Larry Dann:
Although he was a prolific child actor in the '50s, an alumni of Joan Littlewood's ground-breaking Theatre Workshop and a stalwart of late-era Carry Ons, many will recognise Larry Dann most easily from his long stint (1984-92) in 'The Bill' as desk sergeant Alec Peters.
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| 'Carry On Teacher' (1959). It would be decades later that he returned to the franchise in its fading years |
From the late '40s and into the '50s, Larry Dann would appear (usually uncredited) as a little boy in a slew of British films, including the Oscar-nominated UK/US production 'Edward, My Son' (1949), 'Made in Heaven' (1952), the Norman Wisdom comedy 'Trouble in Store' (1953), and 'The Million Pound Note' (1954) with Gregory Peck. By his latter teens he had moved on to juvenile roles such as his memorable turn in 'Carry On Teacher' (1959)
Unlike many of his contemporaries, the golden era of '60s cult TV and film seemed to slightly pass him by. He was in plain fare of the 'Dixon of Dock Green' and 'Z Cars' variety, and missed out on a permanent role in the genre-defining UK soap 'Coronation Street' as bad boy Dennis Tanner, with the part recast after the pilot. Other TV included 'No Hiding Place' and 'The Plane Makers' - popular shows in their time but with no great following today.
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| In an episode of the 1970 mystery series 'Tales of Unease', with Ursula Mohan. |
Films offered other possibilities, and he crops up in the likes of 'Bulldog Breed' (1960), another Norman Wisdom vehicle, and the Joe Brown pop-romp 'What a Crazy World' (1963). Later on there's 'Before Winter Comes' (1969), a little-remembered cold war comedy-drama starring David Niven and Topol, but also featuring many British character actor favourites such as Tony Selby, George Innes and Christopher Sandford.
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| A more starring role in 'Ghost Story' (1974) |
The early '70s is interesting for that mix of arthouse pretention, schlock horror and prurient comedy. All of which are reflected in Larry Dann's CV. There's 'Whirlpool' (1970), an interesting 'Psycho'-meets-'Peeping Tom' effort in which he plays a pub landlord, and 'Our Miss Fred' (1972), the feeble Danny LaRue v the Nazis farce, both negligible roles. 'Ghost Story' (1974) gives him a lot more to get his teeth into, a supernatural horror with a decadent interwar setting and a time slipping Marianne Faithfull. (It also features a rare acting role for Vivian MacKerrell - the real-life inspiration for Withnail.)
Then of course there's the unholy trinity of last-gasp 'Carry On ...' films: '... Behind' (1975); '... England' (1976); and '... Emmanuelle' (1978).
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| 'Carry On Behind' (1975), with Carol Hawkins, Sherrie Hewson and Brian Osborne |
Coming more up to date, we can add a few more primetime appearances, mostly one-offs, in comedies and dramas such as 'Robin of Sherwood', 'Angels', the upper-class potboiler 'Chelworth', and 'The Detectives' with Jasper Carrott and Robert Powell.
It's in the long-running police series 'The Bill' that Larry Dann really became a well known face on the nation's small screens. His character, Desk Sergeant Alec Peters, becoming the plot pivot for many of the storylines, finally racking up 229 appearances over 20 years.
It's an interesting story that follows the British film and TV industry through its most fertile period, and one you can read more about, as he has committed his memories to print in his memoir. Available from his publisher here.
Larry Dann-imdb
