Ian Lavender
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Ian Lavender (born 16 February 1946) is a film and television actor best known for his role as Private Frank Pike in the BBC comedy series Dad's Army.
Born in Birmingham, England, Lavender went straight from school to the Bristol Old Vic Drama School, with the assistance of a grant from the City of Birmingham. He quickly made his mark as a talented young actor and following his graduation in 1967 appeared on stage in Canterbury. His first television appearance was as the lead in an ATV play entitled "Flowers at my Feet" in 1968.
Shortly afterwards, he was cast as Private Pike, the youngest member and 'stupid boy' of the platoon in Dad's Army. This made him a household name and gave him the great advantage of working alongside a number of experienced and distinguished actors during his formative years, helping him to hone his acting skills. He appeared in the entire run of the series and in the spinoff film, made in 1971. He still takes part in occasional fan conventions and cast reunions.
Since Dad's Army, Lavender spent most of his career in the theatre, most notably in a production of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice alongside Dustin Hoffman. Between 1971 and 1973 Lavender joined Dad's Army castmate Arthur Lowe on the BBC radio comedy Parsley Sidings. He also appeared in films and television series, one of which featured him starring alongside Peter Jones. During the 1970s he appeared as a supporting actor in a number of British "low farce" films, including one Carry On film - Carry On Behind (1975). He was reunited with the Dad's Army scriptwriters David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd in 1977 for the television series Come Back Mrs Noah, though it was not particularly successful. 1978's The Glums proved rather more satisfactory, being a recreation of the characters from the popular Take It From Here radio series, written by its original writers Frank Muir and Denis Norden. He appeared in Granada Television's 1990 television game show Cluedo, based on the eponymous board game.
Lavender has since appeared in several other comedy shows including two episodes of Yes Minister, as Dr Richard Cartwright, and the shortlived The Hello Goodbye Man, as the inept salesman Denis Ailing. He went on to play Derek Harkinson for some years in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, and also had a bit-part as a burglar alarm salesman in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.
He made a memorable appearance in Goodnight Sweetheart as two different parallel universe versions of the time-travelling lead character's son Michael.
Lavender successfully fought off cancer of the bladder in the 1980s and in 2004 cut down his workload after suffering a mild heart attack.
He is currently touring with The Rocky Horror Show musical. He plays the narrator.
[edit] Trivia
Lavender supports Aston Villa F.C. When filming began on Dad's Army, Lavender was allowed to choose Frank Pike's scarf from an array in the BBC wardrobe, and chose a claret and blue one - Aston Villa's colours.
On the 26 October 2006, Lavender was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law by the University of East Anglia at a ceremony conferring Suffolk College degrees held at Trinity Park, Suffolk.
