Leslie Dwyer
Encyclopedia
Leslie Dwyer was an English
character actor
of film
and television
. He was born in Catford
, the son of the popular music hall comedian Johnny Dwyer and acted from the age of ten and appeared in his first film in 1921. He is perhaps best known for his role as the Punch and Judy man Mr Partridge in BBC sitcom Hi-de-Hi!
.
Film roles included In Which We Serve
(1942), The Way Ahead
(1944), the 1952 remake of Hindle Wakes
, Room in the House
(1955), the 1959 remake
of Hitchcock's The 39 Steps
, and Die, Monster, Die!
(1966).
He played Sergeant Dusty Miller in the original 1942 production of Terence Rattigan
's play Flare Path
.
His most notable television role was as Mr. Partridge the miserable Punch and Judy
man with an aversion to children in the British
sitcom Hi-de-Hi!
. He also took roles in Doctor Who
(as Vorg in Carnival of Monsters
in 1973), and in Steptoe and Son
, Terry and June
, The Sweeney
, Wodehouse Playhouse
and Z-Cars
.
His grave is located in the East London Cemetery
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
of film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. He was born in Catford
Catford
Catford is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-Architecture:...
, the son of the popular music hall comedian Johnny Dwyer and acted from the age of ten and appeared in his first film in 1921. He is perhaps best known for his role as the Punch and Judy man Mr Partridge in BBC sitcom 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...
.
Film roles included In Which We Serve
In Which We Serve
In Which We Serve is a 1942 British patriotic war film directed by David Lean and Noël Coward. It was made during the Second World War with the assistance of the Ministry of Information ....
(1942), The Way Ahead
The Way Ahead
The Way Ahead is a British Second World War drama released in 1944. It stars David Niven and Stanley Holloway and follows a group of civilians who are conscripted into the British Army to fight in North Africa. In the U.S., an edited version was released as The Immortal Battalion.The film was...
(1944), the 1952 remake of Hindle Wakes
Hindle Wakes (1952 film)
Hindle Wakes is a 1952 British drama film, directed by Arthur Crabtree and starring Lisa Daniely and Leslie Dwyer. The film was the fourth and last screen adaptation of the famous Stanley Houghton play of the 1910s, dealing with an independent-minded young woman insisting on her right to enjoy a...
, Room in the House
Room in the House
Room in the House is a 1955 film that was directed by Maurice Elvey. The film's screenplay, by Alfred Shaughnessy, is based on Eynon Evans's novel of the same name.-Cast and characters:...
(1955), the 1959 remake
The 39 Steps (1959 film)
The 39 Steps is a 1959 British thriller film directed by Ralph Thomas, starring Kenneth More and Taina Elg. It is a remake of the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film, based on the novel The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan....
of Hitchcock's The 39 Steps
The 39 Steps (1935 film)
The 39 Steps is a British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on the adventure novel The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan. The film stars Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll....
, and Die, Monster, Die!
Die, Monster, Die!
Die, Monster, Die! is a 1965 horror film directed by Daniel Haller. The film is a loose adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's story The Colour Out of Space. The story is about an American scientist who pays a visit to the estate of his fiancée's family...
(1966).
He played Sergeant Dusty Miller in the original 1942 production of Terence Rattigan
Terence Rattigan
Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan CBE was one of England's most popular 20th-century dramatists. His plays are generally set in an upper-middle-class background...
's play Flare Path
Flare Path (play)
-1942–43 Broadway production:Flare Path had a short run on Broadway at Henry Miller's Theatre from December 1942 to January 1943. Alec Guinness played Teddy and Nancy Kelly played Patricia. The play was Guinness's Broadway debut, and he was granted leave from the Royal Navy in order to take the role...
.
His most notable television role was as Mr. Partridge the miserable Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy is a traditional, popular puppet show featuring the characters of Mr. Punch and his wife, Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Punch and one other character...
man with an aversion to children in the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
sitcom 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...
. He also took roles in 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...
(as Vorg in Carnival of Monsters
Carnival of Monsters
Carnival of Monsters is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 27 January to 17 February 1973....
in 1973), and in Steptoe and Son
Steptoe and Son
Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about two rag and bone men living in Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune, "Old...
, Terry and June
Terry and June
Terry and June is a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1979 to 1987. The programme is largely a continuation of Happy Ever After, and stars Terry Scott and June Whitfield as a middle-class suburban couple, Terry and June Medford...
, The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
, Wodehouse Playhouse
Wodehouse Playhouse
Wodehouse Playhouse is a British television comedy series based on the short stories of P. G. Wodehouse. From 1975 to 1978, three series were made, with twenty half-hour episodes altogether in the entire series.-Overview:P. G...
and Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
.
His grave is located in the East London Cemetery
East London Cemetery
The East London Cemetery and Crematorium are located in Plaistow in the London Borough of Newham. It is owned and operated by the East London Cemetery Company.-History:...
.
Selected filmography
- The Lamp Still BurnsThe Lamp Still BurnsThe Lamp Still Burns is a 1943 British drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Rosamund John, Stewart Granger, Godfrey Tearle and Sophie Stewart. An architect retrains as a nurse...
(1943) - The Way AheadThe Way AheadThe Way Ahead is a British Second World War drama released in 1944. It stars David Niven and Stanley Holloway and follows a group of civilians who are conscripted into the British Army to fight in North Africa. In the U.S., an edited version was released as The Immortal Battalion.The film was...
(1944) - Great DayGreat Day (1945 film)Great Day is a 1945 British drama film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Eric Portman, Flora Robson and Sheila Sim. The small English village of Denley is thrown into excitement by the impending visit of Eleanor Roosevelt...
(1945) - Night Boat to DublinNight Boat to DublinNight Boat to Dublin is a 1946 British thriller film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Robert Newton, Raymond Lovell, Guy Middleton, Muriel Pavlow and Herbert Lom.-Plot:...
(1946) - When the Bough BreaksWhen the Bough Breaks (1947 film)When the Bough Breaks is a 1947 film by Gainsborough Pictures, J. Arthur Rank and Sydney Box Productions. It is an adaptation of an original story-line by Herbert Victor on adoption and the competing ties of one child's birth and foster family.-Cast:...
(1947) - Bond StreetBond Street (film)Bond Street is a 1948 British drama film directed by Gordon Parry and based on a story by Terence Rattigan. It starred Jean Kent, Roland Young, Kathleen Harrison and Derek Farr...
(1948) - The CalendarThe Calendar (1948 film)The Calendar is a 1948 British drama film directed by Arthur Crabtree and starring Greta Gynt, John McCallum, Raymond Lovell and Leslie Dwyer...
(1948) - The Little BallerinaThe Little BallerinaThe Little Ballerina is a 1948 British drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert.-Cast:* Yvonne Marsh as Joan* Marian Chapman as Sally* Kay Henderson as Pamela* Doreen Richards as Lydia* Anita Holland as Carol* Beatrice Varley as Mrs. Field* Herbert C...
(1948) - The Bad Lord ByronThe Bad Lord ByronThe Bad Lord Byron is a 1949 British historical drama film centered around the life of Lord Byron. It was directed by David MacDonald and starred Dennis Price as Byron with Mai Zetterling, Linden Travers and Joan Greenwood....
(1949) - It's Not CricketIt's Not Cricket (1949 film)It's Not Cricket is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Alfred Roome and starring Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, Susan Shaw and Maurice Denham. It was one of the final films made by Gainsborough Pictures before the studio was merged into the Rank Organisation.-Plot:Major Bright and Capain Early...
(1949) - A Boy, a Girl and a Bike (1949)
- Double ConfessionDouble ConfessionDouble Confession is a 1950 British crime film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Derek Farr, Joan Hopkins, Peter Lorre and William Hartnell....
(1950) - The Smart AleckThe Smart Aleck-Cast:* Peter Reynolds as Alec Albion* Mercy Haystead as Judith* Leslie Dwyer as Gossage* Edward Lexy as Inspector* Kynaston Reeves as Uncle Edward* Charles Hawtrey as Farr* David Hurst as Poppi* David Keir as Mr. Guppy* Annette D. Simmonds as Sylvia...
(1951) - Laughter in ParadiseLaughter in ParadiseLaughter in Paradise is the title of a British comedy film released in 1951. The film stars Alastair Sim, Fay Compton, George Cole, and Guy Middleton...
(1951) - Hindle WakesHindle Wakes (1952 film)Hindle Wakes is a 1952 British drama film, directed by Arthur Crabtree and starring Lisa Daniely and Leslie Dwyer. The film was the fourth and last screen adaptation of the famous Stanley Houghton play of the 1910s, dealing with an independent-minded young woman insisting on her right to enjoy a...
(1952) - My Wife's LodgerMy Wife's LodgerMy Wife's Lodger is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Dominic Roche, Olive Sloane and Leslie Dwyer. A soldier returns home after the Second World War only to find a spiv lodger has established himself in his place. He begins plotting to restore his place as the head...
(1952) - The Good Die YoungThe Good Die YoungThe Good Die Young is a crime thriller made in the United Kingdom by Remus Productions, featuring a number of American characters. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert. The screenplay was based on the book of the same name written by Richard Macaulay....
(1954) - The Black RiderThe Black Rider (film)The Black Rider is a 1954 British thriller film directed by Wolf Rilla and starring Jimmy Hanley, Rona Anderson and Leslie Dwyer. A gang of smugglers use a haunted castle as their base, detering curious locals by pretending to be ghosts.-Cast:...
(1954) - Where There's a WillWhere There's a Will (1955 film)Where There's a Will is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Kathleen Harrison, George Cole, Leslie Dwyer and Michael Shepley...
(1955) - Room in the HouseRoom in the HouseRoom in the House is a 1955 film that was directed by Maurice Elvey. The film's screenplay, by Alfred Shaughnessy, is based on Eynon Evans's novel of the same name.-Cast and characters:...
(1955) - Cloak Without DaggerCloak Without DaggerCloak Without Dagger is a 1956 British thriller film directed by Joseph Sterling and starring Philip Friend, Mary Mackenzie and Leslie Dwyer. It was also released as Operation Conspiracy.-Cast:* Philip Friend - Major Felix Gratton...
(1956) - EyewitnessEyewitness (1956 film)Eyewitness is a 1956 British thriller film directed by Muriel Box and starring Donald Sinden, Muriel Pavlow, Belinda Lee, Michael Craig, Nigel Stock and Richard Wattis. It was made by the Rank Organisation.-Plot:...
(1956) - Face in the NightFace in the NightFace in the Night is a 1957 British crime film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Griffith Jones, Lisa Gastoni and Vincent Ball. A young woman witnesses a mailbag robbery that ends with a dead postman, but she is intimidated into not coming forwards....
(1957) - Stormy CrossingStormy CrossingStormy Crossing is a 1958 British mystery film starring John Ireland, Derek Bond, Leslie Dwyer, John Schlesinger and Arthur Lowe. Two swimmers are attempting to cross the English Channel, when one of them drowns. The other convinced that it was not an accident, investigates...
(1958) - The 39 StepsThe 39 Steps (1959 film)The 39 Steps is a 1959 British thriller film directed by Ralph Thomas, starring Kenneth More and Taina Elg. It is a remake of the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film, based on the novel The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan....
(1959) - Left Right and CentreLeft Right and CentreLeft Right and Centre is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Ian Carmichael, Patricia Bredin, Richard Wattis, Eric Barker and Alastair Sim. It was produced by Frank Launder...
(1959) - Die, Monster, Die!Die, Monster, Die!Die, Monster, Die! is a 1965 horror film directed by Daniel Haller. The film is a loose adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's story The Colour Out of Space. The story is about an American scientist who pays a visit to the estate of his fiancée's family...
(1965) (UK title: Monster of Terror) - I've Gotta HorseI've Gotta Horse- Summary :Based on the star's famous love of animals, this musical comedy portrays Billy setting out to add a sheepdog to his vast entourage of animals and coming back with an irresistible horse named Armitage instead. To his manager's horror, Billy smuggles the horse backstage during rehearsals...
(1965) - Crooks and CoronetsCrooks and CoronetsCrooks and Coronets is a 1969 British crime comedy film and/or heist movie written and directed by Jim O'Connolly. It starred Telly Savalas, Edith Evans, Warren Oates, Cesar Romero and Harry H...
(1969)