| John Le Mesurier |
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Born in Bedford , the son of a Solicitor , he began to study acting at the age of 20, using his mother's maiden name (common in the Channel Islands) ''Le Mesurier'' as his stage name. Le Mesurier appeared in over 100 films, including '' Private's Progress '', '' I'm All Right Jack '', '' Brothers In Law '', '' Carlton Brown Of The FO '', '' Our Man In Marrakesh '', and '' The Pure Hell Of St Trinian's ''. In Ben-Hur ( 1959 ) he has an uncredited cameo role as a doctor. He also appeared in most of Tony Hancock 's films and many episodes of his television series. His final film was with Peter Sellers in ''The Fiendish Plot of Fu Manchu '' in 1980 . In most of his performances, he presented an impression of good-natured vagueness, which acquaintances claim was close to his true personality. Le Mesurier's most popular TV (and radio) role was as the upper-class Sergeant Wilson in '' Dad's Army '' from 1968 to 1977 . He followed this with a memorable performance as Kim Philby in Dennis Potter 's play '' Traitor ''. From the mid- 1960s until his death he provided the original voice for the animated TV commercial character "Flour Grader Fred", a little man in a bowler hat who advertised Homepride Flour and related products. The character lives on, voiced by other actors. In 1975 he narrated '' Bod '', an animated children's programme from the BBC about a boy named Bod, his aunt Flo and their friends and their rather strange adventures (like falling into a manhole and finding a giant strawberry). On radio he reprised the role of Arthur Wilson in '' It Sticks Out Half A Mile '', and played The Wise Old Bird in '' The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy '' ( 1980 ) and Bilbo Baggins in the BBC 's 1981 Radio Version of '' The Lord Of The Rings '' ( 1981 ). John Le Mesurier also guest starred in episodes of the British comedy television series '' The Goodies '' and '' Doctor In The House ''. PRIVATE LIFE He was married three times:
When his second wife left him for a younger man, Le Mesurier allowed the press to give him the blame for the break-up. His best friend was the he became seriously ill, and lost a great deal of weight. He died at Ramsgate from a Stomach Haemorrhage , (which was brought on by Cirrhosis Of The Liver ) in November 1983 , aged 71. His self-penned Obituary in '' The Times '' stated, that he had "conked out" and "missed his friends and family". EXTERNAL LINKS
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