John Bardon
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

John Bardon (born John Michael Jones, 25 August 1939 – 12 September 2014) was an English stage and screen actor. He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1988 (1987 season) for ''
Kiss Me, Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-stag ...
'', sharing the award with co-star
Emil Wolk Arnold Emil Wolk (born 1944) is an Anglo-American stage director and stage and screen actor. He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award in 1988 (1987 season) as 'Best Actor in a Musical' for ''Kiss Me, Kate'', sharing the award with co-star John Bar ...
. He was best known for playing the patriarch of the Branning family,
Jim Branning Jim Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by John Bardon, first appearing on 29 April 1996 and became a regular character in 1999. He remained in the series until 2011. Jim was temporarily written out ...
, in the
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. ...
...
soap opera, '' EastEnders'', for 13 years from 1996 to 2011.


Early life and amateur acting

John Michael Jones was born in Brentford,
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
; his father was a shipping clerk who formerly ran a building business. "Bardon" was his grandmother's maiden name. His early acting experience was with a group called The Taverners, who played in pubs. He then appeared in productions by the Civil Service drama group, which toured theatres in Germany and Austria.


Acting career

Bardon became a professional actor in 1970 at the age of 30, joining a repertory company in Exeter. He may be best known for having played
Jim Branning Jim Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by John Bardon, first appearing on 29 April 1996 and became a regular character in 1999. He remained in the series until 2011. Jim was temporarily written out ...
in '' EastEnders''. His character, the father of established character
Carol Jackson Carol Jackson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Lindsey Coulson. The character was introduced in 1993 as the mother of the Jackson family. Coulson decided to quit the role in 1997, but she returned tem ...
, first appeared briefly in 1996. The character of Jim returned to the series in 1999 and this time became a regular character, later marrying
Dot Cotton Dorothy "Dot" Branning (also Cotton) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders'', played by June Brown. In a special episode entitled ''EastEnders: Dot's Story'' (2003) a young Dot was played by Tallulah Pitt-Brown in fl ...
(
June Brown June Muriel Brown (16 February 1927 – 3 April 2022) was an English actress and author. She was best known for her role as Dot Cotton on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (1985–1993; 1997–2020). In 2005, she won Best Actress at the '' ...
). Bardon filmed his final scenes for ''EastEnders'' in March 2011 after years of poor health. He also was a regular in ''
Rumpole of the Bailey ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, oft ...
'', as a member of the "clan Timson, a family of South London villains", as described by
Rumpole ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, ...
. He had made notable guest appearances in ''
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 ...
'' in 1975 in the episode "
Ring Dem Bells "Ring Dem Bells" is the first episode of the eighth series of the British comedy series ''Dad's Army''. It was originally transmitted on 5 September 1975. Synopsis The platoon are going to be featured in a film to help the war effort, but are an ...
" (in addition to this, he played
Private Walker Private Joe Walker is a fictional black market spiv (or Wholesales Supplier, as he politely puts it) and Home Guard platoon member, first portrayed by actor James Beck in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. In real life, Beck died suddenly ...
in the 1975–76 stage adaptation of ''Dad's Army'', as original television actor
James Beck Stanley James Carroll Beck (21 February 1929 – 6 August 1973) was an English actor who played the role of Private Walker, a cockney spiv, in the BBC sitcom ''Dad's Army'' from the show's beginning in 1968 until his sudden death in 1973. Ea ...
had died in 1973) and ''
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 ...
'' in 1976 in the episode "No Sale". He also starred in the British police drama '' The Sweeney'', in which he played villain Doc Boyd in the episode "Faces", first broadcast on Monday 8 September 1975. In the same year, he also appeared as a bookmaker in the film ''
One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing ''One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing'' is a 1975 comedy film set in the early 1920s, about the theft of a dinosaur skeleton from the Natural History Museum. The film was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distributio ...
''. In 1978 he was cast as Del Rogers in G. F. Newman's
Law and Order In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...
on BBC2. In 1980 he appeared in an episode of ''
Hi-de-Hi! ''Hi-de-Hi!'' is a BBC television sitcom shown on BBC1 from 1 January 1980 to 30 January 1988. Set in 1959 and 1960 in Maplins, a fictional holiday camp, the show was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who also wrote '' Dad's Army'' an ...
''. In 1982 he appeared on
Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in ...
as legendary comedian Max Miller in
Here's a Funny Thing
' in a reprise of the role from the stage version of the production which had been seen at
Liverpool Playhouse The Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, England. It originated in 1866 as a music hall, and in 1911 developed into a repertory theatre. As such it nurtured the early careers of many actors and actres ...
, the
Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
and the
Fortune Theatre The Fortune Theatre is a 432-seat West End theatre on Russell Street, near Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster. Since 1989 the theatre has hosted the long running play ''The Woman in Black''. History The site was acquired by author, playw ...
in ''L'' in the much-acclaimed BBC drama, Johnny Jarvis (Nigel Williams).Also appeared as a '' The Children Film Foundation (CFF)'' '' Friend or Foe'' as In 1984, he had a guest role as "Constable Palk" in ''
The Body in the Library ''The Body in the Library'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1942 and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in May of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.0 ...
'', and appeared as a night porter in the film version of ''
Ordeal by Innocence ''Ordeal by Innocence'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 3 November 1958 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retaile ...
'' the following year. In 1986 he played the Head of Security for a supermarket in an episode of ''
Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses....'' is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas ...
'' from series five called " The Longest Night", in the same year he appeared as a Railway ticket collector in the film ''
Clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite ...
''. In 1989, he appeared in ''
Agatha Christie's Poirot ''Poirot'' (also known as ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'') is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. David Suchet starred as the eponymous detective, Agatha Christie's fictional Her ...
'' in the episode "Four and Twenty Blackbirds". The same year he also appeared in an episode of the TV series ''
Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...
'', playing a gambling villain. He was a guest star in two episodes of '' Coronation Street'' in the early 1990s. He appeared as the father of Daryl Stubbs in '' Birds of a Feather'' (in 1991 and again in 1998), and played an asylum warden in the 1996 TV adaptation of '' Gulliver's Travels''. In 1997, he appeared briefly as one of the zoo customers in the film comedy ''
Fierce Creatures ''Fierce Creatures'' is a 1997 British-American farcical comedy film. While not literally a sequel, ''Fierce Creatures'' is a spiritual successor to the 1988 film '' A Fish Called Wanda''. Both films star John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin ...
'', and 2 years later he appeared in the film '' East Is East'' as Mr. Moorhouse.


Other appearances

Bardon appeared on the BBC show ''
Just the Two of Us Just or JUST may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Just (surname) * Just (given name) Arts and entertainment * ''Just'', a 1998 album by Dave Lindholm * "Just" (song), a song by Radiohead * "Just", a song from the album ''Lost and Found'' by Mudvayne ...
''. His singing partner was Jocelyn Brown and the pair finished fourth. Bardon also made an appearance in the sitcom Desmond's, in a two part episode of the second series in which he played a police officer. He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 2003 when he was surprised by
Michael Aspel Michael Terence Aspel (born 12 January 1933) is an English retired television newsreader and host of programmes such as '' Crackerjack'', ''Aspel & Company'', '' Give Us a Clue'', ''This is Your Life'', '' Strange but True?'' and ''Antiques Ro ...
on the EastEnders set.


Personal life

Prior to his work in EastEnders, Bardon worked as a shuttle driver at Heathrow Airport. In June 2002, he married Enda Gates. On 14 June 2007, Bardon was admitted to hospital after suffering a major stroke at home. In November 2007, it was reported that he was making steady progress, when he opened a new stroke ward at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in
Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...
. It was reported on 27 December 2007 that Bardon had walked for the first time in six months. On 8 August 2008, Bardon was rushed to hospital with a second suspected stroke. It was confirmed on 5 October 2008 that Bardon had returned home. On 9 November,
June Brown June Muriel Brown (16 February 1927 – 3 April 2022) was an English actress and author. She was best known for her role as Dot Cotton on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (1985–1993; 1997–2020). In 2005, she won Best Actress at the '' ...
confirmed that he would appear in ''EastEnders'' again on Christmas Day. Jim was seen on screen briefly on 4 December 2008, when his son Jack went to see him in the care home. Bardon returned to work at '' EastEnders'' full-time in June 2009 and was on screen from 20 August 2009. Bardon's last appearance was aired on 26 May 2011, when his character Jim left Albert Square to move into a care home. On the morning of 12 September 2014, Bardon died of a stroke at the Romford Grange Care Home, in
Collier Row Collier Row is an area of Romford in East London, England, within the London Borough of Havering. It is a suburban development north of Romford town centre, around north-east of Charing Cross. The area is based on a large housing estate built ...
,
Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...
. News of his death was announced later that day, and the episode of '' EastEnders'' that was broadcast that evening was dedicated to his memory.


References


External links

* *
EastEnders cast – John Bardon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bardon, John 1939 births 2014 deaths People from Brentford People from Hitchin English male stage actors English male soap opera actors English male film actors Laurence Olivier Award winners Male actors from Hertfordshire