Peter Rogers (20 February 1914 – 14 April 2009) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
film producer. He is best known for his involvement in the making of the
''Carry On'' series of films.
Life and career
Rogers began his career as a journalist for his local paper, before graduating to scriptwriting religious informational films. He progressed to film production, working with director
Gerald Thomas
Gerald Thomas (10 December 1920 – 9 November 1993) was an English film director, best known for the long-running ''Carry On'' series of British film comedies.
Biography
Born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, Thomas was educated ...
, the first work being a production for the
Children's Film Foundation
The Children's Film Foundation (CFF) was a non-profit organisation which made films for children in the United Kingdom originally to be shown as part of childrens' Saturday morning matinée cinema programming. The films typically were about 55 ...
. Rogers is best known as producer of the
''Carry On'' series of British comedy films, beginning with ''
Carry On Sergeant
''Carry On Sergeant'' is a 1958 British comedy film about National Service starring William Hartnell, Bob Monkhouse and Eric Barker; it is the first in the series of ''Carry On'' films, with 31 entries released from 1958 to 1992. The film wa ...
'' in 1958. There were 31 films in all. Rogers had also been linked with a further instalment, ''
Carry On London
The ''Carry On'' series is a long-running British sequence of comedy films, stage shows and television programmes produced between 1958 and 1992. Distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated from 1958 to 1966, and the Rank Organisation from 1967 to 1978, th ...
'', which has been in pre-production for several years, but since his death seems unlikely to be made.
The majority of Rogers' work, including all the ''Carry On'' films, were made at
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London.
The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...
in
Iver Heath
Iver is a large civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park.
Geography, transport and economy
Part of the 43-square- ...
,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
, England. His other credits included ''
Appointment with Venus
''Appointment with Venus'' () is a novel by Jerrard Tickell published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1951, leading to a British film adaptation the same year and a Danish film adaptation in 1962. The story is based on a real incident of the evacuatio ...
'' starring
David Niven
James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in ''Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...
, and ''
Time Lock
A time lock (also timelock) is a part of a locking mechanism commonly found in bank vaults and other high-security containers. The time lock is a timer designed to prevent the opening of the safe or vault until it reaches the preset time, eve ...
'' in which
Sean Connery
Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...
made one of his earliest film appearances.
Rogers' other production ventures include the television series ''
Ivanhoe
''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' () by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. Set in England in the Middle Ages, this novel marked a shift away from Scott’s prior practice of setting st ...
'' with
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 19 ...
and the film adaptation of the long-running
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 ne ...
''
Bless This House'' with ''Carry On'' regular
Sid James
Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series.
Born to a mid ...
.
His wife was the film producer
Betty Box
Betty Evelyn Box, (25 September 1915 – 15 January 1999) was a prolific British film producer, usually credited as Betty E. Box.
Early life and career
Born in Beckenham, Kent, England, she initially planned to be a commercial artist or journa ...
, responsible for the ''
Doctor
Doctor or The Doctor may refer to:
Personal titles
* Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree
* A medical practitioner, including:
** Physician
** Surgeon
** Dentist
** Veterinary physician
** Optometrist
*Other roles
** ...
'' series of films. Peter and Betty lived for many years at a large home in
Beaconsfield
Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...
, "Drummers Yar
that had been purchased from the actor
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House'' (1954) for the Rank Organ ...
.
An authorized biography, ''Mr Carry On: The Life and Work of Peter Rogers'' (BBC) by Morris Bright and Robert Ross (author of ''The Carry On Companion'' and the ''Monty Python Encyclopedia'') was published in 2000, with extensive input from Rogers. It attempted to defend him against charges that he exploited the cast of the ''Carry On'' films, by paying the lead actors an unchanged £5,000 per film, from the first in 1958 to the penultimate movie.
Rogers attended the 50th
anniversary
An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints ...
of the ''Carry On'' films held at Pinewood Studios in March 2008. He died on 14 April 2009, having been ill for several months.
References
External links
*
What a Carry OnCarry On Films at The Whippit Inn ''
Daily Telegraph
Daily or The Daily may refer to:
Journalism
* Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks
* ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times''
* ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
'', 15 April 2009
Obituary ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', 16 April 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Peter
1914 births
2009 deaths
English film producers
People educated at King's School, Rochester
People from Rochester, Kent
20th-century English businesspeople