John Clegg (actor)

John Walter Lawrence Clegg (born 9 July 1934) is an Indian-born English actor, best known for playing the part of Gunner 'Paderewski' Graham in the BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum.

John Clegg
John Clegg in 2018
Born
John Walter Lawrence Clegg

(1934-07-09) 9 July 1934
Murree, British India
OccupationActor
Notable workIt Ain't Half Hot Mum
Spouse
​
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(m. 1959; died 2006)​

Early life and career

Clegg was born on 9 July 1934 in Murree, British India (present-day Pakistan) to English parents. When he and his parents arrived back in the United Kingdom, Clegg became a student at RADA. After leaving RADA Clegg joined the Watford Palace Theatre Company, where he met Jimmy Perry, who would go on to cast Clegg in the role for which he is best known. It was there that he also met many of his future co-stars, including Michael Knowles, Donald Hewlett, and Mavis Pugh (whom he married in 1959). Pugh appeared in Croft and Perry sitcoms including Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Hi-de-Hi!, but she is best known for playing Lady Lavender Southwick in You Rang, M'Lord?. Due to the twenty year age gap between Clegg and Pugh many were sceptical as to whether the marriage would last, apart from Jimmy Perry and his wife Gillian. After the wedding there was a whip-round at the theatre which collected enough money to buy what Clegg described in an interview as ‘lots of practical things, like sponges and cloths - the most practical things you could imagine.’[1]

During his time at Watford, Clegg appeared in many performances including farces such as Charley's Aunt and The Happiest Days of Your Life. He also appeared in thrillers such as Gas Light.[2]

Later television and film career

Clegg's first television role was as D.C. Greaves in Dixon of Dock Green in 1961. Clegg’s first film appearance was as a minor role in the 1967 musical film Half a Sixpence, playing a shop assistant. He then went on to make many television appearances including the dramatised documentary The Gunpowder Plot in which he playing Francis Tresham, during the documentary he started alongside Martin Shaw which he later featured alongside in Death in Holy Order in 2003. In 1973 he was cast in the BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum as Gunner Graham, the concert party’s pianist. The show ran for eight series and Clegg appeared in all 56 episodes, however Clegg did not appear in the 1979 stage adaptation of the series. Instead, the role was taken up by David Rowley, who was able to play the piano live on stage. Since It Ain't Half Hot Mum he has made numerous television and film appearances including Dad's Army, Are You Being Served? and Bless This House. Between 2 August and 17 August 1978 Clegg appeared as Clifford Howes in the soap opera Crossroads. In 1979, he made an appearance in the television adaptation of the Shakespeare play Measure for Measure, in which he played Froth, the foolish gentleman. In 1981, he appeared with various other members of the It Ain't Half Hot Mum cast in game show Family Fortunes, which saw them go head to head with the hosts of the show Give Us a Clue. In 1995 he appeared as a guest on David Croft's appearance on This Is Your Life. Clegg had a recurring role in the sitcom You Rang, M'Lord? in which he played Mr Franklyn the Meldrum family physician; in the series he featured alongside many actors who he had previously worked with on It Ain't Half Hot Mum including Michael Knowles and Donald Hewlett.

In 1982, Clegg made a return to the theatre, co-producing with his wife a one-man show about Rudyard Kipling which achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

During the 1990s, Clegg had a bit part in Tom & Viv (1994) and played a vicar in the 1997 film Shooting Fish alongside Dan Futterman and Stuart Townsend. In the same year Clegg featured alongside Helena Bonham Carter and Richard E. Grant in the British romantic comedy Keep the Aspidistra Flying (released in the USA and New Zealand as A Merry War), which was based on the novel by George Orwell. He has most recently been in the 2001 film Bridget Jones's Diary (playing an unnamed elderly man), the 2003 television film Death in Holy Orders, which was based on the book by P. D. James (with Clegg playing the role of Father John Betterton), and the 2006 short Tommy the Kid in which he played a police officer.

Acting credits

Guest appearances

References
  1. Schilder, Niles (Summer 2018). "An Evening Celebrating the work of Croft and Perry". Permission To Speak, Sir! DAAS.
  2. Permission To Speak, Sir! Dads Army Appreciation Society Magazine. DAAS. 2013.
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