John Wells (satirist)

John Wells (17 November 1936–11 January 1998) was an English actor, writer and satirist, educated at Eastbourne College and St Edmund Hall, Oxford. The son of a clergyman, he was born in Ashford, Kent and died in Sussex.

Wells started in cabaret at Oxford and began his television career as a writer on "That Was The Week That Was", the 1960s weekly satire show that launched the careers of David Frost and Millicent Martin, among others, and also appeared in the television programme "Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life", as well as in "The Secret Policeman's Other Ball". Besides making cameo appearances in films such as "Casino Royale" (1967), television dramas like "Casanova" (1987), and comedy shows like "Yes Minister", he also wrote television scripts and screenplays, notably "Princess Caraboo" (1994). His major triumph was the 1980s stage comedy, "Anyone for Denis?", in which he impersonated Denis Thatcher. The play was a major West End hit, and toured the UK. In 1971, with John Fortune, he published the comedy classic A Melon for Ecstasy, about a man who consummates his love affair with a tree.

In 1997 he appeared in the BBC situation comedy "Chalk."

From 1982, Wells was the second husband of Teresa Chancellor (daughter of Sir Christopher and sister of Alexander). Wells died of cancer.

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm{1|0920272}/ {2|John Wells}] at the Internet Movie Database