0:00:06 > 0:00:08Of all the Dad's Army cast, he was my favourite.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11I think he was one of my favourite people of all time.
0:00:11 > 0:00:12Oh, hello.
0:00:12 > 0:00:13LAUGHTER
0:00:16 > 0:00:19How awfully nice to hear from you again. It has been such a long time.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23He had me on the edge of the seat whenever I watched him.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26I didn't want to, you know, miss a moment.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29You show me yours, I'll show you mine.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32You'd just wait for that twitch of an eyebrow.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35The slightly quizzical look.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42He had depths to him that nobody knew about, I think.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48He would always have that elegant, relaxed facade
0:00:48 > 0:00:52and, underneath, it was tumult.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56He was the typical English gentleman
0:00:56 > 0:00:58in so many ways.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03That sort of type of actor has disappeared.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06Shame.
0:01:09 > 0:01:10I do believe you like butter.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13- HE CHUCKLES - What?
0:01:13 > 0:01:15Oh, don't be ridiculous.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37What do you think of this?
0:01:39 > 0:01:41Well, it's awful.
0:01:41 > 0:01:42What?
0:01:44 > 0:01:47No, no, no. It's awfully good, awfully good.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49Dear, oh, dear. HE CHUCKLES
0:01:49 > 0:01:51Dear, oh, dear, oh, dear.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53HE LAUGHS OUT LOUD
0:01:54 > 0:01:57HE LAUGHS MORE LOUDLY
0:01:57 > 0:01:58Watch it, Wilson!
0:01:59 > 0:02:01You might snap your girdle.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05Who, me, yes?
0:02:05 > 0:02:08I'm told you you have to tell a joke, you see.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Yes, all right. Yes.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14I'd forgotten. That fascinating journey on the train, yes.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Do you mind if I have a look at that pharmacy book of yours?
0:02:18 > 0:02:19Do so, by all means.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Will it tell me all I want to know?
0:02:28 > 0:02:32Despite being a seemingly ever-present face on cinema
0:02:32 > 0:02:35and television screens for over 50 years, John Le Mesurier
0:02:35 > 0:02:37never considered himself anything other
0:02:37 > 0:02:39than an ordinary, jobbing actor.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42I went into the workmen's canteen
0:02:42 > 0:02:45and a young man said to me when I was having my coffee,
0:02:45 > 0:02:49"Were you in such a such a film?"
0:02:49 > 0:02:51And I said, "Yes, I think I might have been."
0:02:51 > 0:02:53I don't find that particularly amusing!
0:02:53 > 0:02:56And I wasn't helping him at all. I was naughty, really.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58I could see his embarrassment, poor little thing.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01He was getting redder and redder in the face.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05- Do you think that's wise? - No, no, that's Morecambe.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Finally, he blurted out,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11"It is Daphne du Maurier, isn't it?"
0:03:14 > 0:03:17He was one of those actors that worked all the time,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20but never became a big star.
0:03:20 > 0:03:21But that suited him.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25He liked to go in and get the laughs, play the small parts
0:03:25 > 0:03:28and come home and go down to Ramsgate and put his feet up.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30I got back from Dijon this afternoon.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33I've heard some disturbing rumours about Mademoiselle Anna.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37Nowadays, he would have had agents and people rushing down saying,
0:03:37 > 0:03:38"You've got to be in Harry Potter,
0:03:38 > 0:03:40you've got to do this, that and the other."
0:03:40 > 0:03:43"You've got to be in Casualty." Can you imagine that?
0:03:43 > 0:03:45John Le Mesurier playing a patient in bed in Casualty,
0:03:45 > 0:03:48with his legs sawn off, or something like that.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53- AS LE MESURIER: - Yes, not a leg I-I use very much,
0:03:53 > 0:03:54um, the left one.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57A relatively modest leg.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01Are we to call the sergeant The Honourable Sergeant Wilson,
0:04:01 > 0:04:03or Sergeant The Honourable Wilson?
0:04:04 > 0:04:08I don't want any fuss, I just want to be like an ordinary sergeant.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12I'm sure that would suit us all, Wilson.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Before joining the annals of television history
0:04:18 > 0:04:20as Sergeant Wilson in Dad's Army,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23John Le Mesurier was the go-to man for any director
0:04:23 > 0:04:27wanting a slightly uncomfortable, but oh-so-British authority figure,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31appearing in 100 films in the '50s and '60s alone.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34Would you tell his Lordship how your married life went?
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Well, it wasn't a life at all, really, not what I'd call life.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40Would you explain what you mean by that?
0:04:40 > 0:04:43Well, he was always picking on me,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46said I'd paid more attention to the boarders than I did to him.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48And did you, madam?
0:04:48 > 0:04:51He stole moments in films, John, little cameos.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56Every film he was in, when he came on, everything I saw of him,
0:04:56 > 0:04:58I just felt very comfortable.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00I knew he knew what to do.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02You never committed misconduct except this one occasion?
0:05:02 > 0:05:04No, my lord.
0:05:05 > 0:05:06Has he asked you to?
0:05:08 > 0:05:09Certainly not!
0:05:09 > 0:05:11Why not?
0:05:13 > 0:05:16What you saw on screen with John
0:05:16 > 0:05:18was almost exactly the way he was.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20It was only in extension of him.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23How do you do? It's awfully nice to meet you.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Did you have a jolly crossing?
0:05:26 > 0:05:30- It was very jolly, except for one thing.- What was that?
0:05:30 > 0:05:33Those beastly Kraut submarines that kept firing torpedoes at us.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Oh, my dear, how awful.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39I never heard John raise his voice, ever, which is quite a...
0:05:39 > 0:05:43I mean he was just really a very gentle
0:05:43 > 0:05:47and a very funny and a very easy-going man.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49John Laurie did describe him as a dilettante
0:05:49 > 0:05:50and he was a dilettante.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53He just enjoyed doing what he was doing.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55It was fun to do. In that respect, John never grew up.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Oh, yes, it's all sparkly!
0:05:58 > 0:06:00You know, it's just like fairyland, sir.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04He did say to me once, he said, "At a very early age,
0:06:04 > 0:06:06- "I pretended to know - BLEEP- all about anything."
0:06:06 > 0:06:09He said, "As a consequence, nobody ever asked me to do anything."
0:06:09 > 0:06:11I think he cultivated a kind of,
0:06:11 > 0:06:16"Don't ask John to do it because he'll make a mess of it".
0:06:16 > 0:06:18I suppose everything'll be all right on the night.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20This is the night.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24Ah. Oh, yes, yes!
0:06:24 > 0:06:28Totally useless. He really couldn't make a cup of tea.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32And adorable, always.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Because he was so liked by everybody, that was no problem,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38because there was always somebody to do it for him.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41And that's how he sailed through life.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44When John decided to give up driving...
0:06:44 > 0:06:46And he was the worst driver ever.
0:06:46 > 0:06:47CAR MISFIRES
0:06:47 > 0:06:51He got out of his car under Hammersmith flyover,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53in a traffic jam, and he thought,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56"I can't handle this any more."
0:06:56 > 0:06:58Left the keys in the ignition,
0:06:58 > 0:07:02left the doors open and just walked away from his car.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Never went back and decided, "I've done with driving now."
0:07:05 > 0:07:07And that was very John.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Just left the thing under Hammersmith flyover!
0:07:09 > 0:07:11I trust you had a comfortable journey?
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Yes, very smooth, thank you, uneventful.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16- Quite without incident, I'm glad to say.- Good, that's splendid!
0:07:16 > 0:07:21John is a fragment of what it was like in a certain time.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25A sort of upbringing in Edwardian, well, 1920's England,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27that sort of thing.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29And he carried that with him,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32without it ever being made a point of his performance.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34It just informed everything he did.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36This feeling of a bit like the Empire, really,
0:07:36 > 0:07:38slightly sort of faded.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42Oh, a jolly good time, now it's gone.
0:07:42 > 0:07:43Right, over!
0:07:44 > 0:07:45Over!
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Come along, Wilson, pretend that you're doing a cartwheel.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55Um, I've never done a cartwheel.
0:07:55 > 0:07:56What about when you were a child?
0:07:56 > 0:07:58I just never did that sort of thing.
0:08:00 > 0:08:01Extraordinary.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06John Le Mesurier was born in 1912
0:08:06 > 0:08:10and grew up in genteel Bury St Edmunds.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13It was a world of tennis parties and stiff upper lips.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16But, even as a child, John longed for something more.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19His nanny was pushing him.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21And he said, "Who are those people, Nanny?"
0:08:21 > 0:08:23They were made up and overdressed
0:08:23 > 0:08:25and the women had lots of make-up on.
0:08:25 > 0:08:26And she said, "Those are theatricals
0:08:26 > 0:08:29"and you must have nothing whatever to do with them."
0:08:29 > 0:08:33And he said that kind of fired his appetite up
0:08:33 > 0:08:35to meet people like that.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38And he did. He was fascinated by people
0:08:38 > 0:08:41who were different from what he was used to.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44- Mr Wilson does not appear as other men.- What?
0:08:44 > 0:08:47His little legs are pointing in the wrong direction.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52- Oh, dear.- What's the matter with them?- Do try and sort yourself out.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54I haven't done it before, it's very difficult.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00His father was a very strict man. I remember him.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02I never really got close to him at all.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05I don't think he suffered children very well!
0:09:05 > 0:09:09His childhood had been dominated by his nanny.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12She was the one that gave him the kisses and cuddles
0:09:12 > 0:09:14and sang lullabies.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17- Uncle Arthur?- What is it, Frank?
0:09:17 > 0:09:18- I'm ever so cold.- What?
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Can I cuddle up to you?
0:09:22 > 0:09:25He said mummy and daddy would never let their feelings show,
0:09:25 > 0:09:27and be emotional, have a row, or anything like that.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30Frankly, I'd rather you didn't.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33- I shall tell Mum! - Oh, all right. All right, then.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36His father wanted him to go into law,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38but his love was acting and theatre.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40He studied law
0:09:40 > 0:09:42and went to work in a solicitor's office for a long time,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45but his heart was never in it.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47He had quite a struggle.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49Repertory, thank God,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52was the best way for anybody to learn to act in those days.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54I remember this very handsome man.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57That everybody was madly in love with.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02We practically dropped a curtsey when we spoke to him!
0:10:02 > 0:10:05Then he spoke to me. You sort of swooned with delight, you know?
0:10:05 > 0:10:08- NEWSREEL:- 'All cinemas, theatres,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11'and other places of entertainment
0:10:11 > 0:10:14'are to be closed immediately until further notice.'
0:10:15 > 0:10:18In 1940, John's rep career
0:10:18 > 0:10:22was rudely interrupted as he was called up to join the Army -
0:10:22 > 0:10:25reporting for duty in his own inimitable style.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29His sergeant said, "When you turned up here, Le Mesurier,
0:10:29 > 0:10:33"you looked as if you were coming on a weekend's holiday."
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Because he took his golf clubs with him.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Arriving in the back of an open Austin 7, or whatever,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42in his dinner jacket, with his golf clubs and his jazz records.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46Get your shoulders back and your chin in. Stand up like a man!
0:10:46 > 0:10:47- Is that better?- Not really, no.
0:10:49 > 0:10:54- After a while, he said, "You'll be no- BLEEP- use as a soldier!"
0:10:54 > 0:10:58"I'm going to recommend you to be an officer."
0:10:59 > 0:11:03He must have thought at the time, "Thank God for that."
0:11:03 > 0:11:05- We're likely to be here for some time.- Yes, sir.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08- We've got keep the men cheerful till help arrives.- Of course.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10- Whatever I do, I want you to back me up.- Right.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12- With a smile on your face.- Yes!
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Is that all right, sir, do you think?
0:11:17 > 0:11:19Better than nothing, I suppose.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22John didn't really let you see anything that was going on inside,
0:11:22 > 0:11:26but he had this knack of
0:11:26 > 0:11:29pretending it wasn't there.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33And trying to ignore it and it would all go away.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38I mean, his first wife, for instance, um,
0:11:38 > 0:11:41was taken to drink.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45Caught up in the urgency of wartime,
0:11:45 > 0:11:48John had married the rich and glamorous June Melville.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Not long after he was posted to India,
0:11:51 > 0:11:55while June stayed in London and partied the war away.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58She was a lovely lady.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Brilliant, marvellous woman.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04And... But, an alcoholic.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07And that's really what destroyed their relationship.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11She was just a total alcoholic.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14She would be brilliant
0:12:14 > 0:12:18and talk brilliantly on three different subjects at a party,
0:12:18 > 0:12:20and suddenly, boom.
0:12:20 > 0:12:21Pass out completely.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26He found that so humiliating for her.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29He didn't have a thing about women being drunk,
0:12:29 > 0:12:31but it pained him
0:12:31 > 0:12:37that anybody would make, er, the kind of exhibition like that.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41And now, ladies and gentlemen, that queen of the Players' Theatre,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44your own Hattie Jacques!
0:12:44 > 0:12:49His first marriage collapsed and then he met Hattie, of course,
0:12:49 > 0:12:53and she was the great love of his life, she really was.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55Can I help you, madam?
0:12:55 > 0:12:58No, no thank you, just looking around for the moment.
0:13:00 > 0:13:06They were ideal, because they both had very strong senses of humour.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10# 'S wonderful
0:13:10 > 0:13:14'S marvellous
0:13:14 > 0:13:19# You should care for me... #
0:13:19 > 0:13:22They really got on terribly well together, you know.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Hattie was a very bright personality.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28But then so was John, he was a bright personality, too.
0:13:28 > 0:13:33She was a lovely woman. It was an extraordinary liaison.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36Because Hattie was so big, John was so thin,
0:13:36 > 0:13:41it was like a sort of male and female Laurel and Hardy, really!
0:13:43 > 0:13:44# C'est magnifique
0:13:45 > 0:13:48# 'S what I seek
0:13:48 > 0:13:53# You should care for me... #
0:13:55 > 0:13:58They married and they had a very, very...
0:13:58 > 0:14:00And two wonderful sons.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02They bounced off each other.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05They relied upon each other and they needed each other.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09And when one was feeling a little down,
0:14:09 > 0:14:12the other one would pick him or her up.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14They were a good team, you know.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16It did work.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20He loved her. He adored her. She was a mother.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23She was the mother that he'd never had with his own mother.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26She was a mother who was genteel and polite,
0:14:26 > 0:14:30but Hattie was vulgar and rumbustious and fun.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33Wonderful sense of humour.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35And loved parties and would stay up all night
0:14:35 > 0:14:38and then cook everybody bacon and eggs for breakfast.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41# 'S exceptional... #
0:14:41 > 0:14:45Waking up and finding Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan,
0:14:45 > 0:14:49jamming in the basement with my dad and my mum singing was the norm.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54I was very lucky to grow up in that family, really, really was.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56I don't feel blase about it at all.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00# Me-e-e-e-e-e-e...#
0:15:04 > 0:15:09At that time, John wasn't very successful
0:15:09 > 0:15:12and had long periods of no work and so on.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17And Hattie was the breadwinner, as it were.
0:15:17 > 0:15:18She was the star.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22John was still a jobbing actor and getting his feet back on the rung,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25because he'd been away through the war.
0:15:25 > 0:15:30He'd only had a very tenuous hold before the war.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33He'd made a couple of movies, I think,
0:15:33 > 0:15:35but supporting.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38And, by luck, he met the Boulting brothers.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41One of the funniest performances I saw from him on film
0:15:41 > 0:15:45was in I'm All Right Jack as the time-and-motion study man.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48- I say, are you sure I'm not keeping you from your work?- No, no, no.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50Wouldn't like to get you into trouble,
0:15:50 > 0:15:51especially as you're new here.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Not at all. I'm learning a lot.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Oh, good. Right. Watch this.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03I didn't know who John Le Mesurier was. I couldn't even say the name.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Don't want to get you into trouble.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08But that was a performance I went away talking about as a teenager.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10It's one of the best things he ever did.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12Thanks, Charlie.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18I remember, some time in the '50s, we went to see a film
0:16:18 > 0:16:21and it was called The Blue Parrot
0:16:21 > 0:16:23and John was the villain.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26I must say, you've paid your part very well, Maureen.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30He was amazing.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Even then, he was so laid back.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35Well...
0:16:35 > 0:16:37arrivederci.
0:16:37 > 0:16:42People used to say he must be so rich, he's been in so many things.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45But he'd be in for half a day sometimes,
0:16:45 > 0:16:51in literally a cameo, and get something like £50, or 75.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54It wasn't America, you know.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56But he made his mark.
0:16:56 > 0:17:03The parts he played were these rather small, upper-class people.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05And I'd been to public school,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08I knew a few of that sort of people, and he made them very funny
0:17:08 > 0:17:13without ever mugging at all. That was the great thing about John.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Don't you think the nose is a little bit too large?
0:17:21 > 0:17:25No, it's just a question of how one sees it,
0:17:25 > 0:17:30the underlying feature of the composition is based...
0:17:32 > 0:17:37He very rarely broke a smile at all, and we loved that.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40We thought that was so funny, but it was so selfless.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44Other people, the Hancocks and the others, got the laugh in the end.
0:17:44 > 0:17:45These rubbers are very good.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48- Would you care to step into my office?- You're a busy man,
0:17:48 > 0:17:50you don't want to bother with the likes of me, it will upset...
0:17:50 > 0:17:53- Bring your books with you. - All of them.
0:17:53 > 0:17:54All of them, yes.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56Yes.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59They were like best friends,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02as in a naughty schoolboys kind of way.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05They were just best mates.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08They adored each other, they were real companions
0:18:08 > 0:18:10and they'd been in several movies
0:18:10 > 0:18:15and shows, Hancock's Half Hours, over the years.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17How long did this rubbish take you?
0:18:17 > 0:18:19- Only two or three hours. - Two or three hours, hm?
0:18:19 > 0:18:22Do you know how long the time-and-motion experiments allow
0:18:22 > 0:18:23for the preparation of accounts?
0:18:23 > 0:18:27- Yes, sir, three minutes, 45.5 seconds.- Exactly.
0:18:28 > 0:18:34He had no aspirations to be a movie star. He was always support actor.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37He was somebody who would walk on and steal the show.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40I'm not having that money running around London outside police control.
0:18:40 > 0:18:41Quite right. Good point.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Yes, Parker, and I'm making it your personal responsibility
0:18:44 > 0:18:47to see that the money is returned intact at the end of the operation.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49I'm assigning Parker to you as from now.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Somebody said in films where he appeared, good or bad,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57if he was in it, there was always one shining Le Mesurier moment.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59It's all right, Parker, it's all right.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01- I've ridden one of these things before.- Of course,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04the Cavalry, wasn't it, sir? Or was it the Hussars, sir?
0:19:04 > 0:19:06Metropolitan Police, if you must know.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Rather fun, isn't it? Children would love it.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13HUMS TUNE Pom-pom, pom-pom
0:19:13 > 0:19:15pom, pom pom-pom pom, pom.
0:19:16 > 0:19:17Go and sit next to... Go on, get off.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20But this thing's moving, sir. Yes, sir.
0:19:31 > 0:19:32It was a busy, busy house.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37He didn't really notice, as he wouldn't any domestic thing.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40He was having a wonderful... He was busy,
0:19:40 > 0:19:42so it kind of happened insidiously
0:19:42 > 0:19:45that his marriage started to crumble.
0:20:02 > 0:20:07She was introduced to this charming, guy, John Schofield.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10And I don't blame her at all.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12He was a real rascal, actually.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15I always used to say to Hattie, "He's a getaway driver, you know,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17"that's what he is."
0:20:17 > 0:20:19The most brilliant driver I'd ever known.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22He always drove much too fast.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25And I said, "That's what he is, he's a getaway driver."
0:20:25 > 0:20:27And I think he was, too.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29He was debonair, he was kind of a rogue.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33He was very good looking, he was very funny.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36He was totally different from my dad
0:20:36 > 0:20:39and I think she just fell for that.
0:20:39 > 0:20:44I think she had been neglected by John for a little while
0:20:44 > 0:20:46and she was very glad to have a lover.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49It was getting more obvious.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51In the end, Hattie said, "We're lovers."
0:20:51 > 0:20:54And John was moved out of the bed
0:20:54 > 0:20:57and a lovely big bed-sitting room was made for him,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00but that was it. The guy was in the house
0:21:00 > 0:21:04and there was nothing anybody could do about it.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Unwilling to damage Hattie's reputation
0:21:08 > 0:21:12by revealing the truth of his shattered home life,
0:21:12 > 0:21:16John reluctantly agreed to appear on her This Is Your Life.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19It was an excruciating experience for both of them.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Well, er, John, I understand
0:21:27 > 0:21:29and I know that you are a double risk now, of course.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31But I understand you were surprised
0:21:31 > 0:21:33- that Hattie was on time at the wedding.- Well...
0:21:33 > 0:21:37I must confess I am rather inclined to be a bit surprised,
0:21:37 > 0:21:41when Hattie arrives for anything, really.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45It was very difficult for him to be on it, you know.
0:21:45 > 0:21:46And her.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50When he appeared, she...
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Imagine what he was going to say.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56- There is never a dull moment with Hattie?- No, no, there isn't, really.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59I would like, though...
0:21:59 > 0:22:04I would like to say that I, er... I am eternally grateful
0:22:04 > 0:22:06to the way she runs the home,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09looks after the children,
0:22:09 > 0:22:10looks after me.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Home comes first, really, I don't mind saying. LAUGHTER
0:22:14 > 0:22:16But, er,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19I think for somebody who is so busy all the time
0:22:19 > 0:22:23and so much in the public eye all the time,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26to do all these things is very difficult
0:22:26 > 0:22:28and a jolly neat trick.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30Thank you, John Le Mesurier.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32APPLAUSE
0:22:37 > 0:22:42He couldn't bear any confrontation. He didn't like that at all.
0:22:42 > 0:22:43He found it really distasteful.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47So, as a consequence, he would not...
0:22:47 > 0:22:50He would appear to be walked all over,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52but I don't think he ever was.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56It was actually kindness, as opposed to foolishness.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58He was the saddest person.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02He was so sad about it, because he had two sons,
0:23:02 > 0:23:04the house, the home.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08And this boy, this man, kind of bullied him.
0:23:08 > 0:23:14He was resolute he was not going to leave his home and his children.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17He had his own little bedroom and bathroom
0:23:17 > 0:23:21and he lived in the same house.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23You know, I don't how he did that, but he did.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28He decided that to resort to anger or retaliation was futile
0:23:28 > 0:23:31and he just treated people with respect.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33He was kind and he was gentle.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35Hattie fell in love.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38And broke his heart, really.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46But I was there to pick the pieces up, which was good.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Broken by Hattie's betrayal, it was only after meeting Joan Malin
0:23:51 > 0:23:54that John finally found the strength to leave the family home.
0:23:56 > 0:24:02I think she injected, to a certain extent, a new lease on living,
0:24:02 > 0:24:04not on life but on living.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07- How long have you known her? - Quite a few years now, sir.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09- Why have you not asked her to marry you?- I don't know, sir.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11I haven't been able to get around to it.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13Well, you better get around to it, hadn't you?
0:24:13 > 0:24:16You can't go about behaving like Errol Flynn.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21Apparently, he'd proposed marriage to me
0:24:21 > 0:24:24quite some time before in a place called Grumbles,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27a restaurant called Grumbles.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32He said, talking about Hattie and the affair,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36he said, "I don't know what to do, I don't know which way to turn now."
0:24:36 > 0:24:38"I don't suppose you'd take me on for a start?"
0:24:38 > 0:24:41I said, "Ooh, darling." And that was a proposal.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45That was him proposing marriage.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48And when Tony met me, he said, "You've got to grab this one, John,
0:24:48 > 0:24:51"she is lovely," and this, that and the other.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53John said, "I already asked her to marry me
0:24:53 > 0:24:57"and she's turned me down." I said, "When did you do that?"
0:24:57 > 0:25:00He said, "Gosh, that time in Grumbles."
0:25:00 > 0:25:03I said, "Oh, gosh, I didn't know that was a proposal!" I had no idea.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05Will you marry me?
0:25:05 > 0:25:06DOOR LOCK RATTLES
0:25:10 > 0:25:12Arthur, darling!
0:25:12 > 0:25:14I couldn't not marry him.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17John wanted to be married and I couldn't leave him in that mess.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20He was ambling about without being able to make tea.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25I loved him. I cared about him deeply.
0:25:25 > 0:25:30But, in retrospect, that wasn't really being in love,
0:25:30 > 0:25:32and when I met Tony, I fell in love.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35They enjoyed each other's company.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37It was so sad that,
0:25:37 > 0:25:41having brought Tony Hancock back for dinner one night,
0:25:41 > 0:25:45that it all kind of fell apart.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48- You're pretty well set up here. - Oh, yes, it's quite comfortable.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51Of course, it's not quite like a home, but, well,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53it has its compensations.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57You're very lucky. You want to hang on to it.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59When Tony's marriage split up,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02he went to stay with John and Joan in Barons Court.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06- You don't know how lucky you are. - That's a matter of opinion.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10My dad was of course, "Come in, you're my best friend."
0:26:10 > 0:26:12Because trusting, you know.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16You made a wise decision to stay single.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19Yes, well, actually, it wasn't my decision.
0:26:19 > 0:26:20The lady said no.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24John went through, with Tony Hancock...
0:26:27 > 0:26:31..what he'd gone through with John Schofield, really.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Twice it happened to him.
0:26:36 > 0:26:41With John Schofield, it was Hattie, and, with Tony Hancock, it was Joan.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45And Joan left John to live with Tony.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48As I understand it, marriage is a matter of give and take.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50Not all of us are equipped for that sort of thing.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54- Another cup?- No, thank you.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59I mean, the guilt was, well, unbelievable,
0:26:59 > 0:27:01that both Tony and I felt.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05Tony said, "If only he had come round and smashed me in the face!"
0:27:05 > 0:27:08But the fact is he didn't
0:27:08 > 0:27:12and he said, "I can understand, my darling, I know."
0:27:12 > 0:27:15He knew what real love was.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17It wasn't a...a passing thing.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19He knew it was genuine and that did grieve him,
0:27:19 > 0:27:23because he thought he'd lost me completely.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25I can't help feeling it's a matter for your conscience.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29Conscience.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31Thanks very much for the tea.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33It was terrible. It was a terrible thing to do.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35It was like shooting somebody.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44She went into the room where John was sitting in the chair
0:27:44 > 0:27:46and she kissed him on the forehead
0:27:46 > 0:27:49and he said, "What's to become of us all?"
0:27:53 > 0:27:58Joanie and Tony were the two people he loved most in the world, so
0:27:58 > 0:28:01because of the fact that he loved them both so much,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03he was so incredibly understanding
0:28:03 > 0:28:05about the fact that they loved each other.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08He didn't see that as any slight towards him
0:28:08 > 0:28:10and he took it on the chin.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17She was living with Tony Hancock. He used to knock her about.
0:28:17 > 0:28:22And I hate talk about great, clever, brilliant people,
0:28:22 > 0:28:26but he liked the booze and he was rather unpleasant.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29Oh, it was an up and down, it was a roller coaster
0:28:29 > 0:28:32and John was my confidant, my best friend.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36And I missed that wonderful life, and John understood.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40He said, "I love him, too, I know exactly how it is, darling."
0:28:40 > 0:28:44And he'd seen him through these dry-outs and things.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47He was more concerned for them than he was for himself, you know,
0:28:47 > 0:28:49and that was John, that was the way he was.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52That's where that trust thing comes back.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55I think he knew in the end that she would come back
0:28:55 > 0:28:56and he waited for her.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01John was incapable of resentment
0:29:01 > 0:29:05as he was incapable of jealousy, really.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08Both of them were very disruptive emotions.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13They got back together again
0:29:13 > 0:29:16and he never mentioned it, ever, ever again.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18Not once. It's incredible, isn't it?
0:29:27 > 0:29:29DAD'S ARMY THEME TUNE
0:29:29 > 0:29:33Still reeling from Joan's affair, John received a job offer
0:29:33 > 0:29:37that would lift his spirits and his career to a new high.
0:29:37 > 0:29:42Oh, what a blessing it was, because, for John, mainly,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45he had somewhere to get away from me!
0:29:47 > 0:29:49John didn't know whether
0:29:49 > 0:29:52he wanted to do the programme or not
0:29:52 > 0:29:57and I didn't, and so we used to phone each other up and, eventually,
0:29:57 > 0:29:59John decided he was going to do it.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03And then I said, "All right, if you do it, I'm going to do it."
0:30:03 > 0:30:06Good evening, Mr Mainwaring, evening, Mr Wilson.
0:30:06 > 0:30:07You know me, don't you, sir?
0:30:07 > 0:30:11- Mr Jones, the butcher, from the high street, isn't it?- That's right, sir.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13Don't you think Mr Jones is a little too old, sir?
0:30:13 > 0:30:15Old? Who are you calling old?
0:30:15 > 0:30:18You give me a chance to get to those Jerry parachutists,
0:30:18 > 0:30:19I'll soon sort them out.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23He took a sort of negative attitude.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27And he didn't back the series, or anything.
0:30:27 > 0:30:32And it took some time, but it was his wife Joan that awakened him
0:30:32 > 0:30:36to the fact that he was starring in a hit series.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39He said, "No, it's about a lot of old codgers
0:30:39 > 0:30:42"and there's no glamour in it.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46"Um, in shabby old uniforms, I mean who's going to...?
0:30:46 > 0:30:47"Who's going to...?"
0:30:47 > 0:30:50He said, "I'll give it the six episodes,
0:30:50 > 0:30:52"but they'll never do another."
0:30:52 > 0:30:53WHISTLE
0:30:53 > 0:30:55I'm a Gestapo officer.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59- Are you the sergeant?- Yes. - What are you doing in France?
0:30:59 > 0:31:00- I'm not in France. - Oh, yes, you are.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02You have come by parachute.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04I've captured you and now I'm interrogating you.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06Oh, I see.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08Oh, bonjour.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10It's only looking back now
0:31:10 > 0:31:14that I realise how very, very good John Le Mesurier was.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16He used to drive me mad.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20I'd say, "Lighten up, John, show a bit of enthusiasm."
0:31:20 > 0:31:22- AS LE MESURIER:- "Oh, my dear boy. Have you got a cigarette?"
0:31:22 > 0:31:25I'm putting matches underneath your fingernails.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29I'm setting light to them. Burning down.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31Now they've reached your fingers.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33You're in agony. How do you like that?
0:31:35 > 0:31:37Well, to be absolutely honest,
0:31:37 > 0:31:40it isn't really bothering me very much.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43They wanted him to be Captain Mainwaring
0:31:43 > 0:31:46and Captain Mainwaring to be the sergeant.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49I thought that's absolutely perfect,
0:31:49 > 0:31:53to have a gent playing the sergeant.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56That will absolutely twist the whole thing round and, of course, it did.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58That's one of the things that made
0:31:58 > 0:32:01Dad's Army a popular programme, I think.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04They type of bomb we're going to use will be represented by this can.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07Er, have you got it? Have you got the bomb?
0:32:09 > 0:32:10- Yes.- Well, show it to them.
0:32:15 > 0:32:20As we got to know John, we wrote the part exactly for him,
0:32:20 > 0:32:24all his little idiosyncrasies, everything.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27- Where's your hat?- Oh, here, sir.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30- Well, put it on.- Oh, right, sir.
0:32:30 > 0:32:31HE LAUGHS WEAKLY
0:32:36 > 0:32:40I'm so sorry, sir, would you mind holding that for a moment?
0:32:41 > 0:32:45It's jolly difficult do this without a mirror, you see? Awfully difficult.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49- There. Is that...is that quite nice? - Oh, never mind that!
0:32:49 > 0:32:51Sergeant Wilson was John Le Mesurier
0:32:51 > 0:32:54and John Le Mesurier was Sergeant Wilson.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58He was typecast he would be that gentle, erm...
0:33:00 > 0:33:02..gentle, gentle man,
0:33:02 > 0:33:06who was put in a position of some sort of authority,
0:33:06 > 0:33:08but didn't really know how to use it.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11I would like to say on behalf of Captain Mainwaring and myself
0:33:11 > 0:33:14how very grateful we are for the trouble that you have taken
0:33:14 > 0:33:15in your appearance tonight.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18- Wilson! - You all look absolutely lovely.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21Same time, same place tomorrow.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24Do, please, try to get here at the right time. Would you do that?
0:33:24 > 0:33:27- Wilson, get in here!- Right.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31He was so well mannered. That was the great thing about him.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33He was nice to the underdog.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36He always tipped his hat if he was wearing one to a lady.
0:33:36 > 0:33:37Do you know what I mean?
0:33:37 > 0:33:39He was old-fashioned and a gentleman.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42Do make yourself comfortable.
0:33:42 > 0:33:43Is there any little thing I can do for you?
0:33:43 > 0:33:45Would you like a cup of tea?
0:33:45 > 0:33:48- I don't think so.- Wilson, Wilson. - The kettle's on.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50- Well, if you insist.- Wilson. Wilson!
0:33:50 > 0:33:53Just a minute.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56I'd like a word with you outside.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59He was always surrounded by women listening to him
0:33:59 > 0:34:02and he was in his element.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06I remember women sobbing at parties, saying, "I love this man."
0:34:06 > 0:34:08And John saying, "My darling, girl, just calm down."
0:34:08 > 0:34:11Pat them on the head and say, "Darling, how sweet."
0:34:11 > 0:34:13What's the Christian name?
0:34:13 > 0:34:14- Marcia.- Marcia.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17What a pretty name!
0:34:19 > 0:34:22- Do you really think so?- I do. It's one of my favourites.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24I really do love that name.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27When he saw a woman he'd always find something nice to say,
0:34:27 > 0:34:29like you've done something to your hair,
0:34:29 > 0:34:30what a lovely dress you're wearing.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34Come along, my dear. What a very pretty blouse. It's lovely.
0:34:34 > 0:34:35Where did you get that?
0:34:35 > 0:34:42He thought they were clever, because they could cook and do things.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45Amazing, when I first met him and I made him an omelette.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48He said, "You've just saved my life, my darling,
0:34:48 > 0:34:52"how clever of you to make an omelette."
0:34:52 > 0:34:54We've got to get this machine going.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56Do you know anything about that, Wilson?
0:34:56 > 0:34:57Not really, sir, no, afraid not.
0:34:57 > 0:35:02Mum says you can't even use a tin opener, doesn't she, Uncle Arthur?
0:35:02 > 0:35:05People just loved to look after John.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07He inspired such affection in people
0:35:07 > 0:35:09and they loved to look after him.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12He came to me one day on tour, and he said,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15"Frank, what do you do with your dirty washing
0:35:15 > 0:35:17"when you're on tour?!
0:35:17 > 0:35:19I said, "I find the laundry will take it in on Monday
0:35:19 > 0:35:21"and have it ready for the Saturday when we leave."
0:35:21 > 0:35:22He said, "Oh, I see."
0:35:22 > 0:35:26He turned to Teddy Sinclair and said, "What do you do, Teddy?"
0:35:26 > 0:35:30Teddy said, "Well I take it down to the launderette
0:35:30 > 0:35:32"and I do it there."
0:35:32 > 0:35:35John said, "What do you mean, you sit there
0:35:35 > 0:35:38"and you watch it going round and round?"
0:35:38 > 0:35:40"Oh, I couldn't do that."
0:35:40 > 0:35:42So I said, "What do you do, John?"
0:35:42 > 0:35:47He said, "Well, I just sort of leave it around the room
0:35:47 > 0:35:51"and somehow some kind person always comes and does it for me."
0:35:51 > 0:35:54And that was absolutely typical of John.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56Some kind person would always look after him.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59He pretended to be vague,
0:35:59 > 0:36:01but I think he knew exactly what he was doing.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04He wasn't fooling me for a second!
0:36:04 > 0:36:05I think he fooled most people.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08I don't want to take up too much of your time.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10After all, you're a very important man.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12I wouldn't say I was all that important.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15Would you, Wilson?
0:36:20 > 0:36:21No, I don't think so.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27Whenever he was brought in, there was a kind of energy.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29Which is an odd contradiction.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Because it was such a laid-back, quiet performance.
0:36:32 > 0:36:33But that was an energy, a buzz,
0:36:33 > 0:36:35around everyone else when he was there.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39In a way, Arthur Lowe couldn't react to anybody else the way
0:36:39 > 0:36:41he reacted to John.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44I'm going to take a very serious view of this absence without leave.
0:36:44 > 0:36:45- Take his name, Sergeant.- Yes, yes.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52Now, as I was saying, the enemy is here in these phalanxes
0:36:52 > 0:36:55and we...
0:36:58 > 0:36:59All the time you felt
0:36:59 > 0:37:03he had this sort of rather sarcastic way with Arthur.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07- Did you take his name?- Yes, sir, I did.- I didn't see you write it down.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10I don't have to write it down, sir, I know it.
0:37:10 > 0:37:11When I tell you to take a man's name down,
0:37:11 > 0:37:13I want you to take it down in case you forget it.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17I'm hardly likely to forget it. I've known him for 19 years.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19I'm not suggesting you forget the man's name.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22I suggest you put it down so that you won't forget you've taken it.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24- Do I make myself clear? - Yes, you do, sir.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27A world where everyone is shouting in front of the camera,
0:37:27 > 0:37:30do their line, mug their part, go away.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32John would be completely the opposite.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35This still, small voice of rather benign confusion.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37In his own head as much as anybody else's.
0:37:41 > 0:37:42Now.
0:37:42 > 0:37:44At... What are you doing with that handkerchief?
0:37:44 > 0:37:46- Just tying a knot in it, sir. - What for?
0:37:46 > 0:37:49To remind me to take down Pike's name.
0:37:49 > 0:37:54I remember one episode where Arthur was getting pompous
0:37:54 > 0:37:55and I think organising
0:37:55 > 0:37:59a court-martial over some very trivial offence.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01Area has ordered us to hold
0:38:01 > 0:38:05a court of enquiry into the disappearance of the ammunition.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08- Oh, dear.- And John just walked round the desk
0:38:08 > 0:38:11saying, "Oh, dear. Oh, dear, oh, dear."
0:38:11 > 0:38:12Oh, dear, oh, dear.
0:38:14 > 0:38:15Oh, dear.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Oh, dear.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25I used to stop reading the newspaper at rehearsal just to watch that,
0:38:25 > 0:38:30because the timing between them was absolutely splendid.
0:38:30 > 0:38:31What on Earth's the matter with you?
0:38:31 > 0:38:34Nothing, sir, it's nothing except for a few paltry shillings,
0:38:34 > 0:38:37we might been able to hush all this up.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39If John was frightened of anything,
0:38:39 > 0:38:42I think he was frightened of being bored for two seconds.
0:38:42 > 0:38:44Have you seen Mr Snuggly?
0:38:47 > 0:38:48Mr who?
0:38:49 > 0:38:52- Mr Snuggly, my teddy.- No, I haven't.
0:38:53 > 0:38:58Half a second of worry about being bored
0:38:58 > 0:39:01and he'd decide to play that line differently.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04It got to be little terrifying, I wasn't ready for this sort of thing.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07- Mum said she'd put him in. - Well, I haven't got it.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09I can't get to sleep without him.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13- I haven't seen him.- Have a look in your bed. Perhaps he's in there.
0:39:13 > 0:39:14What? All right.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16Ah, here he is.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19- Don't let anybody see him! - All right, all right.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22It became terribly exciting. After two series,
0:39:22 > 0:39:25the scenes I looked forward to were scenes with John.
0:39:25 > 0:39:26What have you got, Wilson?
0:39:29 > 0:39:32Er, um, Mr, er...
0:39:34 > 0:39:35Mr Snuggly.
0:39:37 > 0:39:38What?!
0:39:38 > 0:39:40He's my... My bear.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42My...
0:39:42 > 0:39:43My teddy bear.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46I can't get off without him.
0:39:49 > 0:39:50Extraordinary.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53I don't think anybody ever appreciated
0:39:53 > 0:39:56that John could have been a very great serious actor.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59John would always have one for the easy shot.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01He didn't want to put himself
0:40:01 > 0:40:03through anything too complicated.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06While he was being employed to do light-hearted comedy
0:40:06 > 0:40:09with the raise an eyebrow, he was quite happy to do that.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11CHILDREN SINGING
0:40:11 > 0:40:15Other people saw John's potential as an actor, even if he himself didn't.
0:40:15 > 0:40:20In 1971, he was offered a role unlike any other he'd played.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24A character based on Cambridge spy Kim Philby.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33I remember when he was offered Traitor,
0:40:33 > 0:40:35he brought the script in.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38Um, Clive took it home.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40I think Arthur took it home.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42He let me have a look at it.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44He said, "I don't know whether I should do this.
0:40:44 > 0:40:45"I don't what I should do."
0:40:45 > 0:40:47I thought it was the best thing.
0:40:47 > 0:40:52I said, "This is the peak of your career, you must do it."
0:40:52 > 0:40:53He said, "Oh darling."
0:40:53 > 0:40:57There were speeches, a page and a half,
0:40:57 > 0:41:01non-stop, ranting speeches.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03Somebody not like John at all.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06This is home, gentleman of the capitalist press.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08Not exactly House And Garden, but it's home.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12- I suppose it will be right if I take pictures?- No. No.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14- Uh?- No, no, no.
0:41:14 > 0:41:18Not here, not in this place,
0:41:18 > 0:41:20not between these four walls. Just sit down.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24Let's all sit down, shall we? Make ourselves comfortable.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26Have a little talk.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28It was a wonderful performance.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33He kept saying, "It's so ephemeral. People will forget.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35"They'll see it.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37"I'm going to put myself through the hoop about this
0:41:37 > 0:41:40"and it's killing me!
0:41:40 > 0:41:43"And it'll all be forgotten."
0:41:43 > 0:41:47I kept nagging and nagging and nagging, saying, "Go on,
0:41:47 > 0:41:51"raise your eyebrows in light comedy that's bread and butter,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54"you do that standing on your head, this is hard work."
0:41:54 > 0:41:58One night he said, "Bloody hell, then, I'll bloody well do it."
0:41:58 > 0:42:00I love England.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03Of course I do.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07But there's no need to look so affronted!
0:42:07 > 0:42:11That painting represents to me one image of my m-m-m...
0:42:13 > 0:42:14..motherland.
0:42:16 > 0:42:20An image...that will always haunt me,
0:42:20 > 0:42:24like the paintings of Constable and Turner...
0:42:24 > 0:42:26She almost had to hit him over the head to make him do it.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29It was such a wonderful part.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33And he didn't want to do it, but he did and he won a BAFTA.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35'For his performance in Traitor,
0:42:35 > 0:42:39'John Le Mesurier gets best acting award in television.'
0:42:39 > 0:42:45They called his name and he won it and I remember my mum tearing up
0:42:45 > 0:42:51and saying, "I wish I was still with him."
0:42:52 > 0:42:54You know, and it...
0:42:54 > 0:42:57It was sad to hear that and see that.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08I said, "You were marvellous in that."
0:43:08 > 0:43:12He said, "Well I didn't really like playing it very much."
0:43:12 > 0:43:19He'd always - very funny - protest if you paid him any compliment.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22"No, not quite me."
0:43:22 > 0:43:26The murder of any one man is by nature horrible
0:43:26 > 0:43:29and dehumanising. Wasn't it Auden or somebody?
0:43:29 > 0:43:31Auden, Isherwood, or someone.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34Auden, Auden, yes,
0:43:34 > 0:43:36who talked about the necessary in murder.
0:43:36 > 0:43:40The murder of tens or even hundreds of millions trying to prevent that
0:43:40 > 0:43:43and the continued brutalisation, victimisation...
0:43:43 > 0:43:49The exploitation of millions and millions and millions more!
0:43:49 > 0:43:53Oh, Jesus Christ. Conscience. HE LAUGHS
0:43:53 > 0:43:56Oh, dear, let's talk about something else.
0:43:56 > 0:44:01HE LAUGHS Let's talk about the soul or bodily assumption. Oh God.
0:44:02 > 0:44:03Oh.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07I always remember a friend of mine congratulating him
0:44:07 > 0:44:10on winning this award and, typically John, he said,
0:44:10 > 0:44:12"Yes, Betty, it's lovely to have won it
0:44:12 > 0:44:15"but the thing is, all they put is name of the actor
0:44:15 > 0:44:17"and the name of the play."
0:44:17 > 0:44:24"So I've got this award that just says 'John Le Mesurier, Traitor.'"
0:44:24 > 0:44:26That was his sort of wry sense of humour.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30He wasn't nakedly ambitious in any shape or form.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35And this, in a sense, kept him always in work,
0:44:35 > 0:44:37because he would never turn something down because
0:44:37 > 0:44:39"I've done that before."
0:44:39 > 0:44:42"I want to go and play Henry V or King Lear."
0:44:42 > 0:44:45He didn't seem to have any of that.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48He was, you know, happy to be working.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51But, at the same time, one felt there should be
0:44:51 > 0:44:54a little bit more of a fire of ambition - it would have produced
0:44:54 > 0:44:55more things like Traitor.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59And that other thing he did on the motorbike.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02"Never go into the church, Ossian,"
0:45:04 > 0:45:09My grandmother said to me, "Because God is not fun."
0:45:09 > 0:45:11I don't think John ever really wanted to be
0:45:11 > 0:45:13a leading actor in that respect. Um...
0:45:16 > 0:45:18..the duties might have been too onerous.
0:45:18 > 0:45:23He liked to go in and get the laughs and play the small parts
0:45:23 > 0:45:26and come home and go down to Ramsgate and put his feet up
0:45:26 > 0:45:28and go and look of the sea.
0:45:28 > 0:45:29A nice calm around him
0:45:29 > 0:45:32which you didn't want to intrude too much into.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35I just basked in it, I thought it was a very nice.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38There are so many people shouting on a film set, it's rather nice
0:45:38 > 0:45:41to have someone who is in a different world!
0:45:48 > 0:45:51- KNOCKS AT THE DOOR - Citizens!
0:45:51 > 0:45:53Nobles!
0:45:54 > 0:45:56Gentry!
0:45:56 > 0:45:57The King!
0:45:57 > 0:46:01The first time I worked with John was Jabberwocky
0:46:01 > 0:46:03and I remember he said,
0:46:03 > 0:46:06"I think it might be a good thing if I referred to His Majesty,
0:46:06 > 0:46:08"just occasionally, as 'darling'."
0:46:08 > 0:46:09What?
0:46:09 > 0:46:13"It just suggests something might have happened in the past."
0:46:13 > 0:46:15"I mean nothing...nothing too obvious,
0:46:15 > 0:46:19"but I thought it might be quite...quite good."
0:46:19 > 0:46:22"Oh, yes." I think you can probably hear him.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26And now you must prove yourself in mortal combat with a monster
0:46:26 > 0:46:27so terrifying,
0:46:27 > 0:46:30so awe-inspiring, so 'orrible,
0:46:30 > 0:46:33so soul-destroying,
0:46:33 > 0:46:37that even I would hesitate to meet it.
0:46:38 > 0:46:43Place your fate in, er, hand-to-hand combat.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45Was that all right?
0:46:45 > 0:46:48Yes, I suppose so, my darling, yes.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52He'd occasionally, slip something into the conversation
0:46:52 > 0:46:55which knocked everybody sideways, you know.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57A witty thing.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01He was a wit when he wanted to be.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05John Le Mesurier, John, your subject, the joker.
0:47:05 > 0:47:06Any subject at all.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10- Any subject.- I see. Any subject? Really?- Yes.
0:47:11 > 0:47:16- Heavens.- You know a lot of subjects. You know a lot of subjects.- Well...
0:47:16 > 0:47:19Do one of those confident ones in the posh voice.
0:47:19 > 0:47:21Ah, yes, in a posh voice.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24John was asked to do jury service,
0:47:24 > 0:47:29which is quite a ridiculous concept, John sitting on a jury.
0:47:29 > 0:47:31He wrote back a letter saying,
0:47:31 > 0:47:33"I'm entirely unsuited to this line of work
0:47:33 > 0:47:39"owing to the fact that I'm prone to bouts of uncontrollable compassion."
0:47:39 > 0:47:42I'm quite prepared to go on that, because I remember it now.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45Somebody told me about a fellow who had a race horse
0:47:45 > 0:47:48and he was on pretty good terms, this race horse, with his jockey.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51- A lovely talker, isn't he?- Yes.
0:47:51 > 0:47:56He was kind of naughty. He had a very naughty, playful, wicked side.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00And the jockey said to the race horse one day, "Look here,
0:48:00 > 0:48:03"unless you win this race tomorrow..."
0:48:03 > 0:48:04LAUGHTER
0:48:04 > 0:48:08"..you'll find yourself on a milk rounds following day."
0:48:08 > 0:48:10- BUZZER - Interruption by Joe Brown.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12Oi! I just told it, right?
0:48:12 > 0:48:14Oh, I see, that's where I heard it.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16LAUGHTER
0:48:16 > 0:48:17APPLAUSE
0:48:19 > 0:48:22We were having dinner in, I think it was Jerry's,
0:48:22 > 0:48:23and this man came up,
0:48:23 > 0:48:26smoking a pipe, and slapped him on the shoulder.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28He said, "John, long time, no see."
0:48:28 > 0:48:30John said to me, "This man bores for England."
0:48:30 > 0:48:34Right in front of him. "This man bores for England."
0:48:34 > 0:48:37He said, "I believe you've taken the word abroad."
0:48:37 > 0:48:40"You've taken it to the Antipodes, boredom, haven't you, dear boy?"
0:48:40 > 0:48:44And the guy said, "You are funny." But he was being completely serious.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46SHE CHUCKLES
0:48:47 > 0:48:51I'm giving six points to John for cold courage!
0:48:53 > 0:48:57How could you not love the man? He was, you know, one of a kind
0:48:57 > 0:49:02and so gentle and loving and giving and funny.
0:49:02 > 0:49:07John's way of showing any affection to you, rather than being gushy,
0:49:07 > 0:49:09- or saying, "I- BLEEP- love you,"
0:49:09 > 0:49:11he would pat you on the shoulder gently and say,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14"I'm not entirely unfond of you, my little friend."
0:49:14 > 0:49:16And that meant he really loved you.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18That was about as much as you would ever get
0:49:18 > 0:49:23as far as voicing his affection, but he felt it very deeply.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25He was a very understated man, you know.
0:49:25 > 0:49:27In fact I would go as far to say
0:49:27 > 0:49:29that John was the master of the understatement.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32He'd say, "I'm quite fond of you, you know?"
0:49:32 > 0:49:35"I'm inordinately fond of you," he'd say.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39That was a terribly... That was a great compliment to me.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42Looking forward to the dance, are you?
0:49:42 > 0:49:43Yes, thank you, Uncle.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46- You don't have to keep calling me uncle, you know.- Sorry, Sergeant.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48Or that, either.
0:49:48 > 0:49:50I mean we're both grown up, men of the world.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52I'm Frank.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54No I'm not, er...
0:49:55 > 0:49:58You're Frank, I'm Arthur.
0:49:59 > 0:50:00How do you do?
0:50:02 > 0:50:04I don't know how old I was, about 22.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07I was going slightly off the rails at the time,
0:50:07 > 0:50:11being in the music business, and my lifestyle was a little erratic.
0:50:11 > 0:50:15My mother was very worried about me at the time.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18She had a word with John and she was at her wits' end.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21So John made a special journey up to London
0:50:21 > 0:50:24to sort of try and talk some sense into me.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28It was very funny because he really wasn't good at that sort of thing.
0:50:28 > 0:50:29He turned up at the flat.
0:50:29 > 0:50:31He said, "My darling boy, if you don't mind,
0:50:31 > 0:50:33"I just want to have a word with you."
0:50:33 > 0:50:36"Your mother's very worried about your lifestyle."
0:50:36 > 0:50:38He said, "I know you're not going
0:50:38 > 0:50:40- "to take any- BLEEP- notice of me whatsoever."
0:50:40 > 0:50:43"You'll carry on doing exactly what you've been doing,
0:50:43 > 0:50:46"but, just for my sake, could you just go along with it,
0:50:46 > 0:50:49"and just pretend that you are mending your ways?"
0:50:49 > 0:50:52He said, "You know, you would do me an enormous favour
0:50:52 > 0:50:55"because she's so worried about you, my darling boy."
0:50:55 > 0:50:59"You know, as am I, but I know you're perfectly all right."
0:50:59 > 0:51:01When he got his little pep talk out of the way,
0:51:01 > 0:51:04he said, "You don't have a joint on you, by any chance?"
0:51:04 > 0:51:06Now, now, Frank.
0:51:08 > 0:51:09About last night...
0:51:09 > 0:51:13I know we shouldn't have taken it, but we didn't do the car no harm.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16I'm not talking about the car, I'm talking about the girl.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19A lot of people will know that you spent the night together
0:51:19 > 0:51:23and a lot of people will tell you what you did was wrong.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25I was pushing, she was steering.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29He was one of the major influences on my life.
0:51:29 > 0:51:34He was a real gentleman in every sense of the word.
0:51:34 > 0:51:35Yeah, I really loved him.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38One of the greatest things I learned from him was patience.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42And not to panic.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45I don't mean that as a Dad's Army pun, or anything,
0:51:45 > 0:51:47but just keep calm,
0:51:47 > 0:51:53things will find a way of finding their true direction.
0:51:53 > 0:51:55Just that was the way life came,
0:51:55 > 0:51:57things went well, things went badly.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00He had problems in his private life.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04But he always seemed bob along like a cork on the water.
0:52:04 > 0:52:05It took me a long time
0:52:05 > 0:52:09to get to understand the things that he kept hidden,
0:52:09 > 0:52:12very deeply.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15When he was a young man, he had psoriasis.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17He had it all his life and this is, you know,
0:52:17 > 0:52:22it's a kind of illness, it's a nervous thing.
0:52:22 > 0:52:27He used to break out with this every time he started a new job.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31Because he couldn't talk about it, he couldn't say, "I'm scared."
0:52:31 > 0:52:33You know, he couldn't show that,
0:52:33 > 0:52:38he would always have that elegant, relaxed facade.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42And, er, underneath it was tumult.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45JAZZ MUSIC PLAYS
0:52:48 > 0:52:50When his house got bombed in the war,
0:52:50 > 0:52:56the whole house was completely reduced to... It was gone.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59John just sat on the stairs, crying about his jazz records
0:52:59 > 0:53:01and that was the only thing he cared about.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05Things didn't matter to him at all, not in any way.
0:53:06 > 0:53:07He loved jazz.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10He was so happy, for example,
0:53:10 > 0:53:13when I was old enough to go to Ronnie Scott's with him,
0:53:13 > 0:53:14or looked old enough, anyway.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17He would spend an inordinate amount of time in Ronnie's.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20He loved the music, love the atmosphere, nobody bothered him.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23It was dark. Ronnie's loved him.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27My dad was an amazing piano player and he often told me
0:53:27 > 0:53:28he would have preferred
0:53:28 > 0:53:32to earn a living playing piano rather than acting.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40MUSIC ENDS
0:53:40 > 0:53:42APPLAUSE
0:53:43 > 0:53:46He said if you happen to walk into a cocktail bar
0:53:46 > 0:53:50and you see an elderly, grey-haired gentleman in a white jacket,
0:53:50 > 0:53:55playing the piano rather badly, take another look, it might be me.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59That's the last line of his autobiography.
0:53:59 > 0:54:00Isn't that lovely?
0:54:02 > 0:54:06A lifetime spent in jazz clubs and bars finally took its toll
0:54:06 > 0:54:08and, in 1977,
0:54:08 > 0:54:11John Le Mesurier was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver.
0:54:11 > 0:54:15He was a very good drinker. There are good drinkers and bad drinkers.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18John just became funnier and warmer and kinder,
0:54:18 > 0:54:20whereas some people become horrible.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22Er, John was a good drinker,
0:54:22 > 0:54:24but I think, eventually, that's what got him.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28John went up to this policeman and said, "Could you tell me
0:54:28 > 0:54:33"where I could find Alcoholics Anonymous?"
0:54:33 > 0:54:36And the constable said, "Why, do you want to join, sir?"
0:54:36 > 0:54:38He said, "No, I want to resign."
0:54:38 > 0:54:40HE CHUCKLES
0:54:40 > 0:54:43He'd sit in the garden on his own, looking out to sea
0:54:43 > 0:54:48for hours on end, just... Perhaps with a glass in his hand.
0:54:48 > 0:54:50I never saw John drunk.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54But, on the other hand, I very seldom saw him
0:54:54 > 0:54:56without a drink in his hand,
0:54:56 > 0:54:59from early in the morning till bed time.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03Despite surprising doctors by making a recovery
0:55:03 > 0:55:06which enabled him to carry on working for another six years,
0:55:06 > 0:55:09John's health problems finally caught up with him.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14I went to see him in the hospital and I'd grown a beard.
0:55:14 > 0:55:22I was doing, er, Educating Rita somewhere and playing a college...
0:55:22 > 0:55:24He said, "Oh, my dear fellow, you've grown a beard."
0:55:24 > 0:55:27I said, "Yes John, I'm playing a college professor."
0:55:27 > 0:55:30"I thought perhaps it might make me look a bit more intellectual."
0:55:30 > 0:55:33- He said, "And has it?" - HE LAUGHS
0:55:33 > 0:55:35With just the hint of a smile.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38And as Joanie said, that was his last joke.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45The actor John Le Mesurier, one of the stars of Dad's Army,
0:55:45 > 0:55:47died today in a Ramsgate hospital.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49He was 71.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51A hospital spokesman said he died peacefully
0:55:51 > 0:55:53with his wife at his bedside.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58I don't think John would have liked to have stayed around
0:55:58 > 0:55:59and made a nuisance of himself.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02He always had expert timing.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05I think he left, in a way, when he wanted to.
0:56:09 > 0:56:11The actor, who made so many laugh,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14refused even to take the prospect of his death seriously.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17He'd already written his own obituary for The Times.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20He wished it to be known that he had just "conked out".
0:56:22 > 0:56:25I remember The Times refused to print it. "We're not printing that."
0:56:25 > 0:56:30But they, um, they decided,
0:56:30 > 0:56:32"OK, we'll go with it, why not?"
0:56:36 > 0:56:41The Guardian, apart from doing an obituary, they did a leader.
0:56:41 > 0:56:46"He somehow embodied a symbolic British reaction
0:56:46 > 0:56:48"to the whirlpool of the modern world."
0:56:48 > 0:56:53"Endlessly perplexed by the dizzying and incoherent pattern of events,
0:56:53 > 0:56:58"but doing his courteous best to ensure resentment never showed."
0:56:58 > 0:57:00Isn't that lovely?
0:57:04 > 0:57:07He was an absolutely marvellous man.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10I mean, they don't make them like that any more.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15He just inspired people to love him,
0:57:15 > 0:57:18because he was just such a lovely man.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24You realise, in comparison, when you look at other people,
0:57:24 > 0:57:27that there aren't many John Le Mesuriers around any more.
0:57:27 > 0:57:28They are very rare people.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35I feel very privileged to have known him,
0:57:35 > 0:57:36actually.
0:57:39 > 0:57:41He was one of the special ones.
0:57:45 > 0:57:47On the night before he died,
0:57:47 > 0:57:52he said, "My darling, "it's all been rather lovely."
0:57:54 > 0:57:56A charmed life.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00He really did. He was the charm.
0:58:15 > 0:58:19Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd