Tony Britton

Tony Britton:

† June 9 1924 – December 22 2019

Tall and imposing, Tony Britton's smooth good looks could have made him a leading man, but for one reason and another we now chiefly remember him in sitcom fare like 'Robin's Nest' 'Don't Wait Up', 'And Mother Makes Five' and 'Don't Tell Father'.

Back in the '50s, he had a few starring and higher-billing supporting roles in films like 'Loser Take All' (1956), 'The Birthday Present' (1957), 'Behind the Mask' (1958), The Heart of a Man' (1959), and the Boulting Brothers spy suspenser 'Suspect' (1960). All are now largely forgotten, although 'Suspect' (aka 'The Risk') does have a cracking supporting cast with Thorley Walters, Donald Pleasence and Spike Milligan in a rare semi-straight performance.    

'Suspect' (1960)

'There's A Girl In My Soup' (1970)

He was in an episode of 'The Saint' on TV but didn't show up in the usual ITC classics, more often appearing in 'Play for Today' and the like, before landing parts in some interesting films. He was in the Peter Sellers/Goldie Hawn screwball romance 'There's A Girl In My Soup' (1970), the middle-aged permissive era misery-fest 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' (1971) and the perennial dad's favourite 'The Day of the Jackal' (1973), before the sitcom '70s finally beckoned. 

With Roger Moore in 'The Saint'

In 'Robin's Nest'

He's an accomplished stage actor and still going strong at 89. This might bring back a few memories though.

Edit 22nd Dec 2019: Sorry to hear that Tony Britton has died aged 95.

Tony Britton - imdb

Bernard Wrigley

Bernard Wrigley:
 Curly headed, mustachioed folk-singer-turned-actor with a rather hectoring delivery and heavy Bolton accent, who must surely have influenced both Bobby Ball and Simon Farnaby. He's appeared on 'Coronation Street' in no less than six different and unconnected roles between 1976 and 1999, which must surely mean that he is the go-to guy for shorthand Lancashire walk-ons.  

Which isn't to say he doesn't have some serious clout with some of the country's best playwrights and directors. He appeared in the Stephen Frears TV productions of Alan Bennett's 'Me I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf' and 'Afternoon Off', he was the teacher in Alan Clarke's 'Rita Sue and Bob Too' (1987), and he has been a semi-regular for Victoria Wood's ensemble pieces 'Wood and Walters' and 'Dinnerladies'.   

As Mr Trickett in 'Me I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf'

In 'Brassed Off' (1996)

He was also good as the hard-of-hearing receptionist who had to cope with sales-wanker Gareth Cheeseman in 'Coogan's Run' (pictured, top), and as Dodgy Eric in 'Phoenix Nights' who supplied the club with the unfortunate Bucking Bronco and obscene bouncy castle. 


Big-screen duties have included 'A Private Function' (1984), the aforementioned 'Rita Sue and Bob Too' (1987) and the heartwarming brass band movie 'Brassed Off' (1996). One interesting-sounding film I've not seen is the very-low-budget 'Tanner' (2007) a private detective drama which apparently features Frank Williams (the vicar from 'Dad's Army') as a ruthless gangster. Here's the trailer: click here. Looks like it was shot on a phone.

He's got his own YouTube channel with a nice selection of clips. Check it out here.       


Bernard Wrigley - imdb

David Dixon

 

 

David Dixon: 

Boyish, pixie faced actor best known for the part of feckless alien journalist Ford Prefect in BBC's 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. His first big break came in 'Family at War', ITV's wartime drama from 1970-72, in which he played the cynical son Robert Ashton. 

As Prince Leopold in 'Lillie'

He appeared in a very representative mix of good quality television during the  remainder of the '70s, such as 'The Legend of Robin Hood' as a slimy and effete Prince John, 'Rock Follies', and the Victorian bustle-rustler 'Lillie' about the royal admirers of music hall star Lillie Langtry. The '80s brought 'Hitchhikers' of course, but a lot of prosaic schedule-filler programmes as well, for instance, 'Target', 'Boon', A Touch of Frost' and unavoidably, 'The Bill'. One highlight was the darkly comic John Byrne series 'Tutti Frutti' in which he played the extremely unsympathetic violent ex-boyfriend of Emma Thompson's character, Suzi Kettles.      

'Tutti Frutti'

He has appeared in only a couple of feature films: fleetingly in the Michael Palin comedy, 'The Missionary' (1980) and before that in a leading role in the ghastly-looking 'Escort Girls' (1975) which I'm sure he'd rather forget. [Despite which, here's a link to the trailer, which I must warn you, is NSFW, and offensively sleazy, sexist and racist, although it does feature Alan Hawkshaw's 'The Champ' on the soundtrack. Click here.]  

In the seedy 'Escort Girls' (1975) 

In 'A Touch of Frost'. An episode from 1996 called 'Fun Times For Swingers' 

There's a rather odd fansite for him too. Here's a link.


David Dixon - imdb

Stephen Greif

Stephen Greif:

† Aug 26 1944 – Dec 23 2022

A face made to play villains, sleekly handsome and slightly sinister. He was able to play it for laughs in 'Citizen Smith' with Robert Lindsay, where he portrayed local gangster Harry Fenning, usually involving the line 'Hello Trotsky, I need you to do me a little favour'…
   

He also sticks in the memory as Travis in 'Blakes 7', complete with sci-fi eyepatch and lots of black leather, generally outdoing Avon in the evil stakes.   

Other notable TV roles included parts in 'Edward II', 'The Persuaders', 'The New Avengers'. 'Dirty Money' (with Ian Macshane), 'Doctor Who' and 'The Lives and Loves of a She-Devil'. He also pops up in diverse stuff ranging from in 'Dick Turpin', 'Return of the Saint' and US detective nonsense 'Hart to Hart', to 'Waking the Dead', 'Mistresses', 'Spooks', 'Space Race', 'Holby City', Dennis Potter's 'Midnight Movie', 'Minder', 'EastEnders' and 'The Bill'.

An entertaining episode of  'The Persuaders' with Terry-Thomas

'The New Avengers'

Film roles include 'No Sex Please, We're British' (1974),  'Boogie Woogie' (2009), 'Shoot on Sight' (2008), 'Eichmann' (2008), 'Back in Business' (2007), 'Sixty Six' (2006), 'Casanova' (2006), 'The Upside of Anger' (2005), 'Fakers' (2004) and 'Spartan' (2004).



Stephen Greif - imdb

Clifford Rose

Clifford Rose:

† Oct 24 1929 – Nov 6 2021

Neat and precise, in a sinister, ruthless sort of way, Clifford Rose will forever be associated with the role of Kessler of the Gestapo in the '70s TV drama 'Secret Army', now difficult to watch after years of gormless lampooning in 'Allo Allo'. So compelling was the character, however, that there was also a spin-off, 'Kessler' which saw him as a Nazi war-criminal businessman in South America, being hunted down by former members of the Resistance.

In 'Marat/Sade' (1967)

Before Kessler, he played a number of TV roles including Dr Snell in 'Callan' and as the ambitious journalist Quintus Slide in 'The Pallisers', as well as appearing in 'Softly Softly', 'Warship', 'Van der Valk', 'Follyfoot', 'Doctor Who' and the star-studded series of Lord Peter Wimsey stories from 1972, 'The Unpleasantness at the Ballona Club'.        

Consulting EDNA the computer in 'Callan'.
(Plus chain-smoking Peter Sallis in white coat.)

In the Tom Baker-era 'Doctor Who' story, 'Warrior's Gate'

Post-Kessler, he was seen in a steady stream of decent mid-table stuff including 'Inspector Morse', 'Minder', 'Oxford Blue', 'G.B.H' and 'Foyles War'.

His cinema credits are an interesting mix, running from 'Marat/Sade' (1967) and 'Work is a Four Letter Word' (1968), to the movie version of 'Callan' (1974), and recent stuff like 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' (2011) and the Glenn Close Thatcher pic 'The Iron Lady' (2011).  

Clifford Rose - imdb

Lee Montague

Lee Montague:

† Oct 16 1927 – March 30 2025

The faintly mysterious and baleful good looks of veteran actor Lee Montague did net him a couple of leading man roles but his long career is mostly one of solid supporting performances. He was born in London, from a liberal Jewish background, but in the days before political correctness (perhaps calling it cultural respect would make it less of a Daily Mail bugbear – probably not) he was often cast in 'more exotic' roles. From a number of Japanese officers, as in 'Camp On Blood Island' (1958), or in TV's 'The Baron', to a string of Spaniards, Russians, Greeks, Mexicans, Chinese and points between.

The inscrutable face of the Orient in 'The Baron'

The golden age of British TV in the '60s gave him plenty of work, including 'Danger Man', 'The Baron', and 'Department S', alongside lots of Wednesday plays and weightier series. In the '70s and '80s he crops up in 'Quiller', 'The Sweeney', 'Jesus of Nazareth' (as the prophet Habbukuk), and 'Space 1999'. He was also the star of the not-much-remembered ITV football comedy 'Feet First'.             

In 'How I Won The War' (1967).

As the composer's father in 'Mahler' (1974)

In the cinema, he appears in a string of '50s and '60s war pics, including: 'Silent Enemy' (1958), 'Foxhole in Cairo' (1960), and the Richard Lester satire 'How I Won the War' (1967), memorably teaching army drill to John Lennon, Roy Kinnear and Ronald Lacey. Other movie jobs include 'Moulin Rouge' (1952), 'Billy Budd' (1962),  'Mahler' (1974), 'The Best Pair of Legs in the Business' (1975), and 'Silver Dream Racer' (1980).

Trivia: (Yes, I know it's all trivia.) He was the very first storyteller on the BBC's long-running children's programme 'Jackanory'.             


Lee Montague - imdb

Penny Spencer

Penny Spencer 

Classic '60s/'70s dolly bird actress noticeable for her wide toothy smile, short miniskirts and mega-eyelashes. She's probably best remembered today for playing Sharon, the bombshell of 5C in 'Please Sir', causing John Alderton's Mr Hedges to loosen his collar on numerous occasions. Despite this, in 1971 she was replaced in the role by the perkier, but less sassy 'Carry On' actress Carol Hawkins, who was also in the movie version and later spin-off 'The Fenn Street Gang'. 
     

In 'Please Sir!' with Peter Cleal

'Count Down to Danger' (1967)

She seems to have retired from acting after the probably dispiriting experience of appearing (with old 'Please Sir!' chum Peter Cleal) in the smutty comedy 'Under the Doctor' (1976) and the dismal Mary Millington sex romp 'The Playbirds' (1978). 

In an episode of 'Paul Temple' with George Baker and
Ros Drinkwater, wife and co-star of Francis Matthews 

Before that she had been seen in better stuff like 'Georgy Girl' (1966) and 'The Whisperers' (1967) with the mighty Avis Bunnage. She also starred as the resourceful Sue in the Children's Film Foundation's 'Count Down to Danger' (1967), a 'Screen Test' favourite. 

'The Whisperers' (1967)

The final straw? Stripping off for Glynn (Winchester Club) Edwards and
Gavin ('That's Life') Campbell in 'The Playbirds' (1978)

On TV, her role as Sharon overshadows fleeting appearances in 'Man in a Suitcase', 'UFO' and Derek Nimmo's 'All Gas and Gaiters'. As far as I can discover, she disappeared off the celebrity radar without a trace. I hope she is doing well.       

Penny Spencer - imdb