Bresslaw

Bernard Bresslaw (25 February 193411 June 1993) was a British actor. He is best known as a member of the ''Carry On'' film franchise. Bresslaw also worked on television and stage, did recordings and wrote a series of poetry.

Biography

Bernard Bresslaw was born the youngest of three boys into a Jewish family in Stepney, London, on 25 February 1934. He attended the Coopers' Company's School in Tredegar Square, Bow, London E3. His father was a tailor's cutter and he became interested in acting after visits to the Hackney Empire. London County Council awarded him a scholarship to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he won the Emile Littler Award as the most promising actor. After '' Educating Archie'' on radio and '' The Army Game'' on television, more television, film and Shakespearean theatre roles followed, until he was cast in '' Carry On Cowboy'' in 1965. Although officially starring in 14 ''Carry On'' films, Bresslaw did appear in one other: ''Carry On Nurse''. The legs of Terence Longdon were deemed to be too thin and scrawny looking, so Bresslaw's were used as 'stand'-ins for the scene where Joan Sims gives him a bath.

Bresslaw's catchphrase, in his strong Cockney accent, was "I only arsked" (sic), first used in '' The Army Game'', and later revived in ''Carry On Camping'' (1969). In his fleeting appearance as an angry lorry driver in the 1970 film ''Spring and Port Wine'', his character was dubbed.

At 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), he was the tallest of the ''Carry On'' cast, head and shoulders over fellow ''Carry On'' regular Barbara Windsor, who was . Because of his height, he was briefly considered for the part of the Creature in Hammer's ''Curse of Frankenstein'' (1957), which ultimately went instead to Christopher Lee. Bresslaw later made a comedy version of ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' for Hammer titled '' The Ugly Duckling'' (1959). He made great efforts to prepare for roles, for example learning Fanagalo phrases for '' Carry On Up the Jungle'' (1970).

He featured as Varga, the lead villain in the 1967 ''Doctor Who'' story ''The Ice Warriors''. Even though all the actors playing the aliens were over six feet tall, Bresslaw towered over them. Sonny Caldinez, who played an Ice Warrior in the story, stated in a 2004 interview that Bresslaw "was the only man that could make me feel small."

Bresslaw was a member of the Grand Order of Water Rats, a British entertainment fraternity and in 1988 he was elected "King Rat" of the order.

Bresslaw was a Freemason and member of Chelsea Lodge 3098.

Filmography

Films

* ''The Men of Sherwood Forest'' (1954) as Garth (uncredited)
* '' The Glass Cage'' (1955) as Ivan the Terrible, Cossack Dancer (uncredited)
* '' Satellite in the Sky'' (1956) as Technician (uncredited)
* ''Up in the World'' (1956) as Williams (uncredited)
* '' High Tide at Noon'' (1957) as Tom Robey (uncredited)
* ''Blood of the Vampire'' (1958) as Tall Sneak Thief
* ''I Only Arsked!'' (1958) as Popeye Popplewell
* ''Too Many Crooks'' (1959) as Snowdrop
* '' The Ugly Duckling'' (1959) as Henry Jekyll
* '' It's All Happening'' (1962) as Parsons
* '' Carry On Cowboy'' (1965) as Little Heap
* '' Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment'' (1966) as Policeman
* ''Carry On Screaming!'' (1966) as Sockett
* ''Follow That Camel'' (1967) as Sheikh Abdul Abulbul
* ''Carry On Doctor'' (1967) as Ken Biddle
* ''Carry On Up the Khyber'' (1968) as Bungdit Din
* ''Carry On Camping'' (1969) as Bernie Lugg
* '' Moon Zero Two'' (1969) as Harry
* ''Spring and Port Wine'' (1970) as Lorry Driver
* '' Carry On Up the Jungle'' (1970) as Upsidasi
* '' Carry On Loving'' (1970) as Gripper Burke
* '' Up Pompeii'' (1971) as Gorgo
* ''The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins'' (1971) as Mr Violet (segment "Avarice")
* '' Carry On at Your Convenience'' (1971) as Bernie Hulke
* ''Blinker's Spy-Spotter'' (1972) as South
* '' Carry On Matron'' (1972) as Ernie Bragg
* '' Carry On Abroad'' (1972) as Brother Bernard
* ''Carry On Girls'' (1973) as Peter Potter
* '' Carry On Dick'' (1974) as Sir Roger Daley
* '' Vampira'' (1974) as Pottinger
* ''One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing'' (1975) as Fan Choy
* '' Carry On Behind'' (1975) as Arthur Upmore
* ''In the Movies it Doesn't Hurt'' (1975) as several
* '' Joseph Andrews'' (1977) as Parson Trulliber (uncredited)
* '' Jabberwocky'' (1977) as The Landlord
* ''The Fifth Musketeer'' (1979) as Bernard
* '' Hawk the Slayer'' (1980) as Gort
* ''Krull'' (1983) as Rell the Cyclops
* '' Asterix and the Big Fight'' (1989) as Obelix (English version, voice)
* ''Leon the Pig Farmer'' (1992) as Rabbi Hartmann
* ''Bernard Bresslaw: A Story About Bernard Bresslaw'' (2009)

Television series

* '' The Adventures of Robin Hood'' The Black Patch as Sir Dunstan's Captain
* '' The Army Game''
* ''Our House'' (1961–1962) 22 episodes William Singer
* '' Carry On Christmas Specials'' and '' Carry On Laughing''
* '' Danger Man: The Outcast'', as Leo (1964)
* ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Ice Warriors'' (1967) as Varga, an Ice Warrior
* ''The Goodies'' Series 2 (1 October 1971) episode Scotland as the zookeeper.
* '' The Book Tower'' (1987)
* ''T-Bag'' (1987) Series 3 (in one episode) as Omar
* '' Terry and June'' (16 November 1982) Series 5 Episode 5 (Playing pool) Morris
* ''Sykes'' (7 November 1974) Series 3 Episode 4 (The Band) Johnny Brunswick
* ''Doctor in the House'' (13 September 1969) Series 1, Episode 10 (The Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Casino) Malcolm
* ''Mann's Best Friends'' (1984) 6 episodes

Other works

UK chart singles

* "Mad Passionate Love/You Need Feet" (1958) (UK No. 6)
* "The Army Game/What Do We Do in the Army?" (1958) Michael Medwin, Bernard Bresslaw, Alfie Bass & Leslie Fyson (UK No. 5)
* " Charlie Brown/The Teenager's Lament" (1959)
* "Ivy Will Cling/I Found a Hole" (1959)

Stage actor

Bresslaw performed with the Young Vic Theatre Company, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.
One of his last stage performances was as Malvolio in ''Twelfth Night'' at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park (1990).

He played the genie in the lamp in ''Aladdin'' at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle, in the 1990s.

He played the genie on the ''Sooty Show'' and also voiced Gorilla on '' The Giddy Game Show''.

He played Mephistopheles, alongside James Warwick in the title role of an Oxford Stage Company regional touring production of '' Doctor Faustus'' in 1987.

He was a member of the oldest theatrical fraternity in the world, the elite Grand Order of Water Rats.

Song

His song "You Need Feet" (a parody of "You Need Hands" by Max Bygraves) was used in the Rutles' TV special, accompanying the Yoko Ono film parody "A Thousand Feet of Film". This was cut from the syndicated version and the original DVD release, but was restored (along with other cut footage) in later DVD releases.

BT adverts

Bresslaw, together with Miriam Margolyes, appeared with English comedienne Maureen Lipman in a series of British Telecom advertisements in the late 1980s. Bresslaw and Margolyes played Gerald and Dolly, a nervous couple who drop in unannounced on Lipman's character Beatrice "Beattie" Bellman and her husband Harry.

Poetry

Bresslaw was the author of a privately published volume of poetry, ''Ode to the Dead Sea Scrolls''.

Personal life

Bresslaw was married to the dancer Betty Wright from 1959 until his death in 1993. They had three sons: James, Mark and Jonathan.

Death

Bresslaw died of a sudden heart attack on 11 June 1993. He had collapsed in his dressing room at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London, where he was to play Grumio in the New Shakespeare Company's production of '' Taming of the Shrew''. His body was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, north London, where his ashes were buried on 17 June 1993.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bresslaw, Bernard
1934 births
1993 deaths
20th-century English male actors
Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
British male comedy actors
English male comedians
English male film actors
English Jews
English male television actors
English male stage actors
People from Stepney
Male actors from London
Comedians from London
Musicians from London
Singers from London
English comedy musicians
English male singers
English male musicians
Golders Green Crematorium
British novelty song performers
Jewish male actors
Jewish English comedians
20th-century English singers
20th-century English comedians
20th-century British male singers