John Clegg (actor)

Not to be confused with British comedian and impressionist Jon Clegg.

John Clegg
Clegg in 2018
Born
John Walter Laurence Clegg

(1934-07-09)9 July 1934
Murree, Punjab Province, British India
Died2 August 2024(2024-08-02) (aged 90)
Chichester, West Sussex, England
NationalityBritish
OccupationActor
Years active1961–2009
Notable workIt Ain't Half Hot Mum
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1959; died 2006)​

John Walter Laurence Clegg (9 July 1934 – 2 August 2024) was an English actor, best known for playing the part of 'La Di Da' Gunner Graham in the BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum.

Early life and career

Clegg was born on 9 July 1934 in Murree, British India (present-day Pakistan) to English parents. After he and his parents returned to the United Kingdom, Clegg was educated at The Pilgrims' School, Winchester, and Canford School, near Bournemouth. During National Service he served as a private in the Wiltshire Regiment in Hong Kong, followed by a commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Hampshire Regiment.[1] Clegg later became a student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).[2] 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.'[3]

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.[4]

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 played Francis Tresham; during the documentary he starred alongside Martin Shaw, whom 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 BBC Television Shakespeare production of Measure for Measure, in which he played Froth, the foolish gentleman.[5] 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 solicitor; 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.[2]

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.

Death

John Clegg died in Chichester, West Sussex, on 2 August 2024, at the age of 90.[6][7][1]

Acting credits

Guest appearances

References

  1. ^ a b "John Clegg, actor best-known as the pianist Gunner Graham in It Ain't Half Hot Mum – obituary". The Telegraph. 22 August 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b "My Life as an Actor – John Clegg". Chichester Literary Society. 20 October 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  3. ^ Schilder, Niles (Summer 2018). "An Evening Celebrating the work of Croft and Perry". Permission To Speak, Sir! DAAS.
  4. ^ Permission To Speak, Sir! Dads Army Appreciation Society Magazine. DAAS. 2013.
  5. ^ "Measure For Measure (1979)". Screen Online. British Film Institute. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  6. ^ "John Walter Laurence Clegg". Telegraph. 20 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  7. ^ McIntyre, Charlotte (20 August 2024). "It Ain't Half Hot Mum actor John Clegg dies as tributes paid to BBC star, 90". Daily Record (Scotland). Retrieved 20 August 2024.