Bill Pertwee

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William Desmond Anthony Pertwee (born 21 July 1926) is an English comedy actor. He is the cousin of former Doctor Who actor Jon Pertwee and nephew of the screenwriter and actor Roland Pertwee. He was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.

In his youth he was a member of the Air Training Corps (UK Air Cadets).

He appeared alongside Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick and Betty Marsden in the radio comedy series Beyond Our Ken and Round the Horne in the 1960s.

His most prominent role was that of ARP Warden Bert Hodges in Dad's Army, which he played in both the original television series and the radio remakes, as well as the radio sequel, It Sticks Out Half a Mile, set after the war, in which Hodges takes up a surprising new project.

He later played the police constable in another creation of Jimmy Perry and David Croft, You Rang, M'Lord?.

During his lengthy career, he found time to appear in three Carry On films. These were Carry On Loving, Carry On At Your Convenience and Carry On Girls. However, his performance in At Your Convenience was cut from the final film. Other film appearances include the Lust segment of The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins.

Pertwee is president of the Dad's Army Appreciation Society and the author of the book "Dad's Army — The Making of a Television Legend". A friend of most of the cast of the show, he is also the godfather of one of the sons of Ian Lavender (aka Private Frank Pike). Following the death of his wife, he now lives in Surrey, England.

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