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Clive Dunn

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Clive Dunn
OBE
Clive Dunn in Dad's Army
Born
Clive Robert Benjamin Dunn

(1920-01-09)9 January 1920
Covent Garden, London, England
Died7 November 2012(2012-11-07) (aged 92)
Portugal
NationalityBritish
EducationSevenoaks School
Alma materItalia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts
Occupations
Years active1935–1984
Known forLance-Corporal Jack Jones
Notable workSee below
TelevisionDad's Army
SpousePriscilla Morgan (m. 1959-2012, his death)
Children2 daughters
RelativesGretchen Franklin
(cousin)

Clive Robert Benjamin Dunn,[1][2] OBE (9 January 1920 – 6 November 2012) was an English actor, comedian and author, best known for his role as Lance-Corporal Jack Jones in the popular BBC sitcom Dad's Army.

Early life and education

Born in Covent Garden, London, Dunn was the son of actors, and the cousin of actress Gretchen Franklin. As a child, he almost died from post-operative complications after a supernumerary nipple was removed.[3]

Dunn was educated at Sevenoaks School, an independent boarding school for boys (now coeducational), in Sevenoaks, Kent. After leaving school, Dunn studied at the independent Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, in London.

Career

Dunn played small film roles from the 1930s onwards, appearing alongside Will Hay in the films Boys Will Be Boys (1935) and Good Morning, Boys (1937). After a break for service in the army with the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, during the Second World War, during the course of which he spent four years in prisoner-of-war and labour camps in Austria,[4] he worked for many years in music halls and theatres. In 1956 and 1957, Dunn appeared in both series of The Tony Hancock Show and the army reunion party episode of Hancock's Half Hour in 1960. In the 1960s he made many appearances with Tony Hancock, Michael Bentine, Dora Bryan and Dick Emery, among others, before winning the role of Jones in Dad's Army in 1968.

From an early time his trademark character was that of a doddering old man. This first made an impression in the show Bootsie and Snudge, a spinoff from The Army Game. Dunn played the old dogsbody,"Mr Johnson" at a slightly seedy gentlemen's club where the characters Pte. "Bootsie" Bisley (Alfie Bass) and Sgt. Claude Snudge (Bill Fraser) found work after leaving the Army.

In 1967 he made a guest appearance in an episode of The Avengers, playing the proprietor of a toy shop in "Something Nasty in the Nursery". He was also one of the alien voices in the Cadbury's Smash advertisements in the 1970s, alongside Dad's Army co-star Bill Pertwee.

Dunn was one of the younger members of the Dad's Army cast when, at 48, he took on the role of the elderly butcher whose military service in earlier wars made him the most experienced member of the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard, as well as one of the most decrepit. Jack Haig and David Jason had previously been considered for the role.[4]

Dunn's staunch socialist beliefs often caused him to fall out with Arthur Lowe, who played Captain Mainwaring and who was an active Conservative. When the series ended and Dunn finally accepted an OBE, after many offers, it was reported that Lowe would only accept a higher-rated honour from the Queen.[5]

After Dad's Army ended, Dunn capitalised on his skill in playing elderly character roles by playing the lead character Charlie Quick in the slapstick children's TV series Grandad, from 1979 to 1984 (he played the caretaker at a village hall, and sang the lyrics in the theme).[6] He had previously had a number one hit single with the song "Grandad" on his 51st birthday in January 1971, accompanied by a children's choir. The song was written by bassist Herbie Flowers. He performed the song four times on Top of the Pops. The B-side of "Grandad", "I Play The Spoons", also received considerable airplay. After the cancellation of Grandad in 1984, he effectively disappeared from the screen, retiring to Portugal.[7] Following the success of the "Grandad" record, Dunn released several other singles.

Personal life

He married actress Priscilla Pughe-Morgan (born 14 January 1934[8]) in June 1959[9] and they had two daughters, Polly and Jessica.

A 2006 article described Dunn as having eye trouble and sometimes being unable to see, but otherwise appearing to be in good health.[1] In August 2008, he recorded a message for the programme Jonathan Ross Salutes Dad's Army, which was shown to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Dad's Army.

Dunn's cousin Gretchen Franklin was a television actress, best remembered as Ethel Skinner in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Dunn inherited a share in her estate on her death in 2005.[10]

He spent his last three decades in Portugal,[10] where he occupied himself as an artist painting portraits, landscapes and seascapes until his sight failed.[11]

Death

Dunn died in Portugal on 6 November 2012 from complications following an operation which took place earlier in that week. His agent, Peter Charlesworth, said the star would be "sorely missed" and that his death was "a real loss to the acting profession".[11] [12][13]

Filmography

Films

Television roles

Year Title Role
1960–63 Bootsie and Snudge Henry Johnson
1968–77 Dad's Army Lance-Corporal Jack Jones
1970–71 Here Come the Double Deckers! Hodge
1974–75 My Old Man Sam Cobbett
1979–84 Grandad Charlie Quick

Singles

  • "Grandad" / "I Play the Spoons", Columbia, 1970
  • "My Lady (Nana)" / "Tissue Paper & Comb", Columbia, 1971
  • "Wonderful Lilly" / "Pretty Little Song", Columbia, 1972
  • "Let's Take A Walk" / "Tell Us", Columbia, 1972
  • "Our Song" / "She's Gone", EMI, 1973
  • "Grandad" / "My Lady (Nana)" (reissue), EMI, 1973
  • "My Old Man" / "My Own Special Girl", EMI, 1974
  • "Holding On" / "My Beautiful England", Reprise, 1976
  • "Goodnight Ruby" / "Thank You and Goodnight", Decca, 1977
  • "Thinking of You This Christmas" / "'Arry 'Arry 'Arry", Sky Records, 1978
  • "There Ain't Much Change From A Pound These Days" / "After All These Years" (with John Le Mesurier), KA Records, 1982.
  • "Grandad" (reissue) / "There's No-One Quite Like Grandma", EMI, 1988.

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Don't panic, Arthur!". iccoventry. Retrieved 26 January 2006.
  2. ^ GRO Register of Births: MAR 1920 1d 1060 LAMBETH – Robert B. Dunn, mmn = Franklin
  3. ^ "Rebecca Tyrrel: 'Chandler Bing thought his third nipple opened a gateway to Narnia'". The Independent. 28 January 2012.
  4. ^ a b "We Are the Boys", BBC documentary (2005) This link no longer works--> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BT0TiXbGNQ
  5. ^ Graham McCann "Dad's Army, The Story of a Classic Television Show" ISBN 1-84115-309-5
  6. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ECdcra6m64&feature=PlayList&p=77168A35E2C6FEAC&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=38
  7. ^ Permission to Speak, Sir? Saga magazine (February 1992) accessed 15 February 2007
  8. ^ "Researcha". Web.researcha.com. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  9. ^ GRO Register of Marriages: JUN 1959 9c 1654 STRATFORD – Robert B. Dunn = Priscilla M. Pughe-Morgan
  10. ^ a b EastEnder Ethel leaves £200,000 to elderly, Daily Mail, accessed 3 March 2007
  11. ^ a b Haynes, Jonathan. "Dad's Army actor Clive Dunn dies". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  12. ^ http://www.lifestyleuncut.com/film-tv/the-passing-away-of-clive-dunn.html
  13. ^ "BBC News - Clive Dunn, Dad's Army actor, dies aged 92". bbc.co.uk. 7 November, 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)

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