This article is about the actor. For the Senator and Representative from Kentucky, see James B. Beck.

James Beck
James Beck as Private Joe Walker in Dad's Army, 1973
Birth name	James Beck
Born	February 21, 1929 (1929-02-21) Islington, England
Died	August 6, 1973 (aged 44)
Spouse(s)	Kay
Notable roles	Private Walker in Dad's Army

James Beck (21 February 1929 – 6 August 1973) was an English actor best remembered for his role as Private Joe Walker, the cockney spiv in the popular BBC sitcom Dad's Army which ran from 1968 to 1977. In a cast comprising mainly older actors, Beck was one of two younger members. He was the first of the cast to die, aged 44, as the result of a burst pancreas. James Burnie Beck (February 13, 1822 - May 3, 1890) was a United States Representative and Senator from Kentucky. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 516 × 512 pixelsFull resolution (516 × 512 pixel, file size: 550 KB, MIME type: image/png) Screen capture of actor James Beck in a BBC television series Dads Army, episode 58, The Honourable Man, originally recorded on 8 July 1973 and... February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England_(bordered). ... Islington is an inner-city district in north London. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Dads Army was a British sitcom about the Home Guard in the Second World War, written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. ... February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... Actors in period costume sharing a joke while waiting between takes during location filming An actor or actress is a person who acts, or plays a role, in a dramatic production. ... Private Joe Walker is a fictional black market spiv (or Wholesales Trader, as he politely puts it) and Home Guard platoon member portrayed by actor James Beck on the BBC television sitcom Dads Army. ... Spiv is a British slang word for a person (invariably male) who makes a living by shady dealings, usually by selling goods of dubious provenance. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion... A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... Dads Army was a British sitcom about the Home Guard in the Second World War, written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. ... The pancreas is an organ in the digestive and endocrine system (of vertebrates[2]). It is both exocrine (secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes) and endocrine (producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin). ...

Beck was born in Islington, North London and attended Popham Road Primary School. His childhood was tough, with his father frequently unemployed and his mother making artificial flowers to provide a small income. Islington is an inner-city district in north London. ... North London is that part of London which is north of the River Thames. ...

After a stint at art college and a period of National Service in the army, Beck took up acting. Early acting roles included Shylock in The Merchant of Venice in 1963, for which he earned positive reviews. Moving to London, he decided to concentrate on television, and one role was as a policeman in an episode of Coronation Street involving a train crash. He also appeared in an uncredited role as a policeman in Gideon's Way in 1965. National service is a common name for compulsory or voluntary military service programs. ... Look up shylock in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) The Merchant of Venice is one of William Shakespeares best-known plays, written sometime between 1596 and 1598. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Coronation Street is Britains longest-running television soap opera, first broadcast on Friday December 9, 1960, in the Granada region of ITV. The programme is consistently the highest-rated programme on British television. ... Gideons Way was a British TV crime series made by ITC Entertainment in 1964/65, based on the novels by John Creasey. ...

By 1968 he was offered the role of Private Walker in Dad's Army, a role originally written by Jimmy Perry for himself. His performance as the thorn in Captain Mainwaring's side was perfect for Dad's Army. While proving popular in this, his best-loved role, Beck still yearned for the challenge of other roles. Dads Army was a British sitcom about the Home Guard in the Second World War, written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. ... Jimmy Perry (1923- ) is a writer and actor, most famous for writing the BBC sitcom Dads Army with David Croft. ...

Always in demand, he continued to work on TV programmes such as A Family at War and Romany Jones, in which he played the lead character Bert Jones. He also recorded an unbroadcast remake of an early Hancock's Half Hour programme in which he played opposite Arthur Lowe. A Family At War was a British television drama made by Granada Television for ITV. The series was transmitted between 1970 and 1972 and examined the lives of the working-class Ashton family of the city of Liverpool and their experiences during the Second World War. ... Romany Jones was designed as a vehicle for James Beck (Private Walker in Dads Army), involving the comic misadventures of two layabout families living on a caravan site. ... Hancocks Half Hour was a famous BBC radio comedy series of the 1950s starring Tony Hancock. ... Arthur Lowe (September 22, 1915—April 15, 1982) was a British actor. ...

By 1973, Jimmy had already recorded six series of Dad's Army and had already begun work on the radio series of the show. While opening a fete in aid of dogs for the blind, he suddenly felt ill. He returned home and within an hour was being rushed to hospital. He died three weeks later. His death was a great shock to his fellow cast members, as well as Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who had looked forward to his return to the show. The Walker character never returned to the television version of Dad's Army, there was no attempt to explain his absence from the platoon, and he was never refered to in subsequent television series. Jimmy Perry (1923- ) is a writer and actor, most famous for writing the BBC sitcom Dads Army with David Croft. ... David Croft (born September 7, 1922 in Sandbanks, United Kingdom) is a writer, producer and actor. ...

In the radio adaptations of Dad's Army, Graham Stark stood in until Larry Martyn gave his portrayal of Walker for subsequent shows. In 1976 John Bardon played Walker in the stage production. Graham Stark Graham Stark (born 20 January 1922) is an English comedian, actor, writer and director. ... Larry Martyn (born 22 March 1934 in London, England, died 1994 in St Marys Bay, Kent, England) was a British actor particularly well known for his comedy performances. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... John Bardon in EastEnders John Bardon, (born John Michael Jones, August 25, 1939 in Brentford, Middlesex) is an English stage and television actor. ...

External links

• James Beck at the Internet Movie Database
• Dad's Army website
• James Beck at the Whispers from Walmington website
• James Beck Memorial at Find A Grave