Comedy Actor (Are You Being Served?) John Inman Dies at 71

[Divernan]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/08032007/344/comedy-actor-john-inman-dies-71.html

John Inman, star of TV sitcom Are You Being Served?, died in hospital early on Thursday.
The actor, 71, died in St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, west London, at 4am after being ill for some time, his manager Phil Dale said.

Mr Dale said: "John, through his character Mr Humphries of Are You Being Served? was known and loved throughout the world. "He was one of the best and finest pantomime dames working to capacity audiences throughout Britain.

"John was known for his comedy plays and farces, which were enjoyed from London's West End throughout the country and as far as Australia, Canada and the USA."

The actor suffered from hepatitis A and had been taken into hospital for tests after problems with his liver. It was revealed that he had the disease after it forced him to cancel the opening of a pantomime in London on December 9, 2004. It was initially hoped he would be able to return to the pantomime, in which he was due to play Wanda the Cook in Dick Whittington, before Christmas 2004, but he never worked again.

[MADem]

1. Awwwww, no. (Are you free? Yes, I'm free!)

[Divernan]

8. Can you (or anyone) post the photo from the article I linked to in the OP?

I don't know how to do that. I think he looked even better as he aged.
Thanks.

[MADem]

13. Right click, go to properties, cut out the http; bit and paste

http://eur.news1.yimg.com.nyud.net:8090/eur.yimg.com/xp/pressass/t/234034327.jpg

If you don't want to steal bandwidth, you run it through a hosting site.

[Divernan]

14. Thanks so much!

nt

[MADem]

18. Anytime! nt

[patricia92243]

16. Thanks for the pictures. Even though I loved it several years ago, I could not remember which chara

character Mr. Humphrey was. When I saw the picture I remembered. I think he was everybody's' favorite.

[MADem]

17. He certainly had some of the best lines, God love him.

Hard not to love him, he was always good for a laugh.

[Heidi]

2. Safe passage, Mr. Inman.

Recommended.

:kick:

[Kutjara]

3. Sad news.

Are You Being Served was a staple of my childhood growing up in the UK. It was a true comedy classic, with a rich cast of over-the-top characters, and none was more so than John Inman. He was a true original. Kenneth Williams, Larry Grayson, John Inman, Frankie Howerd: the great "camp" actors of the 60s and 70s are nearly all gone.

[Divernan]

7. Don't forget Monty Python's ensemble - and Dame Edna

In Monty Python's Flying Circus (Episode 30) non-British viewers were puzzled by the nature-film sequence in which the Pantomime Princess Margaret, lurking in the undergrowth harpooned a silver breakfast tray that was scuttling down the woodland trail: "The unsuspecting breakfast glides ever closer to its doom..."

On edit: (didn't mean to imply we had lost them too - but that they are still with us. Wouldn't it be great if the Pythons would get together again for some kind of special performance?)

[Kutjara]

11. The Pythons and Dame Edna are slightly different.

John Inman certainly played pantomime Dames in his later career, but he was best known for his portrayal of a gay man, albeit a comically over-the-top one. John was gay in real life and, arguably, did much to soften British attitudes towards gay people. After all, everyone loved Mr. Humphries, so gays couldn't be all that bad, could they? By today's standards, the show was a bit of a throwback, but it was ahead of it's time in the 70s.

The Pythons were (with the exception of Graham Chapman) straight men, following the old British theatrical tradition of cross dressing. Barry Humphries, too, is straight, and Dame Edna is just one of his dozen or so characters. Dame Edna also never appears in pantomime: she only does one woman shows.

I'm so happy John was able to marry his life partner of 33 years in 2005, just after Britain legalized gay marriage.

[daveskilt]

26. pythons not part of camp tradition - in fact they mocked it

Python was all about absurdist humor.

also on the above list of camp British actors how could anyone miss Sid James! the greatest dirty old man laugh in history.

[muriel_volestrangler]

30. Sid James 'camp'? No, he was far from camp

'Earthy' would probably be the best description of his style.

[daveskilt]

41. anyone within 50 miles of a carry on film is camp!

Under the dictionary definition of camp there should be a picture of the whole carry on team.

earthy is a nice way to say dirty old man :)

[Lisa]

38. and sex between consenting gay adults was illegal in the UK until 1967, too

When the show was first broadcast, no doubt there were plenty of people watching who remembered what things had been like, only a few years before. The type of treatment which the movie "Breaking the Code" depicts Alan Turing receiving from the authorities, just because he was gay, shocked me so much that I thought it must be dramatic license, but apparently not ... this despite the fact he was a genius who helped invent the computer, and did so much work to help the Allied forces during the war.

I am wondering if the fictional Mr. Humphries inspired a character in one of the Ruth Rendell crime novels, published around the time of the show, a fashion expert who ends up helping Chief Inspector Wexford solve a difficult murder case. Rendell (who has progressive sympathies) seemed to be rebuking the stereotype of "poofters" as silly and ineffectual -- he puts on a camp act, but turns out to be smart, insightful, and compassionate.

Condolences to Mr. Inman's partner, Mr. Lynch.

[MADem]

15. Dame Edna is alive and well NT

[Lydia Leftcoast]

34. Actually, not all the Monty Pythons are still with us

Graham Chapman died of AIDS in 1986. :-(

[goose4739]

36. Correction

Graham died of cancer in 1989.

[terrya]

4. Very sad news

I adored "Are You Being Served" and I adored John Inman. He was a sheer delight.

My sincere condolences to John Inman's family. This is so sad.

[Divernan]

5. "Pantomime dames" - a theatrical tradition stretching back thru mists of time.

John Inman carried on a grand and hilarious tradition of the Pantomime Dame in England.
Only one of the Dames was ever knighted - too bad John wasn't so honored. You can just imagine him beaming at the Queen!

www.its-behind-you.com/pantodames.html

Pantomime Dames

The role of the Pantomime Dame stretches back to the earliest origins of the theatre, when girls and young women were played by youths, and old women by men - often comically. The earliest ancestor of the comedic are possibly Mrs. Noah in the miracle plays of the middle ages.

Even after the restoration in the 17th century, when actresses entered the theatre, many were loathe to play older parts, and the convention continued. During the Regency the roles of witches, characters like 'Mother Skipton' and old harridans were played often by men, Grimaldi played several female roles, including the Baroness in 'Cinderella'. The Ugly Sisters at this time were played by women, later by men.

Dame roles remained variable up until the 1860's and later. The 1826 and 1836 productions of 'Aladdin' at Covent Garden had women playing the role of the widow, and then in the 1856 and 1865 versions, by a man. The first male 'Widow Twankey' was James Rogers, with Dan Leno credited as the creator of 'Mother Goose'. 'Dick Whittington' has had a cook as Dame since its first performance, with the title 'Sara the Cook' given in most cases.


The performers who play these indefatigable matrons have been drawn from Music Hall, Variety and Television. The Victorians adored the likes of Dan Leno and Sir George Robey (the only Dame to be knighted!). later generations applauded Arthur Lucan (Old Mother Riley), Douglas Byng, Shaun Glenville and George Lacy. Popular stars like Norman Evans ('Over the Garden Wall'), Nat (Rubberlegs) Jackley and (Big Hearted) Arthur Askey drew in the crowds, whilst in more modern times Stanley Baxter, Terry Scott, Jack Tripp and Billy Dainty filled the Theatres.

Today the likes of JOHN INMAN, Danny La Rue, Don McLean and Tudor Davies carry on a tradition stretching back through the mists of time.

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. Arguably, there's another pantomime dame knight - Sir Ian McKellen

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4110707.stm

Though it's just something he's done a little of, and his knighthood was for his serious acting.

[Midlodemocrat]

6. Aw. Safe passage Mr. Humphries.

What a treasure you were.

[grytpype]

9. Are you free, Mr. Humphreys?

[progressoid]

21. Yes, Mr. Lucas, I'm free.

[cosmicdot]

39. "Glass of water for Mr. Grainger ..."

RIP Mr Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries

(deep voice answering the phone): "Men's Wear"

[acmavm]

10. I still watch the reruns of that show on PBS, I love him and Mrs. Slocum.

How sad.

[Divernan]

12. Here's the BBC article on this , with great photos & comments from fellow cast members

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6429425.stm

(Comments from his fellow cast members)
Inman's Are You Being Served? co-star Wendy Richard told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "John was one of the wittiest and most inventive actors I've ever worked with. "He was a brilliant, brilliant pantomime dame and he was a very good all-round actor, really. He was a true professional."

Are You Being Served? ran on the BBC from 1972 to 1985 and depicted the antics of the staff of Grace Brothers, an old-fashioned department store.

Mr Humphries became one of TV's best known characters, and in 1976 Inman was voted funniest man on television by TV Times readers. He was declared BBC TV's personality of the year the same year.

Trevor Bannister, who played Mr Lucas in the series, told BBC News 24: "The 'I'm free!' was something put in because that is what people in those stores really said. "We didn't realise it would become a running catchphrase. "It was that way about the whole show - we never realised it was going to as successful as it was."

[MaineDem]

19. Oh what a shame

He was extremely funny!

May he rest in peace.

[acmavm]

24. Thank you.

[donheld]

20. How totally sad!!!!!!!111

He will never be free again, and yet his spirit is now free. O8)

[Vidar]

22. RIP Mr. Inman.

[Cobalt Violet]

23. Many people mistakenly believe HAV isn't a serious disease.

People do die from it.

RIP.

[gauguin57]

25. This makes me so sad. Mr. Humphries and Mrs. Slocombe were my faves on that show!

Mr. Humphries is "taking an inside leg" in paradise today.

[Virginia Dare]

27. Very sad, he was a brilliant comic actor...n/t

[YOY]

28. Thanks for the laughs John!

n/t

[Arkansas Granny]

29. Very sad news. He was a sweet and funny man. He made a live

appearance on our local PBS station a couple of years ago during a pledge drive and he had the people in the studio in stitches with his wit. He was my favorite character on "Are You Being Served".

[TheBaldyMan]

32. Poor old Mr. Humphries - he will be missed n/t

[Kurovski]

33. A fine actor and extremely funny.

RIP.

[newscott]

35. RIP. Thanks for all the laughs.

[LeftishBrit]

37. Sad news. RIP, John Inman.

[burrowowl]

40. One of my favorite shows and I loved

Mr. Humphries! RIP!

[NuttyFluffers]

42. aww, i'm so sad now. loved him.

:( :cry:

[Malikshah]

43. The world is not as funny right now. It is a bit darker without John.

I first saw Are You Being Served back in the 1990s when the PBS station for the A2 area in Michigan was playing the show daily. Over the years, I've seen every episode countless times, got the DVD sets for both AYBS and AYBS Again (a.k.a. Grace and Favour). When life gets me and my partner down, we can always count on these shows to make us laugh. John, Molly, Wendy, Frank, Alfred, Trevor, and their various colleagues always were at their best.

My own speech patterns have been affected-- "Funny that." "And I am unanimous in this." "You'll do yourself a mischief" "Obstreporous" "Weak as water, *weak* as water"

Actually, my partner and I were at Epcot w/ my folks this week and were in the German Pavilion going through the shops. They started playing a standard "oom pa pa" bit in the store and we both knew it immediately as coming from the German episode. Of course, he started in with the Slocumb-- "You don't do it like that...you've got to be gentle..." bit. In fact, dammit, it was on Wednesday, the day John Inman passed. (Okay, a forty year old is getting all teary eyed) Bang go the profits on the strumpfs...

I so feel for his partner (civilly united!) Ron Lynch and his colleagues and legions of fans.

I may shed tears when I put on the DVDs of him tonight, but they'll be both of tears and laughter. I believe John would have it no other way.

I bet you right now he's wearing an outrageous costume and has every one around him in stitches.

R.I.P. friend. You'll never know the extent of the effect you had on people. Thank you all the same.

[Blue_Tires]

44. ttt

this was my dad's favrorite show