I've been trawling through the fascinating archives BBC South Today have very kindly made available online and it's a treasure trove of classic clips from times past. I've already brought you rare clips with Carry On faces such as Kenneth Williams, Jack Douglas and Terry Scott and today it's the turn of the actor Warren Mitchell.
Although Warren Mitchell remains best known for his long running role as Alf Garnett in Till Death Us Do Part, he had a long career on stage and screen in many diverse, deeply challenging role. A colourful figure who was a million miles from the comedy character he came to play, Warren made a memorable cameo in the slave auction sequence in the 1964 comedy, Carry On Cleo.
Anyway the clip available here comes from a 1970 interview with the BBC. I hope you enjoy it.
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram
I've been trawling through the wonderful archive clips on the BBC South Today website recently. I've blogged lovely old clips of such stars as Terry Scott, Kenneth Williams and Sid James and today we're going back to 1974 to hear from the wonderful actor, Harry H Corbett.
To a generation he was Harold Steptoe in the brilliant BBC comedy series Steptoe and Son. And of course to Carry On fans, he was Sergeant Sidney Bung in one of the best in the series, Carry On Screaming in 1966. The clip comes from way back in 1974 when a reporter spoke to Harry in his dressing room about how he came to play Harold Steptoe, why he loved the role and also, what led him to play in panto.
As always, it's fascinating to see one of our best loved comedy actors being themselves, out of character. In those far off days, actors weren't interviewed as often, there was less telly and no social media. So it's quite rare to see clips like this. Also included are some modern day comments from Harry's daughter, the actress Susannah Corbett, who talks fondly of her father. It's definitely worth a watch.
And you can watch the clip here
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram
I have been trawling the BBC South Today archives of late and they have turned up quite a number of classic, little seen interviews with some of our favourite Carry On favourites. So far I have brought you clips of Kenneth Williams, Terry Scott, Harry H Corbett, Jack Douglas and Warren Mitchell. And today it's the turn of that most American of Carry On guest stars, Phil Silvers.
The clip comes from an interview Phil gave back in 1974, several years after his one and only Carry On appearance. The actor and comedian, best known for his 1950s success in American television as Sergeant Bilko, spent six weeks in the Spring of 1967 working with the Carry On team at Pinewood Studios. His role as Sergeant Knocker in Follow That Camel saw Phil appear alongside series favourites such as Peter Butterworth, Joan Sims, Charles Hawtrey and Bernard Bresslaw.
Phil also, along with Elke Sommer, remains the highest paid actor ever to appear in a Carry On. While I love his Sergeant Bilko and think he gives a fun performance in Camel, I'm not quite sure the addition of Silvers really did set the Carry On team on fire on the other side of the Atlantic, as the Rank Organisation had hoped.
Anyway the clip, which hasn't been seen since it was recorded back in 1974, can be viewed right here
I hope you enjoy it!
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram
BBC South Today has a veritable treasure trove of archive material available on their website. Following on from the video clips the other day on Kenneth Williams talking about his comedy voices in 1963, Sid James' last interview, newly rediscovered and Terry Scott going to church in Bournemouth, here's some vintage footage of Jack Douglas.
Filmed in 1967, in black and white, the interview sees Jack Douglas in the region doing a stage show while also taking time to plug a forthcoming television series. The comedy schtick is rather corny - the reporter pulls into a petrol station to find Jack as the pump attendant. This allows Jack to go through an impressive range of regional accents before eventually finding it far too irresistible and going into his trademark twitch.
This was a full four years before Jack first joined the Carry On films with a bit part in Carry On Matron as a twitching father. Such was his success with the rest of the gang and possibly more importantly, producer Peter Rogers, that Jack was invited back again and again, eventually becoming a key player in the later years of our favourite film series.
You can watch the clip here
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram
BBC South Today has a veritable treasure trove of archive material available on their website. Following on from the video clips the other day on Kenneth Williams and Sid James, today I'm sharing a little snippet of what Terry Scott was getting up to with his weekends in the Summer of 1978.
Terry spent that Summer performing at the Pier Theatre in Bournemouth in Dave Freeman's play A Bedfull of Foreigners. As usual in this era, his regular co-star was none other than June Whitfield. But what did Terry do with his Sundays off, without dear June?
Well it turns out he popped off to the local church for a spot of singing. It's lovely to hear Terry speaking as himself, out of character as it were. And rather surprising to see him tootling around Bournemouth on the back of a scooter!
And as for Terry's tonic to keep his voice in order after doing eight shows a week? A concoction of port and honey!
You can watch the clip here
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram
I tweeted this lovely clip yesterday but it's so fantastic I thought it deserved a little blog post all of its own. The actor Richard O'Callaghan, perhaps best known to us for his roles in Carry On Loving and Carry On At Your Convenience, has been investigating his mother's career archive.
Richard's mother was the legendary actress Patricia Hayes, who herself appeared in a cameo role in Carry On Again Doctor in 1969. During her long career on stage and screen, Patricia kept a vast archive from all aspects of her career. Twenty years after her death, Richard has been speaking to BBC South Today about his mother and her treasure trove of scripts and ephemera.
As well as documenting her own career, Patricia's archive provides many rare examples her excellent work alongside some of the nation's best loved comedians and comedy actors.
You can watch the clip from BBC South Today here
