Without wanting to put a dampener on this most festive time of year, I thought it was also important to remember some of the familiar Carry On faces we so very sadly lost in 2018. As always, the older the Carry On series becomes, the less links we have left with past glories. The joy of the series is that we can still enjoy so many timeless performances from the very best of British actors, even once they've gone to the Pinewood Bar upstairs.
Back in March the news broke that we had lost the great actor Bill Maynard. Bill was 89 and remained a vibrant personality with many stories to tell. He was due to appear at a special event in Elstree in the Summer and there were plans afoot for a Carry On Blogging interview that very sadly didn't happen. In his 90th year, Bill was still in excellent form. You can read my tribute to him here.
In May, the actor Peter Byrne very sadly passed away at the grand old age of 90. Peter, best remembered for his twenty year stint in Dixon of Dock Green on television, had several associations with Peter Rogers Productions in the early 1960s. Peter had small parts in Raising The Wind, Watch Your Stern, The Iron Maiden and finally, Carry On Cabby in 1963. You can read my tribute to Peter here.
September was a dreadful month for Carry On fans with some well-loved actors taking their final bows. We said farewell to the British born American star of stage and screen Carole Shelley. Carole had started her career in Britain with supporting parts in Carry On Regardless and Carry On Cabby. She was 79. Read more about Carole here.
Very shortly after the news of Carole's death came the news that actress Jacqueline Pearce had passed away at the age of 74. Best known for her iconic role in the BBC's sci-fi series Blake's 7 from the late 1970s, Jacqueline had made a brief appearance in Carry On Don't Lose Your Head with Charles Hawtrey back in 1966. Read more here.
More sadness followed when the legendary Liz Fraser died suddenly at the age of 88. I had been fortunate enough to see Liz in conversation at the Museum of Comedy just a month before, little knowing it would be her last public appearance. She was in great form and I'll treasure the memory and the fact I got to say hello and shake her hand. What a woman. Read my tribute to Liz here and my blog on my five favourite Liz performances here.
The unique, memorable, superbly talented Fenella Fielding had been in poor health for a short time before her death in September at the age of 90. A wonderful star of stage and screen and forever remembered for her iconic performance in Carry On Screaming, Fenella had enjoyed a career resurgence thanks to her beautiful memoirs and live performances at a range of venues up and down the land. Awarded the OBE in recognition of her long and successful career, sadly Fenella wasn't able to have her day at the Palace. At least she knew how much she was loved. Read my tribute to her here.
Just last month, the actor John Bluthal very sadly left us aged 89. Forever remembered for the BBC comedy series, The Vicar of Dibley, John had a long, diverse and varied career across all mediums and several continents, dating back to the 1950s. He was still acting earlier this year. He had supporting roles in Carry On Spying, Carry On Follow That Camel and Carry On Henry. Read my tribute to John here.
November also saw us say farewell to another instantly recognisable face. The actor George A Cooper may not have appeared in a Carry On but he did work with many of the team in film and on television. He also had a great role in the big screen version of Bless This House in 1972, working opposite Sid James, Terry Scott, Carol Hawkins and Robin Askwith. To my generation, he'll always be the caretaker Mr Griffiths in Grange Hill. Read more here.
And finally, only the other day, on 28 December we lost the irreplaceable Dame June Whitfield. June had reached the grand old age of 93 on 11 November and while seemingly retired from acting, was still seen from time to time at events and of course received her damehood in 2017. It's impossible to sum up June's contribution to British culture and British comedy but I tried in this tribute post from just yesterday, which you can read here. I'm sad she has left us but what a life, what a legacy.
Gone but definitely not forgotten, we'll not see their like again. Thankfully we have so many glorious performances from the very best of British film and TV to remember these wonderfully talented people by. So as the year ends, I'm raising a glass to each and every one of them. Thank you for everything.
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram
As reported yesterday, the actor John Bluthal very sadly passed away at the age of 89 on 15 November. John was a very interesting actor who lived a very interesting life and appeared in all manner of productions during a long and successful career. Probably best remembered to modern audiences as Frank Pickle in the Dawn French BBC comedy, The Vicar of Dibley from the 1990s, Bluthal had a career on stage and screen dating back to the 1950s and he was still working earlier this year.
I remember being somewhat surprised to see a familiar British comedy face in the 2016 big budget Hollywood film, Hail Caesar, which starred none other than George Clooney. Yes, John was there, aged 85, playing Professor Marcuse in the Coen Brothers' epic. I shouldn't have been surprised as John's career included working with the very best, wherever they happened to be. Born in Poland in August 1929, the young John relocated to Australia in 1938, as Europe stood on the ominous brink of war. Growing up in Australia, it was here John made his first steps towards life as an actor. He would continue to appear on stage, television and film in Australia throughout his career and spent much of his time there.
Indeed one of his earliest links to Britain was founded in Australia when he first worked with Spike Milligan, who would become a regular co-star, on the 1958 television special The Gladys Half Hour. Once settled in Britain, John would go on to work with Spike on television and radio, probably most famously on Spike's show, Q.
On stage, John Bluthal was active as soon as he arrived in the UK. He played Fagin in Oliver!, replacing Ron Moody in 1960. He also worked a great deal at the National Theatre in London. John appeared in such productions as The Taming of the Shrew, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest and Peter Hall's Antony and Cleopatra, which starred Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench.
Of course John also became a familiar face on the big screen as I've already mentioned. There were three supporting roles in the Carry Ons of course - he first joined the series in 1964 when he played the Head Waiter at the Cafe Mozart in Carry On Spying. John, known for his amazing range of voices, also dubbed Judith Furse's performance as the fiendish Dr Crow. Three years later John played Corporal Clotski, second in command to Phil Silvers in Follow That Camel. And finally, Bluthal had an uncredited cameo as the Royal Tailor in the 1970 film Carry On Henry. Bluthal also made small appearances in two of Betty Box's Doctor films - see if you can spot him in Doctor in Distress (1963) and Doctor in Trouble (1970).
John teamed up with his Camel co-star Phil Silvers once more, in the 1967 musical comedy film, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which also featured Peter Butterworth. And in 1973 he played Jerry in the Jim Dale/Angela Douglas children's film adventure, Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World. Other films included The Beatles' film Help (1965), Casino Royale (1967), The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), Superman III (1983), Labyrinth (1987), The Fifth Element (1997) and Love's Brother (2004).
On the small screen, one of Bluthal's earliest roles in the UK was in the 1960 series CItizen James. He appeared in five episodes as Charlie, alongside Sid James and Liz Fraser. He went on to appear with Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques in their BBC sitcom, Sykes And A … in 1961, starring in the episode Sykes And A … Bath. He returned the same year for Sykes And A …Mission and also appeared in the colour series in 1974. Also in 1961, John appeared alongside Tony Hancock in The Radio Ham in the TV series, Hancock. Other appearances included guest spots on a whole host of series such as The Avengers, Bergerac, The Saint, 'Allo 'Allo, Minder and Inspector Morse. Probably his best remembered role from his early television work was as Manny Cohen, the Jewish tailor in the long running ITV sitcom Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width. A total of 40 episodes were made between 1967 and 1971. It even led to a film spin off in 1973.
Bluthal found a new level of fame as Frank Pickle in the Dawn French ensemble comedy The Vicar of Dibley, which ran on BBC1 between 1994 and 1998, returning for a whole host of specials right up to 2013. The cast featured the likes of Gary Waldhorn, Trevor Peacock and Liz Smith. Bluthal appeared in all twenty episodes. French paid a warm, loving tribute to John on Twitter yesterday, remembering all their happy times together on set. John continued to act until earlier this year, with recent appearances including the already mentioned Hail, Caesar, a film called Jungle, starring Daniel Radcliffe, released last year and his final work, a short film called By Any Other Name.
Rather touchingly, John's final appearance saw him working with his daughter, Lisa. By Any Other Name is a whimsical take on an old man's life with Alzheimer's Disease, and how his daughter copes with his illness, by singing songs from musical theatre. John plays Bernie Berman and his daughter Lisa plays his screen daughter Rose. Lisa also wrote and directed the film.
We have seen several well loved actors with Carry On connections leave the stage this year, from Bill Maynard and Peter Byrne to Liz Fraser, Fenella Fielding and now John Bluthal. It's always extremely sad to lose another link to past glories and we all cherish their many fantastic performances over the years. The one comforting thing about all these names is that they lived, without exception, long and full lives. Yes, we are sad they are gone, but thankfully we have many wonderful films and television shows to remember them by.
Rest in peace John Bluthal.
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram
In
an occasional new series for Carry On Blogging, here are five
interesting facts about the Carry Ons and their stars which may be new
to you...
Did you know...
Juliet Mills had been such a hit with Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas following her roles in Nurse On Wheels and Twice Round The Daffodils that she was offered the lead role of Sally in Carry On Jack. However did you know that the first choice for Sally had been then series regular Liz Fraser? Liz and her agent had agreed she should play more dramatic parts and move away from the image of Carry On girl and Juliet stepped up for her only role in the series.
Another casting decision involving Juliet came about due to the aforementioned Nurse On Wheels. Fan favourite Joan Sims had been given the leading role of Joanna in the district nurse comedy, however a last minute change of heart saw Mills given the role and Joan relegated to a supporting part as the vicar's daughter. This was a big disappointment for Joan who was one of the Carry On repertory company's most loyal and prolific stars.
Speaking of Joan, one of her most serious and long term boyfriends was a struggling actor by the name of Tony Baird. Baird had small parts in man British films and television shows during the 1950s and 60s and even cropped up in a Carry On film. If you watch closely you will spot him as one of Dr Crow's guards in the final sequences of Carry On Spying. He gives chase to Kenneth Williams and Co together with Patrick Durkin. Curiously, Baird's only role in the series came in one of the few Carry Ons Joan did not appear in.
Judith Furse played her biggest supporting role in Spying as the fiendish Dr Crow, leader of STENCH. This formidable turn apparently caused the actress some stress and she struggled with the lines in many of her scenes. The final print of the film does not actually use Judith's voice. The role was dubbed by familiar actor John Bluthal, who also played the Cafe Mozart waiter and STENCH agent in the film.
Finally, last but not least, John Bluthal played two other supporting roles in the Carry Ons. He returned to the series for Follow That Camel in 1967 and finally the role of the KIng's dresser in Carry On Henry in 1970. However for some reason or other Bluthal was not credited for this performance. Bluthal is still acting today in his late 80s, most recently opposite George Clooney in the Hollywood comedy Hail Caesar!
I hope you enjoyed this fun Carry On facts! Plenty more where they came from so stay tuned!
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan
