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 ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, Bean's father played football for local side Wigan Borough, and he attended Wigan Grammar School. Bean's first appearance had been as a shepherd in a school play, and much against his parents' intentions, he took up acting professionally until being called up for National Service. He served for four years in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

after World War II, spending some time in Japan, and taking the opportunity to continue his acting by joining the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF). After graduating from drama school in 1952, he joined the Sheffield Rep as assistant stage manager; regular theatre work followed.

Career

His work in ''

'' came as a result of working at Watford Rep in 1962 under series co-writer Jimmy Perry as the company's actor-manager, in addition to almost 20 years of playing a pantomime dame. His role in ''

'' started off relatively small but grew as the series progressed, in 1997 he said "by the time of The Miser's Hoard I'd ended up on the front row of the platoon, it was a lovely feeling. Instead of peering and smirking over Jones' shoulder, I was on the front line. It was very satisfying." His TV appearances were varied, including ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...

'', '' The Gnomes of Dulwich'', '' The Liver Birds'', thirteen episodes of '' Michael Bentine's Potty Time'', ''

Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British television sitcom that was broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was created and written by David Croft (TV producer), David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. Croft also served as executive producer and television directo ...

'', and the penultimate episode of '' Hi-de-Hi!'' (1988). Due to his arthritis, in his later years he concentrated on his radio work. He wrote his autobiography, ''Who Do You Think You Are Kidding!'', which was published in 1998 and went into two editions. Though using a wheelchair in his later years, he continued to make sporadic appearances on stage in the north west of England discussing his long acting career. He was also a regular at ''

'' reunions. He continued to live in the Scholes area of his native Wigan until his death, aged 83, in Wigan Infirmary, on 20 June 2009.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

*
Obituary in ''The Independent''

Obituary in ''The Guardian''

Colin Bean
BFI {{DEFAULTSORT:Bean, Colin 1926 births 2009 deaths 20th-century English male actors 20th-century English male writers British Army personnel of World War II British Army soldiers English male radio actors English male television actors Military personnel from the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Male actors from Wigan