven't you, dear boy?" 869 00:48:40,120 --> 00:48:44,560 And the guy said, "You are funny." But he was being completely serious. 870 00:48:44,560 --> 00:48:46,560 SHE CHUCKLES 871 00:48:47,880 --> 00:48:51,200 I'm giving six points to John for cold courage! 872 00:48:53,520 --> 00:48:57,680 How could you not love the man? He was, you know, one of a kind 873 00:48:57,680 --> 00:49:02,880 and so gentle and loving and giving and funny. 874 00:49:02,880 --> 00:49:07,440 John's way of showing any affection to you, rather than being gushy, 875 00:49:07,440 --> 00:49:11,480 - or saying, "I - BLEEP - love you," he would pat you on the shoulder gently and say, 876 00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:14,240 "I'm not entirely unfond of you, my little friend." 877 00:49:14,240 --> 00:49:16,200 And that meant he really loved you. 878 00:49:16,200 --> 00:49:18,600 That was about as much as you would ever get 879 00:49:18,600 --> 00:49:23,280 as far as voicing his affection, but he felt it very deeply. 880 00:49:23,280 --> 00:49:25,560 He was a very understated man, you know. 881 00:49:25,560 --> 00:49:29,720 In fact I would go as far to say that John was the master of the understatement. 882 00:49:29,720 --> 00:49:32,040 He'd say, "I'm quite fond of you, you know?" 883 00:49:32,040 --> 00:49:34,800 "I'm inordinately fond of you," he'd say. 884 00:49:35,840 --> 00:49:39,000 That was a terribly... That was a great compliment to me. 885 00:49:39,000 --> 00:49:42,120 Looking forward to the dance, are you? 886 00:49:42,120 --> 00:49:43,480 Yes, thank you, Uncle. 887 00:49:43,480 --> 00:49:46,440 - You don't have to keep calling me uncle, you know. - Sorry, Sergeant. 888 00:49:46,440 --> 00:49:48,040 Or that, either. 889 00:49:48,040 --> 00:49:50,920 I mean we're both grown up, men of the world. 890 00:49:50,920 --> 00:49:52,280 I'm Frank. 891 00:49:52,280 --> 00:49:53,640 No I'm not, er... 892 00:49:55,960 --> 00:49:58,160 You're Frank, I'm Arthur. 893 00:49:59,520 --> 00:50:00,800 How do you do? 894 00:50:02,480 --> 00:50:04,600 I don't know how old I was, about 22. 895 00:50:04,600 --> 00:50:07,440 I was going slightly off the rails at the time, 896 00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:11,960 being in the music business, and my lifestyle was a little erratic. 897 00:50:11,960 --> 00:50:15,440 My mother was very worried about me at the time. 898 00:50:15,440 --> 00:50:18,120 She had a word with John and she was at her wits' end. 899 00:50:18,120 --> 00:50:21,400 So John made a special journey up to London 900 00:50:21,400 --> 00:50:24,360 to sort of try and talk some sense into me. 901 00:50:24,360 --> 00:50:28,560 It was very funny because he really wasn't good at that sort of thing. 902 00:50:28,560 --> 00:50:31,760 He turned up at the flat. He said, "My darling boy, if you don't mind, 903 00:50:31,760 --> 00:50:33,800 "I just want to have a word with you." 904 00:50:33,800 --> 00:50:36,320 "Your mother's very worried about your lifestyle." 905 00:50:36,320 --> 00:50:40,360 - He said, "I know you're not going to take any - BLEEP - notice of me whatsoever." 906 00:50:40,360 --> 00:50:43,240 "You'll carry on doing exactly what you've been doing, 907 00:50:43,240 --> 00:50:46,080 "but, just for my sake, could you just go along with it, 908 00:50:46,080 --> 00:50:49,360 "and just pretend that you are mending your ways?" 909 00:50:49,360 --> 00:50:52,200 He said, "You know, you would do me an enormous favour 910 00:50:52,200 --> 00:50:55,280 "because she's so worried about you, my darling boy." 911 00:50:55,280 --> 00:50:59,160 "You know, as am I, but I know you're perfectly all right." 912 00:50:59,160 --> 00:51:01,360 When he got his little pep talk out of the way, 913 00:51:01,360 --> 00:51:04,920 he said, "You don't have a joint on you, by any chance?" 914 00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:06,280 Now, now, Frank. 915 00:51:08,080 --> 00:51:09,280 About last night... 916 00:51:09,280 --> 00:51:13,280 I know we shouldn't have taken it, but we didn't do the car no harm. 917 00:51:13,280 --> 00:51:16,960 I'm not talking about the car, I'm talking about the girl. 918 00:51:16,960 --> 00:51:19,840 A lot of people will know that you spent the night together 919 00:51:19,840 --> 00:51:23,640 and a lot of people will tell you what you did was wrong. 920 00:51:23,640 --> 00:51:25,840 I was pushing, she was steering. 921 00:51:27,400 --> 00:51:29,560 He was one of the major influences on my life. 922 00:51:29,560 --> 00:51:34,000 He was a real gentleman in every sense of the word. 923 00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:35,800 Yeah, I really loved him. 924 00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:38,960 One of the greatest things I learned from him was patience. 925 00:51:40,080 --> 00:51:42,200 And not to panic. 926 00:51:42,200 --> 00:51:45,640 I don't mean that as a Dad's Army pun, or anything, 927 00:51:45,640 --> 00:51:47,560 but just keep calm, 928 00:51:47,560 --> 00:51:53,040 things will find a way of finding their true direction. 929 00:51:53,040 --> 00:51:55,240 Just that was the way life came, 930 00:51:55,240 --> 00:51:57,880 things went well, things went badly. 931 00:51:57,880 --> 00:52:00,480 He had problems in his private life. 932 00:52:00,480 --> 00:52:04,000 But he always seemed bob along like a cork on the water. 933 00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:09,800 It took me a long time to get to understand the things that he kept hidden, 934 00:52:09,800 --> 00:52:12,120 very deeply. 935 00:52:12,120 --> 00:52:15,160 When he was a young man, he had psoriasis. 936 00:52:15,160 --> 00:52:17,600 He had it all his life and this is, you know, 937 00:52:17,600 --> 00:52:23,080 it's a kind of illness, it's a nervous thing. 938 00:52:23,080 --> 00:52:28,080 He used to break out with this every time he started a new job. 939 00:52:28,080 --> 00:52:31,680 Because he couldn't talk about it, he couldn't say, "I'm scared." 940 00:52:31,680 --> 00:52:33,880 You know, he couldn't show that, 941 00:52:33,880 --> 00:52:38,480 he would always have that elegant, relaxed facade. 942 00:52:38,480 --> 00:52:42,440 And, er, underneath it was tumult. 943 00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:45,520 JAZZ MUSIC PLAYS 944 00:52:48,800 --> 00:52:50,920 When his house got bombed in the war, 945 00:52:50,920 --> 00:52:56,280 the whole house was completely reduced to... It was gone. 946 00:52:56,280 --> 00:52:59,240 John just sat on the stairs, crying about his jazz records 947 00:52:59,240 --> 00:53:01,400 and that was the only thing he cared about. 948 00:53:01,400 --> 00:53:05,680 Things didn't matter to him at all, not in any way. 949 00:53:06,720 --> 00:53:07,920 He loved jazz. 950 00:53:07,920 --> 00:53:10,240 He was so happy, for example, 951 00:53:10,240 --> 00:53:13,160 when I was old enough to go to Ronnie Scott's with him, 952 00:53:13,160 --> 00:53:14,840 or looked old enough, anyway. 953 00:53:14,840 --> 00:53:17,480 He would spend an inordinate amount of time in Ronnie's. 954 00:53:17,480 --> 00:53:20,520 He loved the music, love the atmosphere, nobody bother him. 955 00:53:20,520 --> 00:53:23,480 It was dark. Ronnie's loved him. 956 00:53:23,480 --> 00:53:27,040 My dad was an amazing piano player and he often told me 957 00:53:27,040 --> 00:53:32,320 he would have preferred to earn a living playing piano rather than acting. 958 00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:40,640 MUSIC ENDS 959 00:53:40,640 --> 00:53:42,320 APPLAUSE 960 00:53:43,400 --> 00:53:46,080 He said if you happen to walk into a cocktail bar 961 00:53:46,080 --> 00:53:50,320 and you see an elderly, grey-haired gentleman in a white jacket, 962 00:53:50,320 --> 00:53:55,840 playing the piano rather badly, take another look, it might be me. 963 00:53:55,840 --> 00:53:59,440 That's the last line of his autobiography. 964 00:53:59,440 --> 00:54:00,840 Isn't that lovely? 965 00:54:02,240 --> 00:54:06,400 A lifetime spent in jazz clubs and bars finally took its toll 966 00:54:06,400 --> 00:54:11,280 and, in 1977, John Le Mesurier was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. 967 00:54:11,280 --> 00:54:15,520 He was a very good drinker. There are good drinkers and bad drinkers. 968 00:54:15,520 --> 00:54:18,600 John just became funnier and warmer and kinder, 969 00:54:18,600 --> 00:54:20,920 whereas some people become horrible. 970 00:54:20,920 --> 00:54:24,800 Er, John was a good drinker, but I think, eventually, that's what got him. 971 00:54:24,800 --> 00:54:28,960 John went up to this policeman and said, "Could you tell me 972 00:54:28,960 --> 00:54:33,080 "where I could find Alcoholics Anonymous?" 973 00:54:33,080 --> 00:54:36,280 And the constable said, "Why, do you want to join, sir?" 974 00:54:36,280 --> 00:54:38,280 He said, "No, I want to resign." 975 00:54:38,280 --> 00:54:40,080 HE CHUCKLES 976 00:54:40,080 --> 00:54:43,600 He'd sit in the garden on his own, looking out to sea 977 00:54:43,600 --> 00:54:48,520 for hours on end, just... Perhaps with a glass in his hand. 978 00:54:48,520 --> 00:54:50,080 I never saw John drunk. 979 00:54:51,480 --> 00:54:54,360 But, on the other hand, I very seldom saw him 980 00:54:54,360 --> 00:54:56,480 without a drink in his hand, 981 00:54:56,480 --> 00:54:59,520 from early in the morning till bed time. 982 00:54:59,520 --> 00:55:03,840 Despite surprising doctors by making a recovery 983 00:55:03,840 --> 00:55:06,880 which enabled him to carry on working for another six years, 984 00:55:06,880 --> 00:55:09,360 John's health problems finally caught up with him. 985 00:55:11,280 --> 00:55:14,960 I went to see him in the hospital and I'd grown a beard. 986 00:55:14,960 --> 00:55:22,160 I was doing, er, Educating Rita somewhere and playing a college... 987 00:55:22,160 --> 00:55:24,840 He said, "Oh, my dear fellow, you've grown a beard." 988 00:55:24,840 --> 00:55:27,400 I said, "Yes John, I'm playing a college professor." 989 00:55:27,400 --> 00:55:30,640 "I thought perhaps it might make me look a bit more intellectual." 990 00:55:30,640 --> 00:55:33,080 - He said, "And has it?" - HE LAUGHS 991 00:55:33,080 --> 00:55:35,360 With just the hint of a smile. 992 00:55:36,400 --> 00:55:38,840 And as Joanie said, that was his last joke. 993 00:55:41,920 --> 00:55:45,640 The actor John Le Mesurier, one of the stars of Dad's Army, 994 00:55:45,640 --> 00:55:47,840 died today in a Ramsgate hospital. 995 00:55:47,840 --> 00:55:49,200 He was 71. 996 00:55:49,200 --> 00:55:51,560 A hospital spokesman said he died peacefully 997 00:55:51,560 --> 00:55:53,520 with his wife at his bedside. 998 00:55:55,160 --> 00:55:58,000 I don't think John would have liked to have stayed around 999 00:55:58,000 --> 00:55:59,760 and made nuisance of himself. 1000 00:55:59,760 --> 00:56:02,800 He always had expert timing. 1001 00:56:02,800 --> 00:56:05,880 I think he left, in a way, when he wanted to. 1002 00:56:09,640 --> 00:56:11,520 The actor, who made so many laugh, 1003 00:56:11,520 --> 00:56:14,640 refused even to take the prospect of his death seriously. 1004 00:56:14,640 --> 00:56:17,480 He'd already written his own obituary for The Times. 1005 00:56:17,480 --> 00:56:20,480 He wished it to be known that he had just "conked out". 1006 00:56:22,760 --> 00:56:25,680 I remember The Times refused to print it. "We're not printing that." 1007 00:56:25,680 --> 00:56:30,800 But they, um, they decided, 1008 00:56:30,800 --> 00:56:32,600 "OK, we'll go with it, why not?" 1009 00:56:36,040 --> 00:56:41,680 The Guardian, apart from doing an obituary, they did a leader. 1010 00:56:41,680 --> 00:56:46,560 "He somehow embodied a symbolic British reaction 1011 00:56:46,560 --> 00:56:48,800 "to the whirlpool of the modern world." 1012 00:56:48,800 --> 00:56:53,560 "Endlessly perplexed by the dizzying and incoherent pattern of events, 1013 00:56:53,560 --> 00:56:58,960 "but doing his courteous best to ensure resentment never showed." 1014 00:56:58,960 --> 00:57:00,480 Isn't that lovely? 1015 00:57:04,920 --> 00:57:07,320 He was an absolutely marvellous man. 1016 00:57:07,320 --> 00:57:10,240 I mean, they don't make them like that any more. 1017 00:57:11,880 --> 00:57:15,760 He just inspired people to love him, 1018 00:57:15,760 --> 00:57:18,720 because he was just such a lovely man. 1019 00:57:21,560 --> 00:57:24,920 You realise, in comparison, when you look at other people, 1020 00:57:24,920 --> 00:57:28,960 that there aren't many John Le Mesuriers around any more. They are very rare people. 1021 00:57:31,600 --> 00:57:35,760 I feel very privileged to have known him, 1022 00:57:35,760 --> 00:57:36,800 actually. 1023 00:57:39,040 --> 00:57:41,080 He was one of the special ones. 1024 00:57:45,480 --> 00:57:47,760 On the night before he died, 1025 00:57:47,760 --> 00:57:52,200 he said, "My darling, "it's all been rather lovely." 1026 00:57:54,000 --> 00:57:56,040 A charmed life. 1027 00:57:57,120 --> 00:58:00,120 He really did. He was the charm. 1028 00:58:23,880 --> 00:58:26,080 One little poem he used to say - 1029 00:58:26,080 --> 00:58:28,200 # If you want to have some fun 1030 00:58:28,200 --> 00:58:30,520 # Put your finger up your bum 1031 00:58:30,520 --> 00:58:33,800 # And we'll all have a jolly, jolly time. # 1032 00:58:33,800 --> 00:58:36,560 That was that was one of his poems. 1033 00:58:36,560 --> 00:58:38,280 HE GIGGLES 1034 00:58:38,280 --> 00:58:40,920 I don't think you'll be able to use that. 1035 00:58:40,920 --> 00:58:43,360 But I just thought I'd have to tell you. 1036 00:58:44,600 --> 00:58:47,640 Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd