John Junkin

John Junkin
Born	John Francis Junkin 29 January 1930(1930-01-29) Ealing, Middlesex, England
Died	7 March 2006(2006-03-07) (aged 76) Florence Nightingale House, Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, England
Cause of death	Lung cancer, emphysema and asthma
Residence	Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Radio and television performer, writer

John Francis Junkin (29 January 1930 – 7 March 2006) was an English radio, television and film performer and scriptwriter.

In 1960 Junkin joined Joan Littlewood's Stratford East Theatre Workshop, and played the lead in the original production of Sparrers Can't Sing. A few years later he joined the Royal Court Theatre company and was the foil to Tony Hancock in some of Hancock's last work for British television. He played a diverse range of roles on the small screen; however he is best remembered for his comedy roles, and his appearances as a television quiz master. Worldwide moviegoers will remember him best for playing "Shake", the assistant to Norman Rossington, in The Beatles movie A Hard Day's Night. In comedy roles, Junkin was rarely short of work, on account of his outstanding ability to play the stoney-faced symbol of low level, petty-minded and unquestioning authority, whether the army sergeant, police constable or site foreman. One of his rare leading roles was in the BBC series The Rough with the Smooth, in which he and Tim Brooke-Taylor played comedy writers (with both actors contributing scripts to the series as well).

Junkin has an entry in the Guinness Book of Records as the voice of "Mr Shifter", one of the chimps in the PG Tips tea advertisement, the longest-running series of commercials on television.

Junkin lived in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, where he was a popular regular at the Red Lion pub. He married Jenny Claybourn in 1977 and had one daughter. He died on 7 March 2006 in the Florence Nightingale House, Stoke Mandeville, several miles from his home. He had been suffering from lung cancer, emphysema and asthma. His life and work were honoured at the British Academy Television Awards in 2006.

Credits

• Cinema:
  • The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963)
  • Hot Enough for June (1964)
  • A Hard Day's Night (1964)
  • Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977)
  • A Handful of Dust (1988)
  • Chicago Joe and the Showgirl (1990)
  • The Football Factory (2004)

• Radio:
  • Radio Caroline first voice of the test transmissions in March 1964
  • Hello, Cheeky! with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Barry Cryer
  • Just a Minute as an occasional guest
  • I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue

• Television:
  • The Plane Makers, drama series set in an aircraft factory, 1962–65
  • Marty, a comedy television series with Marty Feldman, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Roland MacLeod.
  • The Blackpool Show a 1966 series with Tony Hancock.
  • The Goodies
  • The Professionals (Series 5 Episode 8 as Mr Hollis)
  • Out
  • Inspector Morse
  • The Avengers
  • Crosswits (quiz panelist)
  • Odd One Out (voiceover)
  • Mr Bean
  • Ask No Questions
  • Picking Up The Pieces
  • The Thing About Vince
  • The Sins
  • Macready and Daughter
  • Coronation Street (as a short-lived boyfriend of Elsie Tanner)
  • EastEnders (2001–02) as Ernie Johnson

External links

• John Junkin at the Internet Movie Database
• John Junkin: reminiscences of making A Hard Days' Night