| Arthur Lowe |
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Arthur Lowe was born in Hayfield , Derbyshire . Lowe’s original intention was to join the Merchant Navy but this idea was thwarted due to his poor eyesight. Working at an Aeroplane factory he joined the Army on the eve of World War II , but not before experiencing his first brush with the acting world by working as a stagehand at the Manchester Palace of Varieties. While serving in the Middle East , he began to take part in shows put on for the troops, which appears to have sparked his desire to act. Lowe became known for his character roles, making his debut at Manchester rep in 1946 . He appeared on stage in many roles including parts in '' Call Me Madam ,'' '' Pal Joey '' and '' The Pyjama Game '' and eventually featured in no less than fifty films. By the 1960s Lowe had successfully made the transition to television and landed a regular role as draper/lay preacher Leonard Swindley in the Northern Drama series '' Coronation Street ''. So popular was his role with viewers that he was eventually given his own spin off series '' Pardon The Expression ''. However, Leonard Swindley was not a role Arthur relished and he longed to move on to other parts, so it's no surprise that the months he was not playing Swindley he was busy on stage or making guest roles in other TV series including '' Z Cars '' and '' The Avengers ''. In 1968 , Lowe landed perhaps his most famous role, Captain George Mainwaring. It has often been remarked by his former colleague Bill Pertwee that this was the role Lowe played which most resembled himself: pompous and bumbling. His comic timing in the role could never be faulted and he went on to take the character into a radio series, stage play and feature length film. When not filming ''Dad's Army'' Lowe would frequently be making films such as '' No Sex Please We're British '' and '' O Lucky Man! .'' He was in great demand for guest appearances on other TV shows such as'' The Morecambe And Wise Show .'' He was never afraid to play oddities or surreal characters. In the film version of The Bed-Sitting Room , a surreal post-apocalyptic black comedy featuring a cross-section of British comic talent, he played a man on the verge of mutating into a parrot, while still maintaining the mannerisms of a lower middle-class British professional keen on marrying his daughter to an upper-class drone. His comic tics, squawking and scratching under his ear at just the right moment, almost stole the film. Unfortunately the script called for a real parrot to take over in the latter half, so he was unable to carry the role as far as he might have. Between 1971 and 1973 Lowe joined ''Dad's Army'' castmate Ian Lavender on the BBC radio comedy '' Parsley Sidings ''. He employed a multitude of voices on the 1975 BBC animated television series '' Mr. Men '', where he voiced all the characters as well as narrated. When ''Dad's Army'' ended in 1977 , Lowe was still very much in demand with starring roles in TV programmes such as'' Bless Me Father '' and ''Potter.'' He also carried on working on the stage and films. An unusual role he had was in a silent film, 1979's 'The Plank', alongside Eric Sykes. Arthur Lowe reprised his role as George Mainwaring for the pilot episode of '' It Sticks Out Half A Mile '', a radio sequel to ''Dad's Army''. In his spare time he would sail his restored 19th century Boat , "The Amazon", across Europe accompanied by his wife Joan and would lead a very active life. Lowe died of a Stroke in his dressing room before a performance of '' Home At Seven '' on April 15th 1982 aged 66,having given a live interview on the BBC 1 afternoon show '' Pebble Mill At One '' only several hours earlier. Two biographies on Arthur Lowe are available, ''Arthur Lowe - Dad's Memory'' by his son Stephen which was released in 1997 and more recently ''Arthur Lowe'' by Graham Lord. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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