Andreas Siegfried Sachs (7 April 1930 – 23 November 2016), known professionally as Andrew Sachs, was a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and found his greatest fame for his portrayal of the comical Spanish waiter Manuel in Fawlty Towers.
Sachs had a long career in acting and voice-over work for television, film and radio. He was successful well into his eighties, with roles in numerous films such as Quartet, and as Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street.
Early life
Sachs was born on 7 April 1930 in Berlin, Germany, the son of Katharina (née Schrott-Fiecht), a librarian, and Hans Emil Sachs, an insurance broker.[1][2][3] His father was Jewish and his mother was Lutheran, with Austrian ancestry.[4] The family moved to Britain in 1938 to escape the Nazis.[5][6] They settled in north London,[1] and he lived in Kilburn for the rest of his life.[7]
Sachs is best known for portraying Manuel, the Spanish waiter in the critically acclaimed sitcom Fawlty Towers (1975 and 1979), a role for which he was nominated for a BAFTA award[12] (the award went to co-star John Cleese).[13] He claimed in 1981 that Manuel was "really a very small part. In fact there was only one episode of Fawlty Towers – the one with the hamster – in which I had anything much to do."[14]
Sachs recorded three singles in character as Manuel; the first was "Manuel's Good Food Guide" in 1977, in which he appeared, in character, on the cover. Sachs was co-author of the tracks.[15] This was followed in 1979 by "O Cheryl" with "Ode to England" on the B side, under the name "Manuel and Los Por Favors".[15] Sachs shares the writing credits for the B side with "B. Wade", who also wrote the A side.[16] In 1981, at the urging of Elton John, "Manuel" released a cover version of Joe Dolce's worldwide hit "Shaddap You Face", with "Waiter, there's a Flea in my Soup" on the B side.[17] When finally released it reached 138 in the UK Chart.[15] Dolce prohibited Sachs from releasing his version until the original had been a hit.
He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1980, when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews while making a personal appearance as Manuel at the HMV store on London's Oxford Street.[citation needed]
Sachs, who had himself experienced life as a 'foreigner' in Britain, denied allegations that the character was based on racist stereotypes, arguing that Manuel could have been any 'foreign' worker.[18]
During the shooting of the Fawlty Towers episode "The Germans", Sachs was left with second degree acid burns due to a fire stunt. He was also hit with a faulty prop on the set of the show by Cleese and suffered a severe headache.[19]
Although no other role gained him the same attention as Manuel, Sachs continued to star in a range of productions, both comedic and dramatic. In a reversal of his Fawlty Towers role, he was the hotel manager Don Carlos Bernardo in the 1977 Are You Being Served? movie,[35] In addition he also played the recurring character of Barrister Jeremy Nisbett Q.C. in the Granada Television daytime series, Crown Court.
1988 saw Sachs and his wife Melody returning to Berlin to make a three-part BBC documentary following his early life in the city, comparing it with the divided Berlin of 1988. An excerpt exists in the BBC Archive.
In 1990 he appeared as a contestant on Cluedo, facing off against fellow actor Keith Barron.
In 1992 he voiced the titular gingerbread man in the animated series The Gingerbread Man. He also voiced the characters Mr Salt, Herr Von Cuckoo and Sleek The Mouse.
In 1996 Sachs portrayed Albert Einstein in an episode of the American PBS series NOVA entitled "Einstein Revealed".[38] In 1997, Sachs played opposite Shane Richie in Chris Barfoot's Dead Clean:[39] in a tale of mistaken identity, Sachs plays airport window cleaner Kostas Malmatakis who is hired to assassinate a businessman by his greedy partner (Mark Chapman); the British short won a Gold Remi at the Houston Worldfest in 2001.[40]
Sachs has had several roles in Doctor Who productions. He played "Skagra" in the webcast/audio version of the Doctor Who story Shada, completed by Big Finish Productions and in 2008 he played the elderly version of former companion Adric, in another Doctor Who story for the same company, The Boy That Time Forgot. In the 1980s, Sachs had submitted his name to be considered for the part of the Seventh Doctor in the television series.[41]
On 17 November 2008 it was announced that Sachs had been approached to appear in ITV soap Coronation Street.[44] He later confirmed on 14 December that he was taking up the offer, saying "My wife was such a fan that I've been watching it since 1962". In May 2009 he made his debut on the street as Norris' brother, Ramsay.[45] He appeared in 27 episodes and left in August 2009.[46]
Between 1962 and 1985 Sachs wrote a number of plays for theatre and radio, in parallel with his acting career. His first radio play, in 1962, was One Man and His Dog.[50]Till Death Do Us Join, concerning Ernest Wire's desire to murder his wife, and Ruby Drab's hope to 'dispose of her spouse', was produced by the BBC in 1964 and broadcast in Australia as So You Want to Get Rid of Your Wife the following year.[51] In 1978, BBC Radio 4 broadcast The Revenge, a ground-breaking 30-minute play totally without dialogue (an experiment in binaural stereo recording), written and performed by Sachs.[8] It was dismissed by playwright Jonathan Raban as a "wordless sequence of noises" and "a well-puffed curiosity". The play has however subsequently been repeated a number of times on BBC Radio 4 Extra.[52]
Made in Heaven, which had starred Sachs's future Fawlty Towers co-star Prunella Scales when produced for radio in 1971, was brought to the stage in 1975. As performed at the Chichester Festival it starred Patrick Macnee.[53] Though it was a popular success, Sachs said in 1981, "the critics really slaughtered it ... Actually, I had to agree with the critics. There was a lot wrong with the play." He professed his intention to rewrite the work and stage it again.[14]
Sachs claimed he would "concentrate on writing if anything happened to impair my acting. But I'm very much a part-time writer."[14]
On 25 October 2008, the BBC apologised to Sachs and his agent after they had been informed that Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross had made several obscene phone calls to him during an episode of The Russell Brand Show recorded on 16 October and broadcast two days later, on which Sachs had agreed to appear.[54] Both presenters had left explicit messages on Sachs's telephone answering machine stating that Brand had sex with his granddaughter, Georgina Baillie.[55]
Gordon Brown, the then Prime Minister, criticised Ross and Brand's actions, saying that it was "clearly inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour", and the television watchdog, Ofcom, launched an inquiry into the matter.[56] Afterwards, Brand and Controller of Radio 2 Lesley Douglas resigned, with Ross soon suspended.[57] In February 2014, Sachs was interviewed by the BBC about his autobiography. He spoke of how the scandal still affected him.[58]
Personal life
In 1960, Sachs married the actress, writer, and fashion designer Melody Lang, who took his surname.[59] He adopted her two sons from a previous marriage, who became known as John Sachs and William Sachs, and the couple had one daughter, Kate Sachs, in 1961.[60] Lang appeared in one episode of Fawlty Towers, "Basil the Rat", as Mrs. Taylor.
Illness and death
Sachs was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2012, which eventually left him unable to speak and forced him to use a wheelchair. He died on 23 November 2016 at the Denville Hall nursing home in Northwood, London.[61][62] His funeral took place on 1 December, the same day his death was publicly announced.[63][64] Melody Sachs died the following year.[65]
On 2 December 2016, BBC One broadcast the Fawlty Towers episode "Communication Problems" in his memory. John Cleese paid tribute to Sachs, describing him as a "sweet, sweet man".[66]
Legacy
In July 2021 the BBC Two television series Secrets of the Museum reported on the waiter's costume, worn by Manuel, which had been gifted to Victoria and Albert Museum by the actor's daughter.[67]
