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Michael Sydney Knowles (born 26 April 1937) is a British actor and scriptwriter who is best known for his roles in

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

s written by

Jimmy Perry James Perry, (20 September 1923 – 23 October 2016)Simon Morgan-Russell, "Perry, James (Jimmy) (1923–2016)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 202available online Retrieved 25 August 2020. was an Engli ...

and David Croft. He often starred alongside

Donald Hewlett Donald Marland Hewlett (30 August 1920 – 4 June 2011) was a British actor who was best known for his sitcom roles as Colonel Charles Reynolds in ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum'' and Lord Meldrum in '' You Rang, M'Lord?'', both written by Jimmy Perry ...

with whom he first appeared in ''

It Ain't Half Hot Mum ''It Ain't Half Hot, Mum'' is a BBC television sitcom about a Royal Artillery concert party based in Deolali in British India and the fictional village of Tin Min in Burma, during the last months of the Second World War. It was written by Jimm ...

''. They later appeared together in '' Rogue's Rock, Come Back Mrs. Noah'' and '' You Rang, M'Lord?'' In Knowles' writing career, he co-adapted (with

Harold Snoad Harold Edward Snoad (born 28 August 1935) is a British television producer, writer and director. He is best known for the television sitcom ''Keeping Up Appearances'', starring Patricia Routledge and Clive Swift. He is also well known for having d ...

) the radio version of ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and originally broadcast on BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. It ran fo ...

'' and writing with Snoad the ''Dad's Army'' spinoff series '' It Sticks Out Half a Mile'' for radio, which became the television series ''

High and Dry "High and Dry" and "Planet Telex" are songs by the English rock band Radiohead. They were released as a double-A side single from their second studio album, '' The Bends'' (1995), on 5 March 1995. "High and Dry" was recorded as a demo durin ...

''.

Early life

Knowles attended Bemrose Grammar School for Boys, Derby (now

Bemrose School The Bemrose School is a foundation trust all-through school situated on Uttoxeter New Road, Derby, England, with an age range of pupils from 3 – 19. Opened as a boys' grammar school in 1930, it became a co-educational comprehensive school i ...

), where he stayed on into the 6th form and played the lead role in the school's production of

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...

.''Derby - The Fifties and Sixties at Northbridge Publishing
Retrieved 29 November 2014 Knowles considered reading medicine before deciding to become an actor.

Acting career

Knowles started his acting career with the Watford Palace Theatre company which was being managed by

. It was at Watford where he also met many of his future co-stars including

Colin Bean Colin Bean (15 April 1926 – 20 June 2009) was an English actor. He was best known for his role as Private Sponge in the BBC comedy series '' Dad's Army''. Early life Born in Wigan, Lancashire, Bean's father played football for local side Wig ...

, John Clegg,

, Jeffrey Holland, Frank Williams, and his future wife

Linda James Linda Mary James (born 1951, Birmingham, England) is an established artist who has been working in New Zealand for over twenty-five years. She creates large figurative paintings and landscapes. Biography Born in Birmingham, at the age of 2 Linda ...

. Knowles made his earliest appearance in ''

'' in the 1969 episode "

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker "The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Walker" is a missing episode in the British comedy series ''Dad's Army''. It was originally transmitted on 15 March 1969. One of the three missing ''Dad's Army'' episodes, only a few short clips and screensh ...

", one of that series three missing episodes, but Knowles made four further appearances in the series. Knowles later said of his time with ''Dad's Army'' that it "was my introduction to TV. It was quite awe-inspiring working with actors like

John Laurie John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish actor. In the course of his career, Laurie performed on the stage and in films as well as television. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in the sitcom '' Dad's Army'' (19 ...

and

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation c ...

, people I'd only seen in films before, and here I was actually working with them. I was very nervous but enjoyed my time very much." Knowles made his first film appearance in the 1971 feature film of ''Dad's Army,'' and the next year appeared in the film ''

That's Your Funeral ''That's Your Funeral'' was a BBC sitcom from 1971 about a North of England funeral director called Basil Bulstrode (Bill Fraser). Storylines used many urban legends An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urba ...

''. Knowles appeared in the first episode of ''

Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London ...

'' and played the first customer that was served on the series. Knowles later went on to co-write several episodes. Knowles is best known for his role as Captain Jonathan Ashwood in the sitcom ''

'' (1974–81). The series was written by

and David Croft. When Knowles asked how he ought to play his character, Croft said Captain Ashwood was rather like Knowles himself, a bit ‘silly arse’. With Hewlett, he later worked on other series and many

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

s. ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum'' regularly got audiences of up to 17 million. Shortly after making his first appearance in ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum'', Knowles had a recurring role in '' The Rough with the Smooth'' in 1975 playing the Vicar. The series also starred

Tim Brooke-Taylor Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE (17 July 194012 April 2020) was an English actor and comedian best known as a member of The Goodies. He became active in performing in comedy sketches while at the University of Cambridge and became president ...

John Junkin John Francis Junkin (29 January 1930 – 7 March 2006) was an English actor and scriptwriter who had a long career in radio, television and film, specialising in comedy. Early life Born in Ealing, Middlesex, the son of a policeman, he and h ...

and

Richard Hurndall Richard Gibbon Hurndall (3 November 1910 – 13 April 1984) was an English actor. He is best remembered for replacing William Hartnell in the role of the First Doctor for '' Doctor Who's'' 20th anniversary special '' The Five Doctors''. Caree ...

. At the same time as ''The Rough with the Smooth'' Knowles appeared as the character of Nigel in the series '' Rogue's Rock,'' starring

Clive Morton Clive Morton (16 March 1904 – 24 September 1975) was an English actor best known for playing upper class Englishmen, he made many screen appearances, especially on television. In 1955, he appeared in Laurence Olivier's '' Richard III'' and is ...

and Knowles’ and Donald Hewlett. The next year Knowles went on to have a minor role in the film '' Spy Story'' starring

Philip Latham Charles Philip Latham (17 January 1929 – 20 June 2020) was a British television actor. He was educated at Felsted School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 1951. In the late 1960s/early 1970s he was well kno ...

. In 1977, Knowles featured alongside Hewlett again for

Jeremy Lloyd John Jeremy Lloyd, OBE (22 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an English writer, screenwriter, author, poet and actor. He was the co-writer of several successful British sitcoms, including ''Are You Being Served?'' and Allo 'Allo!''. Ear ...

and David Croft's second writing collaboration with the

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

series ''

Come Back Mrs Noah ''Come Back Mrs Noah'' is a British sitcom starring Mollie Sugden that aired on BBC One, BBC1 from 17 July to 14 August 1978 with a pilot broadcast on 13 December 1977. It was written by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft (TV producer), David Croft, who ...

'' in which Knowles played the

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

Fanshaw. Unfortunately, the series ran for only 6 episodes with some even going as far as to say that it is Britain's worst ever TV sitcom. The series has not been repeated in the UK but has in American where it was slightly more well received by audiences. Knowles continued his double-act alongside Hewlett in the 1984 eight part

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

sitcom '' Anything Legal'' as George, a laid-off city gent. In 1986, Knowles appeared in the film ''The End Of The World Man'' playing Sir George. In 1988, Knowles played

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' ( American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

Teddy Meldrum in Jimmy Perry and David Croft's last collaboration '' You Rang, M'Lord?'' which ran until 1992. The series was a success in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

and especially in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. In 2018, Knowles along with four other former cast members attending an event in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

with 900 Hungarian fans. In 1989, Knowles appeared in his only American film, ''

Vampire's Kiss ''Vampire's Kiss'' is a 1988 American black comedy horror film directed by Robert Bierman and written by Joseph Minion. Starring Nicolas Cage, María Conchita Alonso, Jennifer Beals, and Elizabeth Ashley, the film tells the story of a literary ...

'' starring

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...

. Another film role came later that year when he voiced the Head of the Air Force in the animated movie '' The BFG'', starring

David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom '' Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector ...

and based on the novel by Roald Dahl. Knowles has appeared as Norrington Byng in the children's television series ''

The DJ Kat Show ''The DJ Kat show'' was a children's television programme presented by the puppet DJ Kat and his friend Linda de Mol, the sister of Endemol founder John de Mol, which ran from 1 September 1986 to 31 December 1995. The show was first broadcast t ...

'' and alongside

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Br ...

in the comedy sketch show '' Walliams & Friend,'' playing the father of

Jack Whitehall Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall (born 7 July 1988) is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. He is known for starring as JP in the series '' Fresh Meat'' (2011–2016) and Alfie Wickers in the series '' Bad Education'' (2012–2014, 20 ...

alongside Whitehall's real life mother Hillary. In 2021, Knowles appeared on British television for the first time in five years by being interviewed for the Channel 5 documentary ''Dad's Army: Secret Lives & Scandal.'' Others interviewees included Frank Williams, Arthur Lowe's son Stephen Lowe and

's wife Joan Le Mesurier.

Writing career

Knowles is first credited with writing four episodes of ''

Are You Being Served ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London ...

'' including ''Cold Comfort, Big Brother, Shoulder to Shoulder'' and ''New Look.'' Knowles also appeared in two episodes including the pilot and ''Up Captain Peacock''. Knowles first met

in 1972 when they were introduced by a mutual friend Jimmy Perry, and in 1973 it was decided that ''Dad's Army'' would be adapted for radio. At the time David Croft and Jimmy Perry were writing series six and unable to adapt it themselves so it was suggested that Knowles and Snoad would do the first script, the

...
liked it and asked them to do another five. In total the pair adapted 66 episodes for radio which were recorded at London's

Paris Theatre The Paris Theatre (also known as the Paris Studios) was originally a cinema located at 12 Lower Regent Street in central London which was converted into a studio by the BBC for radio broadcasts requiring an audience. It was used for severa ...

. In 2017,

David Benson David Benson (born David Hodgson on 11 January 1962) is an English theatre actor, writer and comedian. He was born in Oxford, England, and has a twin sister, Miranda, and an older brother, Jonathan. Educated at Park Hall Secondary Modern in C ...

and Jack Lane adapted nine of the radio scripts for the theatre in a show called ''The Dad's Army Radio Hour'' (later called ''Dad's Army Radio Show'') which they performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. They went on to tour the country with the show until 2020 when the tour was interrupted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. After the radio adaptation of ''Dad's Army'', Knowles once again teamed up with Snoad to write '' It Sticks Out Half a Mile'', a radio spin-off to ''Dad's Army''. Work started on writing the script in 1980 and when the first one was shown to Arthur Lowe he was so taken with it he unsuccessfully tried to persuade the BBC to make it a television series rather than radio. Recording began in 1981 and picked up the story in 1948 and follows the attempts at trying to save the town's

pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

. Arthur Lowe died in 1982 and many believed that that was the end of it, however at Lowe's funeral

Joan Cooper Joan Cooper (23 August 1922 – 1 July 1989) was a British actress. Her second husband was the actor Arthur Lowe whom she met at the Manchester Repertory Theatre in 1946. They were married at the Register Office, Strand, London, in January ...

(Lowe's wife) found Knowles and Snoad, and told them that her husband liked their scripts so much that he would have wanted the full series to go ahead. Recording for the series stated later in 1982 with

Ian Lavender Arthur Ian Lavender (born 16 February 1946) is an English stage, film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Private Pike in the BBC sitcom '' Dad's Army'', and is the last surviving major cast member of the series following t ...

and

Bill Pertwee William Desmond Anthony Pertwee, (21 July 1926 – 27 May 2013) was a British comedy actor. He played the role of Chief ARP Warden Hodges in the sitcom '' Dad's Army''. Early life Pertwee was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, on 21 July 192 ...

. Together they also adapted '' It Sticks Out Half a Mile'' for television, with a pilot called ''Walking the Planks'' for the BBC which first aired on 2 August 1985 starred starring

Michael Elphick Michael John Elphick (19 September 1946 – 7 September 2002) was an English film and television actor. He played the eponymous private investigator in the ITV series ''Boon'' and Harry Slater in BBC's ''EastEnders''. He was nominated for ...

and Richard Wilson. The BBC were not interested in making a series. Undeterred, the two men took the idea to

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

who agreed to making a seven part series for ITV, this time with

Bernard Cribbins Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over seven decades. During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Groun ...

instead of Michael Elphick. The series was well received but filmed on a very low budget and therefore had no

location filming In geography, location or place are used to denote a region (point, line, or area) on Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term ''location'' generally implies a higher degree of certainty than ''place'', the latter often indicating an entity with an ...

, a second series was not commissioned.

Personal life

Knowles married actress Linda James in 1964, having met her while working at the Watford Palace Theatre. James has also worked on many situation comedies, with her most notable role being in ''

The Gnomes of Dulwich ''The Gnomes of Dulwich'' is a United Kingdom television sitcom originally shown in six episodes from 12 May 1969 to 16 June 1969. Written by Jimmy Perry, the show starred Terry Scott, Hugh Lloyd, John Clive, Leon Thau, Anne de Vigier and L ...

'' which was written by Jimmy Perry, she also appeared in several episodes of ''Dad's Army'' and ''

The Liver Birds ''The Liver Birds'' is a British sitcom, set in Liverpool, North West England, which aired on BBC1 from April 1969 to January 1979, and again in 1996. The show was created by Carla Lane and Myra Taylor. The two Liverpudlian housewives had met ...

''. They have twin daughters. In 2022 following the death of Frank Williams Knowles was agreed to take over as president of the Dad’s Army Application Society having been a great supporter of the society since its founding in 1993.

Selected filmography

Film and television

Radio

Writing credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knowles, Michael 1937 births English male film actors English male television actors Living people People from Spondon People educated at Bemrose School Male actors from Derbyshire English radio writers English television writers 20th-century English male actors 20th-century English writers British male television writers