- Clive Dunn
-
Clive Dunn OBE Born Clive Robert Benjamin Dunn
9 January 1920
Covent Garden, London, EnglandResidence Portugal Nationality British Ethnicity White British Occupation Actor, comedian, author, singer Years active 1935–84 Notable works See below Spouse Priscilla Morgan (m. 1959–present) Children 2 daughters Clive Robert Benjamin Dunn[1][2] OBE (born 9 January 1920) is a retired English actor, comedian and author, best known for his role as Lance-Corporal Jack Jones in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army.
Contents
Early life
Born in Covent Garden, Westminster, Dunn is the cousin of actress Gretchen Franklin. As a child, he almost died while having a supernumerary nipple removed.
Education
Dunn was educated at Sevenoaks School, an independent boarding school for boys (now coeducational), in the town of Sevenoaks in Kent in south east England. After leaving school, Dunn studied at the independent Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, in London.
Life and 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,[3] 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 at a slightly seedy gentlemen's club where the characters Pvt. "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 being one of the most decrepit. Previous actors considered for the role were Jack Haig and David Jason.[3]
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.[4]
After Dad's Army ended, Dunn capitalised on his skill in playing elderly character roles by playing the lead in the slapstick children's TV series Grandad, from 1979 to 1984 (he played the caretaker at a village hall).[5] 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.[6]
Following the success of the "Grandad" record, Dunn released several other singles.
- "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.
Personal life
He married actress Priscilla Pughe-Morgan (born 14 January 1934[7]) in June 1959[8] and they have two daughters, Polly and Jessica. Both Clive's parents were actors. Dunn and his family all now live in Portugal.[9]
A 2006 article described Dunn as having eye trouble and sometimes being unable to see, but otherwise he appears 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.
He is, along with Ian Lavender, Bill Pertwee, Frank Williams, and Pamela Cundell one of the few surviving members of the Dad's Army cast.
Dunn's cousin Gretchen Franklin was also a noted television actress, best remembered for her time as Ethel Skinner on the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Dunn was amongst relatives to inherit a share in Franklin's estate following her 2005 death.[9]
Filmography
Films
- Boys Will Be Boys (1935)
- Good Morning, Boys (1937)
- A Yank at Oxford (1938)
- Boys in Brown (1949)
- The Treasure of San Teresa (1959)
- What a Whopper (1961)
- The Fast Lady (1962)
- She'll Have to Go (1963)
- The Mouse on the Moon (1963)
- You Must Be Joking (1965)
- The Mini-Affair (1967)
- Just Like a Woman (1967)
- Crooks and Coronets (1969)
- The Magic Christian (1969)
- Dad's Army (1971)
- The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980)
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 Notes
- ^ a b "Don't panic, Arthur!". iccoventry. http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=16617987&method=full&siteid=50003&headline=don-t-panic--arthur--name_page.html. Retrieved 26 January 2006.
- ^ GRO Register of Births: MAR 1920 1d 1060 LAMBETH - Robert B. Dunn, mmn = Franklin
- ^ a b "We Are the Boys", BBC documentary (2005) This link no longer works--> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BT0TiXbGNQ
- ^ Graham McCann "Dad's Army, The Story of a Classic Television Show" ISBN 1-84115-309-5
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ECdcra6m64&feature=PlayList&p=77168A35E2C6FEAC&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=38
- ^ Permission to Speak, Sir? Saga magazine (February 1992) accessed 15 February 2007
- ^ "Researcha". Web.researcha.com. http://web.researcha.com/iccquery/detail/?did=8567621&c=uk. Retrieved 2011-08-03.
- ^ GRO Register of Marriages: JUN 1959 9c 1654 STRATFORD - Robert B. Dunn = Priscilla M. Pughe-Morgan
- ^ a b EastEnder Ethel leaves £200,000 to elderly, Daily Mail, accessed 3 March 2007
External links
Categories:- 1920 births
- British Army personnel of World War II
- English actors
- English comedy musicians
- English male singers
- British prisoners of war
- English television actors
- English writers
- English socialists
- Living people
- Music hall performers
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Old Sennockians
- People from Covent Garden
- World War II prisoners of war held by Germany
- British expatriates in Portugal
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
