John Campbell Wells (17 November 1936 – 11 January 1998) was an English actor, writer and
satirist
This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires.
Under Contemporary, 1930-1960 ...
.
Early life
The son of a
cleric
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
, Wells was born in
Ashford, Kent
Ashford is a town in the county of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Great Stour at the southern or Escarpment, scarp edge of the North Downs, about southeast of central London and northwest of Folkestone by road. In the ...
, in 1936. He was educated at
Eastbourne College
Eastbourne College is a co-educational independent school in the British public school tradition, for day and boarding pupils aged 13–18, in the town of Eastbourne on the south coast of England. The College's headmaster is Tom Lawson.
Over ...
and
St Edmund Hall, Oxford
St Edmund Hall (sometimes known as The Hall or informally as Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university ...
.
Career
Wells started in cabaret at Oxford and began his television career as a writer on ''
That Was The Week That Was
''That Was the Week That Was'', informally ''TWTWTW'' or ''TW3'', is a satirical television comedy programme that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced, and directed by Ned Sherrin and Jack (aka John) Duncan, and pre ...
'', the 1960s weekly satire show that launched the careers of
David Frost
Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ' ...
and
Millicent Martin
Millicent Mary Lillian Martin (born 8 June 1934) is an English actress, singer, and comedian. She was the lone female singer of topical songs on the weekly BBC Television satire show ''That Was the Week That Was'' known as TW3 (1962–1963), a ...
, among others, and also appeared in the television programme ''
Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life
''Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life'' (commonly abbreviated to ''NSMAPMAWOL'', pronounced ens-map-may-wall and stylised as Not so much a programme, more a way of Life) is a BBC-TV satire programme produced by Ned Sherrin, which aired d ...
'', as well as in ''
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball was the fourth of the benefit shows staged by the British Section of Amnesty International to raise funds for its research and campaign work in the human rights field. It was the second of many shows to bear ...
''. Besides making cameo appearances in films such as ''
Casino Royale'' (1967) and ''
Rentadick
''Rentadick'' is a 1972 British comedy film, directed by Jim Clark and starring James Booth, Richard Briers, Julie Ege, Ronald Fraser and Donald Sinden. It is a spoof spy/detective picture, the plot of which involves attempts to protect a new ...
'' (1972), television dramas like ''Casanova'' (1987), an episode of ''
Lovejoy
''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...
'' (1991) and comedy shows like ''
Yes Minister
''Yes Minister'' is a British political satire sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. Comprising three seven-episode series, it was first transmitted on BBC2 from 1980 to 1984. A sequel, ''Yes, Prime Minister'', ran for 16 episodes fro ...
'', he also wrote television scripts and screenplays, such as ''
Princess Caraboo
Mary Baker (née Willcocks; 11 November 1792 (alleged), Witheridge, Devonshire, England – 24 December 1864, Bristol, England) was an English impostor. Posing as the fictional Princess Caraboo, Baker pretended to come from a far-off island ki ...
'' (1994).
In 1971, with
John Fortune
John Fortune (born John C. Wood; 30 June 1939 – 31 December 2013) was an English satirist, comedian, writer, and actor, best known for his work with John Bird and Rory Bremner on the TV series ''Bremner, Bird and Fortune''.
Early life
Fortu ...
, he published the comedy classic ''
A Melon for Ecstasy'', about a man who consummates his love affair with a tree. Wells played the headmaster of Thursgood's Preparatory School in ''
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' (1979).
Wells was one of the original contributors to the satirical magazine ''
Private Eye
''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...
'' and contributed to ''
Mrs Wilson's Diary
Prime Minister parodies are a long-running feature of the British satirical magazine ''Private Eye'', which have been included in the majority of issues since the magazine's inception. The parodies consist of one arch satirical personification of t ...
'', the long-running spoof journal of the wife of Prime Minister
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
. From 1979 he repeated that success with ''
Dear Bill
The "Dear Bill" letters were a regular feature in the British satirical magazine ''Private Eye'', purporting to be the private correspondence of Denis Thatcher, husband of the then-Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. It was written by Richard I ...
'', a series of letters (co-written with
Richard Ingrams
Richard Reid Ingrams (born 19 August 1937 in Chelsea, London, Chelsea, London) is an English journalist, a co-founder and second editor of the British satire, satirical magazine ''Private Eye (magazine), Private Eye'', and founding editor of ' ...
) supposedly sent by
Denis Thatcher
Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Baronet, (10 May 1915 – 26 June 2003) was an English businessman and the husband of Margaret Thatcher, who served as the first female British prime minister from 1979 to 1990; in turn, he became the first male prime m ...
, husband of Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
, to
Bill Deedes
William Francis Deedes, Baron Deedes, (1 June 1913 – 17 August 2007) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, army officer and journalist. He was the first person in Britain to have been both a member of the Cabinet and ...
. Wells developed the feature into a stage farce, ''Anyone for Denis?'', first performed in 1981, in which he played Denis Thatcher. Co-starring
Angela Thorne
Angela Margaret Leslie Thorne (born 25 January 1939) is an English actress of stage, television and film who is best known for her roles in ''To the Manor Born'', as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton's best friend Marjory Frobisher, and as Margaret Thatch ...
as Mrs. Thatcher, the play was a major West End hit, toured the UK and was
adapted for television. Wells also played Denis Thatcher in the Bond movie ''
For Your Eyes Only'' (1981). In 1991, he and Thorne again played the Thatchers in ''
Dunrulin'', a one-off TV sitcom-like satirical look at the couple in retirement. He also voiced Arnold the Elephant, Edward the Monkey and Bert in the children's TV series ''
Charlie Chalk
''Charlie Chalk'' is a British stop motion animation series produced in 1987 in the United Kingdom by Woodland Animations, who also produced the children's television programmes ''Postman Pat'', '' Gran'', and ''Bertha''. Reception to the show ...
''.
In 1988,
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
started working on a new version of his much-revised
operetta
Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...
''
Candide
( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, The ...
''. The author of the original book,
Hugh Wheeler
Hugh Callingham Wheeler (19 March 1912 – 26 July 1987) was a British novelist, screenwriter, librettist, poet and translator. He resided in the United States from 1934 until his death and became a naturalized citizen in 1942. He had attended Lon ...
, had died, and John Wells was asked to help revise the text. The first production of this "final version", by
Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland.
History
Scottish Op ...
, was followed by a "final revised version" in 1989, performances of which have been released on CD and DVD. An insert in the DVD ("Bernstein and Voltaire"), written by Wells, explained what Bernstein had wanted in this final revised version.
In 1997 Wells appeared in the BBC situation comedy ''
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...
'' as ineffectual headmaster Richard Nixon.
His fellow cast members do not recall him being ill on set, but he was too unwell to participate in the second series.
[''After the Chalk Dust Settled'', featurette on ''Chalk'' Series 1 DVD, ReplayDVD.co.uk, prod. & dir. ]Craig Robins
Craig Lewis Robins (born February 15, 1963) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of Dacra Development, the co-founder and co-owner of Design Miami and developer of the Miami Design District.
Early ...
Wells' last book, ''House of Lords'', was a best-seller and published a year before his death in 1998. The book is a historical and humorous study of the British peerage system.
Personal life
From 1982, Wells was the second husband of Teresa Chancellor (daughter of
Sir Christopher and sister of
Alexander
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
). His daughter
Dolly is an actress.
Wells died of cancer in London in 1998 at the age of 61.
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, John
1936 births
1998 deaths
Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford
English male television actors
English satirists
People educated at Eastbourne College
People from Ashford, Kent
Private Eye contributors
Male actors from Kent
20th-century English male actors
20th-century English writers
20th-century English male writers