Charles Hawtrey (film actor)

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Charles Hawtrey appeared posthumously on the cover of the Smiths compilation The Very Best of The Smiths (2001).
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Charles Hawtrey appeared posthumously on the cover of the Smiths compilation The Very Best of The Smiths (2001).

George Frederick Joffre Hartree (30 November 1914 - 27 October 1988), better known as Charles Hawtrey, was an English comedy actor.

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[edit] Life

Born at Hounslow in Middlesex, England, as George Frederick Joffre Hartree, he took his stage name from a celebrated theatrical knight who died in 1923, Sir Charles Hawtrey. It has mistakenly been suggested, and encouraged by Hartree himself, that he was his son, but there is no foundation to this. His father was actually a London car mechanic.

Charles Hawtrey made an early start to a remarkable career that was to span a period of almost 60 years, and broke through in all the major entertainment media of the time. He began in the field of music as a renowned boy soprano, making several records before then moving onto the wireless where he performed in programmes for 'Children's Hour'. Following study at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London, he embarked on a career in the theatre as both actor and director. Finally he moved from the cinema (where he regularly appeared supporting Will Hay in the 1930s and 40s in films such as 'The Ghost of St Michaels') through the Carry On films, to the television screen.

Very little is known about Charles Hawtrey's private life. He guarded his relationships very carefully - perhaps no surprise in an age where some homosexual behaviour was illegal and punishable by a prison sentence - but during his life he never hid (to put it mildly) his homosexuality, and was one of the first actors in British cinema to be identifiably 'gay' in the characters that he played. His outrageous drunken promiscuity however, did not portray homosexuality in a positive light to an unsympathetic world, and nor did his general demeanour with those around him earn him many (if any) close friends. Nevertheless a few anecdotes told by his Carry-On colleagues shed a little light on the character off the screen. Kenneth Williams records several encounters with Hawtrey in his 'Diaries' and 'Letters' (both published). He remembers a visit to Deal where Hawtrey's house was full of old brass bedsteads which the eccentric actor had hoarded, believing that one day he would make money from them. He would also wave with gusto at the sailors on the beach.

In her autobiography, Barbara Windsor writes openly about Hawtrey's alcohol problem, and him flirting outrageously with football legend George Best. While filming Carry On Spying she thought he had fainted from fright at a dramatic scene on a conveyor belt. In fact he had passed out because he was drunk. When he came on set with a crate of R. White's Lemonade, everyone knew that he had been on another heavy drinking binge.

Joan Sims could apparently communicate with him in a private language called 'Telegraphese'. He would smoke woodbines profusely and play cards between takes with Sid James and his gang. He was godfather to Richard O'Callaghan (son of Patricia Hayes) who appeared in Carry On Loving, and was also admired by Jim Dale as a type of mentor in comic timing.

A lot of strain was put on him by his mother who suffered senile dementia in later years. One story has the old woman's handbag catching fire when her cigarette ash fell in. Hawtrey, without batting an eyelid, poured a cup of tea into it to put out the flames, snapped the purse shut and continued with his story. His mother would also collect toilet rolls and on another visit to the studios blocked the women's toilets with paper.

Laurence Olivier, one of the most revered 20th century British actors, once drove past in his chauffeured limousine as Hawtrey stood at the bus-stop after a day's filming. Olivier was so aghast that a great comic was being treated in this way that every day he offered to give the actor a lift in the car.

In the introduction to the Beatles song "Two Of Us" (from the Let It Be album), Phil Spector included a bit of chatter into the beginning, and John Lennon can clearly be heard saying, "I Dig A Pygmy by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf-Aids...Phase One, in which Doris gets her oats." The song was recorded in 1969 around the time of Carry On Camping - 'the Deaf-Aids' is the name given to the amplifiers used by the Beatles. It is not clear whether or not Lennon was a fan of Charles Hawtrey.

The falling-out between Hawtrey and the Carry-On producer, Peter Rogers came about partly through drink, but partly because he had hoped for higher billing. Pay for the films was bad and without either Sid James or Kenneth Williams starring in the 1971 Christmas special, Hawtrey believed it was his due to get top billing. However, the producers went with Hattie Jacques who they believed was better known on TV. Rogers tried to contact Hawtrey a day before filming began at the hotel where Hawtrey regularly dined, to ask him to reconsider; but Hawtrey declined. He never worked for the Carry-On again.

Hawtrey finally retired to Deal in Kent in the 1980s, where he continued to battle against alcoholism. He made the news in August 1984 when his house caught fire after he left a cigarette burning on the sofa. When rescued by firemen, a pathetic character, without the grotesque ill fitting wig he always wore, he tried to re-enter the house pleading that 'my fags are next to the bed, and my boyfriend's in it!' He had long suffered from arthritis, and by October 1988, following a fall in a public house, his doctors told him that the condition (compounded by smoking) had become so serious that his legs would have to be amputated. He refused, and died almost a month later, aged 73. His ashes were scattered in the tranquility of Mortlake Crematorium close to Chiswick in London.

[edit] Film career (1922-1972)

Hawtrey acted in films from an early age, appearing in an impressive array of movies while still a boy, and as an adult his youthful appearance and wit made him an excellent foil to Will Hay's blundering old fool in the comedy films Good Morning, Boys (1937), Where's That Fire? (1939), The Ghost of St Michael's (1941) and The Goose Steps Out (1942).

Hawtrey also took a hand at directing films himself, including in 1945 What Do We Do Now? a musical-mystery written by the English author George Cooper, and starring George Moon (later to be seen as Mr Giles in Carry on Dick). Also in 1945, Hawtrey directed the distinguished British actress Dame Flora Robson in Dumb Dora Discovers Tobacco.

He became a core member of the Carry On series of films throughout the 1960s and 70s, mostly playing characters that ranged from the wimpish through the effete to the effeminate. He revealed little about his private life and went into retirement in Deal, Kent after being dropped from the series. His last film was Carry On Abroad (1972). Hawtrey's growing alcohol consumption, which had began to noticeably worsen since Carry On Cowboy in 1965, was beginning to affect his work. The last straw occurred in 1972 when, in a bid to finally gain higher billing, Hawtrey withdrew from a Carry On Christmas television programme in which he was scheduled to appear, giving just a few days' notice for his absence (and despite appearing in promotional material). With the absence of both Sid James and Kenneth Williams, Hawtrey had expected to be given top billing, but that was offered to Hattie Jacques - who, at the time, certainly had a higher TV profile. After this producer Peter Rogers stopped using him for Carry On roles. Without these films, Hawtrey slipped into the relative obscurity of pantomime and provincial summer seasons where he played heavily on his 'Carry On' persona.

[edit] Theatre career (1925 onwards)

Charles Hawtrey made his first appearance on the stage in Boscombe, on the English south coast, as early as 1925. At the delicate age of 11 he played a street arab in Frederick Bowyer's fairy play 'The Windmill Man'.

His London stage debut followed a few years later when, at the age of 18, he appeared in yet another 'fairy extravaganza' this time at the Scala Theatre singing the role of the White Cat and Bootblack in the juvenile opera, "Bluebell in Fairyland". The music for this popular show had been originally written by Walter Slaughter in 1905, and was based on the book by Seymour Hicks (providing the inspiration for Barrie's 'Peter Pan').

Hawtrey continued to appear in a number of plays throughout the 1930s and 1940s in the run-up to the Second World War. In Peter Pan at the London Palladium in 1931 he played the First Twin, with leading parts taken by Jean Forbes-Robertson and George Curzon. This played in several regional theatres, including His Majesty's Theatre in Aberdeen, Scotland. Five years later in 1936 he played in a revival of the play, this time taking the bigger role of 'Slightly', alongside the celebrated husband-wife partnership of Elsa Lanchester and Charles Laughton (playing Peter and Hook respectively). A review in the Daily Telegraph newspaper commended him for having "a comedy sense not unworthy of his famous name".

By 1937 Hawtrey was playing in "Bats in the Belfry", a farce written by Diana Morgan and Robert MacDermott, and which opened at the Ambassador's Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, on 11 March. The cast included Ivor Barnard, and Dame Lilian Braithwaite, as well as the soon to be famous Vivien Leigh in the small part of Jessica Morton. The play ran for an impressive 178 performances, before moving to the Golders Green Hippodrome in Barnet on 16 August 1937.

In 1939 Hawtrey had another success, when he notably took the role of Gremio in Tyrone Guthrie's production of 'The Taming of the Shrew' at the Old Vic, also earning favourable reviews. Roger Livesey starred as Petruchio and his wife, Ursula Jeans, as Katherine.

Hawtrey's rave notices in music revue continued for Eric Maschwitz's, 'New Faces' (1940) at the Comedy Theatre in London, particularly for his "chic and finished study of an alluring woman spy". Maschwitz had worked in the 1930s in Hollywood under contract to MGM, writing the screenplay for the Oscar-winning 'Goodbye Mr Chips', before returning to England to work in light entertainment. 'New Faces' was particularly remembered for the premier of the song, 'A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square', which quickly became a wartime favourite. During and after the Second World War he appeared in the West End in such shows as Scoop, Old Chelsea, Merry England, Frou-Frou and Husbands Don’t Count.

Hawtrey also directed as many as 19 theatre plays, including 'Dumb Dora Discovers Tobacco' at the Q Theatre in Richmond. Built on the Brentford side of Kew Bridge in 1924 (with 500 seats), over 1,000 plays were presented here until it was demolished in 1958. In 1945, Hawtrey also directed 'Oflag 3', a Second World War play co-written with Douglas Bader.

By the 1970s he was appearing in shows and pantomime, including 'Carry-On Holiday Show-time' and 'Snow White' at the Gaiety Theatre, Rhyl in Wales (summer 1970), and 'Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs' again at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, alongside Bryan Johnson, Syd Jackson and Dick Collins (April 1974).

[edit] Radio and Music Career (1930-85)

Charles Hawtrey was an accomplished musician (and had been a semi-professional pianist for the armed forces during WWII), and recorded several records as a boy soprano. He was billed as "The Angel-voiced Choirboy" even at the age of fifteen. In 1930 he made several duets with girl soprano Evelyn Griffiths (aged 11) for the Regal label.

  • Hush here comes the Dream Man (Rec. 15 March 1930 - cond. Stanford Robinson).
  • I don't want to play in your Yard (Rec. 15 March 1930).
  • Home Sweet Home (Rec. 24 May 1930 - string quartet & Eustace Pett, organ, cond. Stanford Robinson).
  • Sweet and low (Rec. 24 May 1930).
  • While Shepherds watched (Rec. 13 Sept. 1930 - string quartet & Muntel organ).
  • Hark the Herald Angels Sing (Rec. 13 Sept. 1930)

By the 1940s, Hawtrey was appearing on radio during Children's Hour in the Norman and Henry Bones, The Boy Detectives series alongside the actress Patricia Hayes (first broadcast in 1943). Later he also played the voice of snooty Hubert Lane, the nemesis of William in the 'Just William' series. His catchphrase was "How's yer mother of for dripping?"

During the 1970s and 80s Hawtrey also played parts in a few radio plays for the BBC written by Wally K. Daly:

  • 'Burglar's Bargains' (1979) - Peter Jones, Lockwood West, and Bernard Bresslaw. A gang of crooks rob Harrod's. But they're not ordinary crooks.
  • 'A right royal rip-off' (1982) - Peter Jones, Lockwood West, and Bernard Bresslaw. A gang are planning to steal the crown jewels.
  • 'The Bigger they are' (1985). The gang plan a robbery, giving the Mafia their comeuppance.

Morrissey was an admirer and in the early 1980s, The Smiths approached Hawtrey to sing on a new version of their debut single, "Hand in Glove". Hawtrey did not respond. Morrissey had to go with his second choice, Sandie Shaw, and Hawtrey's opportunity to revive his fame disappeared. Hawtrey's face, however, did appear posthumously on the cover of The Very Best of The Smiths album in 2001, although the album and the cover art was criticised, and Morrissey later distanced himself from the album.

[edit] Television career (1956-87)

Hawtrey's television career began in the 1950s with The Army Game where he played the part of Private 'Professor' Hatchett.

Loosely based on the 1956 movie Private's Progress, the series followed the fortunes of a mixed bag of army conscripts in residence at Hut 29 of the Surplus Ordnance Depot at Nether Hopping in remote Staffordshire. At the forefront of this gang were Pte 'Excused Boots' (aka 'Bootsie') Bisley played by comedian Alfie Bass, Cpl Springer (Michael Medwin), Pte 'Cupcake' Cook (Norman Rossington), Pte 'Popeye' Popplewell (Bernard Bresslaw) and future Doctor Who William Hartnell as bellowing Sgt Major Bullimore. Popplewell's catch phrase "I only arsked" became a national catch-phrase and became the title for a 1958 feature film based on the series. A number of cast changes from 1958 onwards affected the show's popularity and ultimately led to its demise. The first to leave were Hawtrey, Bresslaw and Hartnell; Hartnell's replacement was Bill Fraser, as Sgt-Major Claude Snudge, who, after The Army Game was axed, starred with Alfie Bass in the spin-off series 'Bootsie and Snudge'.

Hawtrey also made a brief appearance in 1956 in Tess and Tim (BBC TV) under the Saturday Comedy Hour banner. This short-run series starred the musical comedians Tessie O'Shea and Jimmy Wheeler.

The same year, the comedian Digby Wolfe appeared in ATV's Wolfe At The Door, a 12-week sketch show, not screened in London but which ran in the Midlands from 18 June to 10 September 1956. In this, Wolfe explored the comic situations that could be found by passing through doorways - into a theatrical dressing-room, for example. The programmes were written by Tony Hawes and Richard Waring, and Charles Hawtrey appeared alongside future carry-on co-star Hattie Jacques. The following year, in 1957, Hawtrey appeared in a one-off episode of 'Laughter In Store' (BBC) working with the comic actors Charlie Drake and Irene Handl.

In 'Our House' (1960) Charles Hawtrey played the character of council official Simon Willow. The series was created by Norman Hudis, who had written the first five Carry On movies, and in the opening episode ('Moving Into Our House') two couples and five individuals meet at an estate agent's and realise that if they pool their resources they can buy a house big enough to accommodate them all. Hattie Jacques as librarian Georgina Ruddy, who was forced to keep quiet at work and so made up for it by being extremely noisy at home, was arguably the star of the series. Joan Sims starred as the unemployable Daisy Burke.

The series initially ran for 13 episodes from September to December 1960, returning the following year with Bernard Bresslaw and Hylda Baker as Henrietta added to the cast. Of the 39 episodes in total, only three survive today.

'Best of Friends' (ITV - 1963) had essentially the same writers and production team as 'Our House'. Hawtrey again acted alongside Hylda Baker, but this time playing the role simply of Charles, a clerk in an insurance office situated next door to a café run by Baker. She accompanied him on insurance assignments and protected him when he was feeling put upon by his Uncle Sidney, who wished to - but could not - dismiss his nephew from the firm. 13 episodes in total (B&W) were made.

In 1970 he played in the series Stop Exchange with Sid James that was broadcast in South Africa. In the 1970s he made an appearance in Grasshopper Island for ITV a wholesome children's programme alongside Patricia Hayes, Julian Orchard, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Frank Muir. Filmed in the seventies in Wales and Corsica, this adventure series had three small brothers nicknamed Toughy, Smarty and Mouse who run away to find an uninhabited island - as far as possible from the do’s and don’ts of the real world.

Charles also appeared sometime around 1981 in an episode of the children's tv quiz programme, 'Runaround' broadcast by Southern (on ITV). The series was hosted by the comedian Mike Reid, and Hawtrey featured in series 12 (programme 7), the 'Horror Special'.

Hawtrey's last appearance on TV was as Clarence, Duke of Claridge in a special edition of the children's programme, Supergran. The series had adapted the popular books by Forrest Wilson and related the adventures of a happy and gentle old lady, known as Granny Smith, played by Gudrun Ure. The comedian Billy Connolly also appeared in the episode.

  • Tess and Time (1956)
  • Wolfe at the Door (1956)
  • Laughter in Store (1957)
  • The Army Game (1957-1958)
  • Laughter in Store (1957)
  • Our House (1960)
  • Best of Friends (1963)
  • Ghosts of Christmas or Carry On Christmas (1969)
  • Carry On Long John (1970)
  • Stop Exchange (1970)
  • Grasshopper Island (1970s)
  • The Princess and the Pea (1979)
  • The Plank (1979)
  • Runaround (1981)
  • Supergran: "Supergran and the State Visit" (1987)

[edit] Filmography as actor (1922-1972)

[edit] External links

Carry On films
Kenneth Williams | Joan Sims | Charles Hawtrey | Sid James | Kenneth Connor | Peter Butterworth | Bernard Bresslaw | Hattie Jacques | Jim Dale | Barbara Windsor
Sergeant • Nurse • Teacher • Constable • Regardless • Cruising • Cabby • Jack • Spying • Cleo • Cowboy • Screaming • Don't Lose Your Head • Follow That Camel • Doctor • Up the Khyber • Camping • Again Doctor • Up the Jungle • Loving • Henry • At Your Convenience • Matron • Abroad • Girls • Dick • Behind • England • Emmannuelle • Columbus
TV: Laughing • Christmas Specials • That's Carry On!  
Unreleased: Spaceman  Upcoming?: London
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