Bill Pertwee
Encyclopedia
William Desmond Anthony Pertwee MBE
(born 21 July 1926) is a British comedy actor. He is best known for playing the part of antagonist
ARP Warden Hodges in the popular sitcom Dad's Army
.
, Buckinghamshire. His mother was Brazilian and his English father travelled the country as a salesman until he became ill and died when Pertwee was 12. The family moved home many times during Pertwee's childhood and he lived in Hereford
, Glasbury
, Colnbrook
, Newbury
, Erith
, Belvedere
, Blackheath
, Storrington
, Westcliff-on-Sea
, Wilmington
and Worthing
. His education was disrupted by the moves and he attended many schools including an independent convent school, a small independent school, followed by Frensham Heights School
in Surrey, Dartford Technical College and Southend College.
Pertwee's brother James (known as "Jiggy") was an RAF Whitley Bomber pilot who was killed in a crash following a leaflet drop over Dortmund
, Germany in June 1941. Pertwee left school during the Second World War and worked for a company that made parts for Spitfire cannons. He was declared unfit for RAF service as he was on medication following a swimming accident, but was a member of the Air Training Corps
(UK Air Cadets). He later worked as an accounts clerk at the Stock Exchange and as a salesman for the clothing retailer Burberry
in London.
Pertwee has a son, Jonathan James Pertwee (b. 1966), who has been in various programmes. He is the godfather
to of one of the sons of Dad's Army co-star Ian Lavender
. Following the death of his wife, he now lives in Topsham, Devon, England. He was awarded an MBE
in the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours list for his services to charity. He is vice-president of the "Railway Ramblers".
He is a distant cousin of former Doctor Who
actor Jon Pertwee
being second cousin of Jon Pertwee's father, screenwriter and actor Roland Pertwee
.
(1959–64) and Round the Horne
(1965–67). He was also a warm-up act for many television shows.
His most prominent role was that of ARP Warden William Hodges in Dad's Army
, which he played in both the original television series and the radio adaptations, as well as the radio sequel It Sticks Out Half a Mile
, set after the war. Pertwee is president of the Dad's Army Appreciation Society and the author of the book Dad's Army – The Making of a Television Legend. In July 2008 he and other surviving members of the Dad's Army cast gathered together at the Imperial War Museum
on the 40th anniversary of the show's first broadcast in 1968. He also made appearances on This Morning
and BBC1's Salutes Dads Army at the time of the anniversary.
Pertwee appeared in two Carry On films
– Carry On Loving
(1970) and Carry On Girls
(1973). His appearance in Carry On At Your Convenience
(1971) was cut from the final film. Other film appearances include The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins
(1971).
On television Pertwee appeared in the final episode of It Ain't Half Hot Mum
(1981) and an episode of Hi-de-Hi!
(1986). He played PC Wilson in You Rang, M'Lord?
(1988; 1990–93), another creation of Jimmy Perry
and David Croft.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 21 July 1926) is a British comedy actor. He is best known for playing the part of antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
ARP Warden Hodges in the popular sitcom Dad's Army
Dad's Army
Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
.
Early and personal life
Pertwee was born in AmershamAmersham
Amersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt....
, Buckinghamshire. His mother was Brazilian and his English father travelled the country as a salesman until he became ill and died when Pertwee was 12. The family moved home many times during Pertwee's childhood and he lived in Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
, Glasbury
Glasbury
Glasbury , also known as Glasbury-on-Wye, is a village in Powys, Wales which lies at an important crossing point on the River Wye, connecting the former counties of Brecknockshire and Radnorshire. The village is just outside the Brecon Beacons National Park, north of the Black Mountains. The...
, Colnbrook
Colnbrook
Colnbrook is a large village in the unitary authority of Slough, in Berkshire, England. It is situated southeast of central Slough, east of Windsor and west of central London....
, Newbury
Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings. Newbury is best known for its racecourse and the adjoining former USAF...
, Erith
Erith
Erith is a district of southeast London on the River Thames. Erith's town centre has undergone a series of modernisations since 1961.-Pre-medieval:...
, Belvedere
Belvedere, London
Belvedere is a suburban and largely working class area and electoral ward in the London Borough of Bexley in Southeast London.-History:The area which is today known as Belvedere was originally part of Lesness Heath, which originally stretched from the area of Lesnes Abbey to Erith and constituted...
, Blackheath
Blackheath, London
Blackheath is a district of South London, England. It is named from the large open public grassland which separates it from Greenwich to the north and Lewisham to the west...
, Storrington
Storrington
Storrington is a village in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England, and one of two in the civil parish of Storrington and Sullington. Storrington lies at the foot of the north side of the South Downs. As of 2006 the village has a population of around 4,600. It has one main shopping street...
, Westcliff-on-Sea
Westcliff-on-Sea
Westcliff-on-Sea is a suburb of Southend-on-Sea, a seaside resort in the East of England and unitary authority in Essex. It is situated on the northern bank of the Thames Estuary and about 34 miles east of London.-Geography:...
, Wilmington
Wilmington, Kent
Wilmington is a village and parish in Kent, England, in the Borough of Dartford, about 1.5 miles from Dartford town centre. The parish is one of the largest in England and borders the London Borough of Bexley and Sevenoaks District. The parish council meets at Oakfield Park pavilion.The...
and Worthing
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
. His education was disrupted by the moves and he attended many schools including an independent convent school, a small independent school, followed by Frensham Heights School
Frensham Heights School
Frensham Heights School is an independent school located in Surrey, United Kingdom, run by the registered charity, Frensham Heights Educational Trust Ltd. It was founded in 1925 and formed as part of the movement for progressive education...
in Surrey, Dartford Technical College and Southend College.
Pertwee's brother James (known as "Jiggy") was an RAF Whitley Bomber pilot who was killed in a crash following a leaflet drop over Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
, Germany in June 1941. Pertwee left school during the Second World War and worked for a company that made parts for Spitfire cannons. He was declared unfit for RAF service as he was on medication following a swimming accident, but was a member of the Air Training Corps
Air Training Corps
The Air Training Corps , commonly known as the Air Cadets, is a cadet organisation based in the United Kingdom. It is a voluntary youth group which is part of the Air Cadet Organisation and the Royal Air Force . It is supported by the Ministry of Defence, with a regular RAF Officer, currently Air...
(UK Air Cadets). He later worked as an accounts clerk at the Stock Exchange and as a salesman for the clothing retailer Burberry
Burberry
Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house, manufacturing clothing, fragrance, and fashion accessories. Its distinctive tartan pattern has become one of its most widely copied trademarks. Burberry is most famous for its iconic trench coat, which was invented by founder Thomas Burberry...
in London.
Pertwee has a son, Jonathan James Pertwee (b. 1966), who has been in various programmes. He is the godfather
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
to of one of the sons of Dad's Army co-star Ian Lavender
Ian Lavender
Arthur Ian Lavender , better known as Ian Lavender, is an English stage, film and television actor, best known for his role as Private Frank Pike in the BBC comedy series Dad's Army.-Early life and career:...
. Following the death of his wife, he now lives in Topsham, Devon, England. He was awarded an MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours list for his services to charity. He is vice-president of the "Railway Ramblers".
He is a distant cousin of former Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
actor Jon Pertwee
Jon Pertwee
John Devon Roland Pertwee , was an English actor. Pertwee is best known for his role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, in which he played the third incarnation of the Doctor from 1970 to 1974, and as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge...
being second cousin of Jon Pertwee's father, screenwriter and actor Roland Pertwee
Roland Pertwee
Roland Pertwee was an English playwright, film and television screenwriter, director and actor. He was the father of both Doctor Who star Jon Pertwee and fellow playwright and screenwriter Michael Pertwee...
.
Entertainment career
Pertwee appeared in the radio comedy series Beyond Our KenBeyond Our Ken
Beyond Our Ken was a radio comedy programme, the predecessor to Round the Horne . Both programmes starred Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee, with announcer Douglas Smith. Musical accompaniment was provided by the BBC Revue Orchestra...
(1959–64) and Round the Horne
Round the Horne
Round the Horne was a BBC Radio comedy programme, transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The series was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman - with others contributing to later series after Feldman returned to performing — and starred Kenneth Horne, with Kenneth...
(1965–67). He was also a warm-up act for many television shows.
His most prominent role was that of ARP Warden William Hodges in Dad's Army
Dad's Army
Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
, which he played in both the original television series and the radio adaptations, as well as the radio sequel It Sticks Out Half a Mile
It Sticks Out Half a Mile
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 Dad's Army, for which Snoad and Knowles had written radio adaptations.-The pilot:...
, set after the war. Pertwee is president of the Dad's Army Appreciation Society and the author of the book Dad's Army – The Making of a Television Legend. In July 2008 he and other surviving members of the Dad's Army cast gathered together at the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
on the 40th anniversary of the show's first broadcast in 1968. He also made appearances on This Morning
This Morning (TV series)
This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...
and BBC1's Salutes Dads Army at the time of the anniversary.
Pertwee appeared in two Carry On films
Carry On films
The Carry On films are a series of low-budget British comedy films, directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers. They are an energetic mix of parody, farce, slapstick and double entendres....
– Carry On Loving
Carry On Loving
Carry On Loving is the twentieth Carry On film, and was released in 1970. It features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques, Terry Scott and Bernard Bresslaw alongside newcomers Richard O'Callaghan and Jacki Piper . Carry On Loving featured...
(1970) and Carry On Girls
Carry On Girls
Carry On Girls is the 25th Carry On film, released in Britain in 1973. The film is notable for being the first not to feature either Kenneth Williams or Charles Hawtrey. Williams was appearing in a West End play, My Fat Friend. Hawtrey had been dropped from the series the year before...
(1973). His appearance in Carry On At Your Convenience
Carry On at Your Convenience
Carry On at Your Convenience, released in 1971, is the 22nd film of the Carry On series and was the first box office failure of the series. The failure has been attributed to the film's attempt at exploring the political themes of the trade union movement, crucially portraying the union activists...
(1971) was cut from the final film. Other film appearances include The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins
The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins
The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins is a 1971 British comedy film directed and produced by Graham Stark. Its title is a conflation of The Magnificent Seven and the seven deadly sins. It comprises a sequence of seven sketches, each representing a sin and written by an array of British comedy-writing...
(1971).
On television Pertwee appeared in the final episode of It Ain't Half Hot Mum
It Ain't Half Hot Mum
It Ain't Half Hot Mum was a British sitcom about the adventures of a Royal Artillery Concert Party, broadcast on the BBC between 1974 and 1981, and written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army...
(1981) and an episode of Hi-de-Hi!
Hi-de-Hi!
Hi-de-Hi! is a British sitcom that aired on the BBC from 1980-1988. It was set in a holiday camp during the 1950s and 1960s and was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who had written Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum. The title was the phrase used to greet the campers and in early episodes...
(1986). He played PC Wilson in You Rang, M'Lord?
You Rang, M'Lord?
You Rang M'Lord? is a British television series written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Hi-de-Hi! It was broadcast between 1990 and 1993 on the BBC...
(1988; 1990–93), another creation of Jimmy Perry
Jimmy Perry
Jimmy Perry OBE is an English writer, scriptwriter, producer, author and actor, most famous for devising and co-writing the BBC sitcoms Dad's Army with David Croft.-Education:...
and David Croft.