John Le Mesurier (Bedford, 5 April 1912 – Ramsgate, 15 November 1983), born John Charles Elton Le Mesurier De Somerys Halliley, was a BAFTA Award winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson on the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, England. ... April 5 is the 95th day of the year (96th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Ramsgate is an English seaside town on the Isle of Thanet in East Kent. ... is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organization that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... Sergeant (The Honourable) Arthur Wilson is a fictional Home Guard platoon sergeant and bank clerk portrayed by John Le Mesurier on the BBC television situation comedy Dads Army. ... Dad’s Army is 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. ...

Career

The son of a solicitor, Le Mesurier was educated at Sherborne School, and began to study acting at the age of 20, using his mother's maiden name (common in the Channel Islands) Le Mesurier (pronounced 'Le Measurer') as his stage name. He served in World War II in the Royal Armoured Corps, reaching the rank of captain. A solicitor is a type of lawyer in many common law jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, but not the United States (in the United States the word has a quite different meaning—see below). ... Sherborne School is an English public school for boys in the town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset, England. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army. ... Captain is a rank or title with various meanings. ...

Le Mesurier appeared in over 100 films, including Private's Progress (1956), Brothers in Law (1957), Carlton Brown of the FO (1959), I'm All Right Jack (1959), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), Doctor in Love (1960), The Pure Hell of St Trinian's (1960), The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963), The Pink Panther (1963), Our Man in Marrakesh (1966), The Wrong Box (1966), The Italian Job (1969), and The Alf Garnett Saga (1972). In Ben-Hur (1959) he has an uncredited cameo role as a doctor. He also appeared in most of Tony Hancock's films and many episodes of his television series. His final film was with Peter Sellers in The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu in 1980. In most of his performances, he presented an impression of good-natured vagueness, which acquaintances claim was close to his true personality. Privates Progress is a British comedy film of 1956, based on the novel by Alan Hackney. ... Brothers in Law was a 1955 comedy book by Henry Cecil, himself a County Court judge, about Roger Thursby — a young barrister — experiencing his first year in chambers. ... Im All Right Jack is a British comedy film directed and produced by John and Roy Boulting. ... The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1959 mystery movie produced by Hammer Studios and is directed by Terence Fisher. ... The Pure Hell of St Trinians was a comedy film set in the fictional St Trinians School, made in 1960. ... The Wrong Arm of the Law is a 1963 black-and-white British comedy movie starring Peter Sellers, directed by Cliff Owen and written in part by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. ... The Pink Panther, directed by Blake Edwards and co-written by Edwards and Maurice Richlin, is a 1963 comedy film, starring David Niven, Peter Sellers, and Robert Wagner. ... The Wrong Box is a 1966 British comedy film directed by Bryan Forbes based on a story by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne. ... The Italian Job is a British caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley and directed by Peter Collinson. ... Ben-Hur is a 1959 epic film directed by William Wyler, and is the most popular live-action version of Lew Wallaces novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880). ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Biography published in 1978 (1983 paperback reprint shown) Anthony John Hancock, best known as Tony Hancock (May 12, 1924 – June 24, 1968) was a major figure in British television and radio comedy in the 1950s and 1960s. ... Richard Henry Peter Sellers, CBE (8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English comedian, actor, and performer, who came to prominence on the BBC radio series The Goon Show and later became a film star. ... The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu is the final movie to star Peter Sellers while he was alive. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ...

Le Mesurier's most popular TV (and radio) role was as the upper-class Sergeant Arthur Wilson in Dad's Army from 1968 to 1977. He accepted that role after finding out Clive Dunn, with whom he had worked in the Players' Theatre, would be playing the part of Corporal Jones. He gave a memorable performance in Dennis Potter's play Traitor (1971) which won him a Society of Film and Television Arts "Best Television Actor" award. Following the success of Dad's Army, Le Mesurier recorded several wartime songs as singles; A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square / Hometown (the latter with Arthur Lowe) on the Warner label in 1975 and There Ain't Much Change From A Pound These Days / After All These Years with Clive Dunn on KA Records in 1982. Sergeant (The Honourable) Arthur Wilson is a fictional Home Guard platoon sergeant and bank clerk portrayed by John Le Mesurier on the BBC television situation comedy Dads Army. ... Dad’s Army is 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. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1968 Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... Clive Dunn OBE (born January 9, 1920) is a retired English actor, singer and entertainer best known for his role as Lance-Corporal Jack Jones in the BBC sitcom, Dads Army. ... The history of the Players is a microcosm of British theatrical history, and many famous names have appeared on its stage. ... Liber Amoris Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935—7 June 1994) was a controversial British dramatist who is best known for several widely acclaimed television dramas which mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. ... Traitor is a 1970 or 1971 BBC drama, which appeared on Play for Today. ... Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 — 15 April 1982) was a BAFTA Award winning English actor. ... Clive Dunn OBE (born January 9, 1920) is a retired English actor, singer and entertainer best known for his role as Lance-Corporal Jack Jones in the BBC sitcom, Dads Army. ...

From the mid-1960s until his death he provided the original voice for the animated TV commercial character "Flour Grader Fred", a little man in a bowler hat who advertised Homepride Flour and related products. (The character continues, voiced by other actors). In 1975 Le Mesurier narrated Bod, an animated children's programme from the BBC about a boy named Bod, his aunt Flo and their friends and their rather strange adventures (like falling into a manhole and finding a giant strawberry). The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bod was a BBC childrens television programme first shown in 1975, comprised of thirteen episodes, based on four original Bod books by Joanna and Michael Cole. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, 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. ...

On radio he reprised the role of Arthur Wilson in It Sticks Out Half a Mile, and played The Wise Old Bird in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1980) and Bilbo Baggins in the BBC's 1981 radio version of The Lord of the Rings (1981). It Sticks Out Half a Mile was a BBC Radio sitcom created by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles as a sequel to the television war sitcom Dads Army, for which Snoad and Knowles had written radio adaptations. ... There are many minor characters in the various versions of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. ... The cover of the first novel in the Hitchhikers series, from a late 1990s printing. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Bilbo Baggins (2890 Third Age - ? Fourth Age) is an important character in J. R. R. Tolkiens legendarium. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, 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. ... In 1981 BBC Radio 4 broadcast a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour stereo instalments. ... The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by the English academic J. R. R. Tolkien. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ...

Elsewhere Le Mesurier played a minor role in Granada TV's adaptation of Brideshead Revisited in 1981 and guest starred in episodes of the British comedy television series The Goodies and Doctor in the House. Brideshead Revisited, The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder is a novel by the English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. ... The Goodies was a surreal British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s combining sketches and situation comedy and starring Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie. ... Doctor in the House was a British television comedy series produced by London Weekend Television from 1969 to 1970. ...

Private life

Le Mesurier was married three times:- Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

1. The actress June Melville (1939–1947)
2. The comedienne Hattie Jacques (1949–1965); two sons Kim and Robin
3. The actress Joan Malin (1965–1983)

When his second wife left him for a younger man, Le Mesurier allowed the press to give him the blame for the break-up. His best friend was the comedian Tony Hancock, a friendship which was tested by a difficult period early in his third marriage, when his third wife left him for Hancock, only to return a few weeks later. All this was not known to the general public at the time. In private life, the actor was a heavy drinker. He also reportedly smoked a cannabis joint at the BAFTA awards ceremony [1]. Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... Josephine Edwina Jacques (7 February 1922 – 6 October 1980), better known by the stage name Hattie Jacques, (pronounced Jakes) was a British comedy actress born in Sandgate, Kent. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... Biography published in 1978 (1983 paperback reprint shown) Anthony John Hancock, best known as Tony Hancock (May 12, 1924 – June 24, 1968) was a major figure in British television and radio comedy in the 1950s and 1960s. ...

Towards the end of Dad's Army Le Mesurier became seriously ill, and lost a great deal of weight. He died at Ramsgate from a stomach haemorrhage, (which was brought on by cirrhosis of the liver) on November 15, 1983, aged 71. His self-penned death notice in The Times stated that he had "conked out" and that he "missed his family and friends". Dad’s Army is 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. ... Ramsgate is an English seaside town on the Isle of Thanet in East Kent. ... Hemorrhage (alternate spelling is Haemorrhage) is the medical term meaning bleeding. ... Cirrhosis is a chronic disease of the liver in which liver tissue is replaced by connective tissue, resulting in the loss of liver function. ... is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1785, and under its current name since 1788. ...

External links

• autobiography. A Jobbing Actor, appeared posthumously in 1984.
• John Le Mesurier biography from the Tony Hancock web site.
• John Le Mesurier at the Internet Movie Database
• Audio of John Le Mesurier reading Bible stories for children at Storynory