Charles Hawtrey (Carry On actor)
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Life
Born at Hounslow in Middlesex, England, as George Frederick Joffre Hartree, he took his stage name from a celebrated theatrical knight of the previous century, Sir Charles Hawtrey. He began acting as a child, studying at the Italia Conti school, eventually appearing in films opposite Will Hay during the 1930s such as 'The Ghost of St Michaels' and 'Boys will be Boys'. It has mistakenly been suggested, and encouraged by Hartree himself, that he was son of Sir Charles Hawtrey but there is no foundation to this. His father was actually a London car mechanic.
Hawtrey was an accomplished musician (had been a semi-professional pianist for the armed forces during WWII), and recorded several records as a boy soprano. He also appeared on radio during Children's Hour as Norman, Bones, Boy Detective alongside the actress Patricia Hayes (first broadcast 1943), and played the voice of snooty Hubert Lane in 'Just Williams'.
He had suffered from arthritis for a long time, and by 1988 his doctors told him that the condition had become so serious that his legs would have to be amputated. He refused, and died almost a month later, aged 73.
In the introduction to the Beatles song "Two Of Us" (from the Let It Be album), John Lennon can be heard saying, "I Dig A Pgymy by Charles Hawtrey and the Def-Aids...Phase One, in which Doris gets her oats."
Theatre career (1925 onwards)
Charles Hawtrey made his first appearance on the stage at the precocious age of 11, when he played the part of an urchin in 'The Windmill Man at Boscombe in 1925'. His London stage debut followed at the age of 18 at the Scala Theatre, where he appeared as the White Cat and Bootblack in "Bluebell in Fairyland".
Hawtrey continued to appear in a number of plays throughout the 1930s and 1940s - most notably 'The Taming of the Shrew' at the Old Vic as Gremio in 1939, and 'Peter Pan' at the London Palladium in 1931 as the First Twin. A review in the Telegraph commended him for having "a comedy sense not unworthy of his famous name". Five years later in 1936 he played Slightly in another production of the play in the same theatre.
By 1937 Hawtrey was playing in "Bats in the Belfry", a farce written by Diana Morgan and Robert MacDermott, and which opened at the Ambassador's Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, on 11 March. The cast included Ivor Barnard, and Dame Lilian Braithwaite, as well as the soon to be famous Vivien Leigh in the small part of Jessica Morton. The play ran for an impressive 178 performances, before moving to the Golders Green Hippodrome in Barnet on 16 August 1937.
Hawtrey also earned rave notices for the Eric Maschwitz revue 'New Faces' (1940) at the Comedy Theatre in London, particularly for his "chic and finished study of an alluring woman spy". Maschwitz had worked in the 1930s in Hollywood under contract to MGM, writing the screenplay of Goodbye Mr Chips, before returning to England to work in light entertainment. 'New Faces' was particularly remembered for the premier of the song, 'A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square', which quickly became a wartime favourite. During and after the Second World War he appeared in the West End in such shows as Scoop, Old Chelsea, Merry England, Frou-Frou and Husbands Don’t Count
Hawtrey also directed a couple of plays including 'Dumb Dora Discovers Tobacco' at the Q Theatre in Richmond. Built on the Brentford side of Kew Bridge in 1924 (with 500 seats), over 1,000 plays were presented here until it was demolished in 1958.
Television career (1956-87)
Hawtrey's television career began in the 1950s with 'The Army Game' where he played the part of Private 'Professor' Hatchett.
Loosely based on the 1956 movie Private's Progress, the series followed the fortunes of a mixed bag of army conscripts in residence at Hut 29 of the Surplus Ordnance Depot at Nether Hopping in remote Staffordshire. At the forefront of this gang was Pte 'Excused Boots' Bisley played by comedian Alfie Bass, Pte 'Cupcake' Cook (Norman Rossington), Pte 'Popeye' Popplewell (Bernard Bresslaw) and future Doctor Who William Hartnell as bellowing Sgt Major Bullimore. Popplewell's catch phrase "I only arsked" became a national catch-phrase and became the title for a 1958 feature film based on the series. A number of cast changes from 1958 onwards affected the show's popularity and ultimately led to its demise. The first to leave were Hawtrey, Bresslaw and Hartnell.
Hawtrey also made a brief appearance in 1956 in 'Tess and Tim' (BBC TV) under the Saturday Comedy Hour banner. This short-run series starred the musical comedians Tessie O'Shea and Jimmy Wheeler.
The same year, the comedian Digby Wolfe appeared in ATV's Wolfe At The Door, a 12-week sketch show, not screened in London but which ran in the Midlands from 18 June to 10 September 1956. In this, Wolfe explored the comic situations that could be found by passing through doorways - into a theatrical dressing-room, for example. The programmes were written by Tony Hawes and Richard Waring, and Charles Hawtrey appeared alongside fellow carry-on co-star Hattie Jacques.
1957 saw Hawtrey's appearance in a one-off episode of 'Laughter In Store' (BBC) working with Charlie Drake and Irene Handl.
In 'Our House' (1960) Charles Hawtrey played the character of council official, Simon Willow. The series was created by Norman Huddis, who had written the first five Carry On movies, and in the opening episode ('Moving Into Our House') two couples and five individuals meet at an estate agent's and realise that if they pool their resources they can buy a house big enough to accommodate them all. Hattie Jacques as librarian Georgina Ruddy, who was forced to keep quiet at work and so made up for it by being extremely noisy at home, was arguably the star of the series. Joan Sims starred as the unemployable Daisy Burke.
The series initially ran for 13 episodes from September to December 1960, returning the following year with Bernard Bresslaw and Hylda Baker as Henrietta added to the cast. Of the 39 episodes in total, only three survive today.
'Best of Friends' (ITV - 1963) had essentially the same writers and production team as 'Our House'. Hawtrey again acted alongside Hylda Baker, but this time playing the role simply of Charles, a clerk in an insurance office situated next door to a café run by Baker. She accompanied him on insurance assignments and protected him when he was feeling put upon by his Uncle Sidney, who wished to - but could not - dismiss his nephew from the firm. 13 episodes in total (B&W) were made.
Hawtrey's last appearance on TV was as Clarence, Duke of Claridge in the children's programme, 'Supergran and the State Visit'.
- Tess and Time (1956)
- The Army Game (1957-1958)
- Laughter in Store (1957)
- Our House (1960)
- Best of Friends (1963)
- Carry On Christmas (1969)
- Carry On Again Christmas (1970)
- The Princess and the Pea (1979)
- The Plank (1979)
- Supergran and the State Visit (1987)
Film career
Hawtrey acted in films from an early age, appearing in an impressive array of films while still a boy, and as an adult his youthful appearance and wit made him an excellent foil to Will Hay's blundering old fool in the comedy films Good Morning, Boys (1937), Where's That Fire? (1940), The Ghost of St Michael's (1941) and The Goose Steps Out (1942).
Hawtrey also took a hand at directing films himself, which included in 1945 What Do We Do Now? a musical-mystery written by the English author George Cooper, and starring George Moon as Wesley (later to be seen as Mr Giles in Carry on Dick). Also in 1945, Hawtrey directed the distinguished British actress Dame Flora Robson in Dumb Dora Discovers Tobacco.
He became a core member of the Carry On series of films throughout the 1960s and 70s, mostly playing effeminate characters. He revealed little about his private life and went into retirement in Deal, Kent after being dropped from the series. His last film was Carry On Abroad (1972). Hawtrey's growing alcohol consumption, which had began to noticeably worsen since Carry On Cowboy in 1965, was beginning to affect his work. The last straw was when, in a bid to finally gain top billing, Hawtrey boycotted a Carry On television program he was scheduled to appear in. After this producer Peter Rogers stop using him for Carry On roles.
Filmography as actor (1922-1972)
- Tell Your Children (1922)
- This Freedom (1923)
- Marry Me (1932)
- The Melody-Maker (1933)
- Well Done, Henry (1936)
- Cheer Up (1936)
- Sabotage (1936)
- Melody and Romance (1937)
- Good Morning, Boys (1937)
- Where's That Fire? (1940)
- Jailbirds (1940)
- The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941)
- Let the People Sing (1942)
- The Goose Steps Out (1942)
- Much Too Shy (1942)
- Bell-Bottom George (1944)
- A Canterbury Tale (1944)
- Ten Year Plan (1945)
- Meet Me at Dawn (1947)
- The End of the River (1947)
- The Story of Shirley Yorke (1948)
- The Lost People (1949)
- Dark Secret (1949)
- Passport to Pimlico (1949)
- Room to Let (1950)
- The Smart Aleck (1951)
- The Galloping Major (1951)
- You're Only Young Twice (1952)
- Hammer the Toff (1952)
- Brandy for the Parson (1952)
- To Dorothy a Son (1954)
- Five Days (1954)
- Simon and Laura (1955)
- March Hare (1955)
- Jumping for Joy (1955)
- As Long as They're Happy (1955)
- Man of the Moment (1955)
- Timeslip (1956)
- Who Done It? (1956)
- I Only Arsked! (1958)
- Carry On Sergeant (1958)
- Please Turn Over (1959)
- Carry On Nurse (1959)
- Carry On Teacher (1959)
- Inn for Trouble (1960)
- Carry On, Constable (1960)
- What a Whopper! (1961)
- Dentist on the Job (1961)
- Carry On Regardless (1961)
- Carry On Cabby (1963)
- Carry On Jack (1963)
- Carry On Spying (1964)
- Carry On Cleo (1964)
- Carry On Cowboy (1965)
- Carry On Screaming! (1966)
- Don't Lose Your Head (1966)
- The Terrornauts (1967)
- Follow That Camel (1967)
- Carry on Doctor (1967)
- Carry On... Up the Khyber (1968)
- Zeta One (1969)
- Carry On Camping (1969)
- Carry On Again Doctor (1969)
- Carry On Loving (1970)
- Carry On Henry (1970)
- Carry On Up the Jungle (1970)
- Carry On at Your Convenience (1971)
- Carry On Matron (1972)
- Carry On Abroad (1972)
External links
- Template:Imdb name
- The Army Game and Our House at Television Heaven [1] (http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk)