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Robin Le Mesurier
Welcome to his world
John Le Mesurier
Biography
After leaving school, John went to work as an articled clerk at an old established Bury firm of solicitors called Greene and Greene, and six years later, just before his 21st birthday, John signed on for the Fay Compton Studio of Dramatic Art, using his mother's maiden name, Le Mesurier, as his stage name. A few months later, he had his first professional engagement at the Palladium Theatre.
In 1940, John joined the Royal Armoured Corps at Tidworth on Salisbury Plain and he attained the rank of Captain. He served at home and in India, where John's acting career was put on hold for 2 years, until he was demobbed in 1945.
In 1946, while visiting the Players Theatre in Villiers Street, near Charing Cross, he met Hattie Jacques.
In 1948 John made his first film, "Escape From Bradmoor".
John and Hattie were married in April 1952 and had two sons, Robin and Kim.
John appeared in his first "Hancock's Half Hour" BBC-TV show in 1957. john was to appear in a number of the "Hancock's Half Hour" TV shows. He was also in the "Hancock" series and the ATV "Hancock" series.
After making the film "Our Man in Marakesh", john then made the classic TV show "George and the Dragon" with Sid James and Peggy Mount.
The part for which John is perhaps most famously known is for the role of Sergeant Arthur Wilson in "Dad's Army". John was originally going to play the Captain and Arthur Lowe the Sergeant but the roles were soon reversed.
In 1971john earned a Society of Film and Television Arts "Best Television Actor" award for his portrayal of Kim Philby in Dennis Potter's play "Traitor".
John's last film was in 1980 when he appeared alongside Peter Sellers in "The Fiendish Plot of Dr fu Manchu", and his last TV appearance was with Anthony Hopkins in "A Married Man".
John Le Mesurier dies on November 15, 1983 at Ramsgate, Kent - England.
In 1984, John's autobiography, "A Jobbing Actor", was published posthumously and in 1984, the Dead Comics Society erected a plaque to his memory at his former flat in Baron's Court with various surviving members of the "Dad's Army" cast in attendance.
Filmography
| Date | Titre | Rôle |
| 1983 | A Married Man | Eustace Lough |
| 1981 | Brideshead Revisited | Actor |
| 1980 | The Shillingbury Blowers | Council Chairman |
| 1980 | The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu | Perkins |
| 1979 | The Unidentified Flying Oddball | Sir Gawain |
| 1978 | Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse | Sir Archibald MacGregor |
| 1978 | Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? | Dr. Deere |
| 1977 | Stand up Virgin Soldiers | Col. Bromley-Pickering |
| 1977 | A Christmas Carol | John Le Mesurier |
| 1977 | What's up Nurse! | Mr. Ogden |
| 1977 | Jabberwocky | Chamberlain |
| 1975 | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother | Lord Radcliff |
| 1974 | Brief Encounter | Stephen |
| 1974 | Confessions of a Window Cleaner | Inspector Radlett |
| 1974 | Barry McKenzie Holds His Own | English Emigrant |
| 1973 | File It Under Fear | Actor |
| 1972 | The Alf Garnett Saga | Actor |
| 1971 | Traitor | Adrian Harris |
| 1971 | Dad's Army | Sgt. Arthur Wilson |
| 1970 | On a Clear Day You Can See Forever | Pelham |
| 1970 | Doctor in Trouble | Purser |
| 1969 | Midas Run | Wells |
| 1969 | The Magic Christian | Sir John |
| 1969 | The Italian Job | Governor |
| 1968 | Salt and Pepper | Col. Woodstock |
| 1967 | Mister Ten Percent | Jocelyn Macauley |
| 1967 | La Vingt-Cinquième Heure | Magistrate |
| 1967 | Eye of the Devil | Dr. Monnet |
| 1967 | Casino Royale | Driver (uncredited) |
| 1966 | The Sandwich Man | Sandwich Man |
| 1966 | The Wrong Box | Dr. Slattery |
| 1966 | Finders Keepers | Mr. X |
| 1966 | Our Man in Marrakesh | George Lillywhite |
| 1966 | The Liquidator | Chekhov |
| 1965 | Masquerade | Sir Robert |
| 1965 | Where the Spies Are | Col. Douglas MacGillivray |
| 1965 | War Gods of the Deep | Rev. Jonathan Ives |
| 1965 | The Early Bird | Col. Foster |
| 1965 | Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines | French Painter |
| 1965 | Cuckoo Patrol | Gibbs |
| 1964 | Never Put It in Writing | Adams |
| 1964 | The Moon-Spinners | Anthony Gamble |
| 1964 | The Pink Panther | Defense Attorney |
| 1963 | The Mouse on the Moon | British Delegate |
| 1963 | The Punch and Judy Man | Charles the Sandman |
| 1963 | The Main Attraction | Bozo |
| 1963 | The Wrong Arm of the Law | Assistant Commissioner |
| 1963 | Agent 8 3/4 | Roger Allsop |
| 1963 | In the Cool of the Day | Doctor |
| 1962 | Mrs. Gibbons' Boys | Coles |
| 1962 | We Are in the Navy Now | Dewberry |
| 1962 | Village of Daughters | Don Calogero |
| 1962 | Waltz of the Toreadors | Vicar |
| 1962 | Only Two Can Play | Charles Salter |
| 1962 | Go to Blazes | Fisherman |
| 1962 | Hair of the Dog | Sir Mortimer Gallant |
| 1962 | Flat Two | Warden |
| 1961 | The Night We Got the Bird | Clerk of the Court |
| 1961 | Operation Snafu | Hixon |
| 1961 | Why Bother to Knock? | Father |
| 1961 | Jigsaw | Mr. Simpson |
| 1961 | Very Important Person | Piggott |
| 1961 | Five Golden Hours | Dr. Alfieri |
| 1961 | The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's | Minister |
| 1961 | I Like Money | Blackmailer |
| 1961 | The Rebel | Office manager |
| 1961 | Invasion Quartet | Colonel |
| 1960 | School for Scoundrels | Headwaiter |
| 1960 | Dead Lucky | Inspector Corcoran |
| 1960 | Never Let Go | Pennington |
| 1960 | Operation Amsterdam | Actor |
| 1960 | The Bulldog Breed | Prosecution |
| 1960 | Doctor in Love | Dr. Mincing |
| 1960 | The Day They Robbed the Bank of England | Green |
| 1960 | Let's Get Married | Dean |
| 1960 | The Captain's Table | Sir Angus |
| 1959 | The Hound of the Baskervilles | Barrymore |
| 1959 | I'm All Right Jack | Waters |
| 1959 | Shake Hands with the Devil | British General |
| 1959 | Jack the Ripper | Dr. Tranter |
| 1959 | The Wreck of the Mary Deare | M.O.A. Lawyer |
| 1959 | Carlton-Browne of the F.O. | Grand Duke |
| 1959 | Follow a Star | Birkett |
| 1959 | The Lady Is a Square | Fergusson |
| 1959 | Ben-Hur | Doctor |
| 1958 | The Man Who Wouldn't Talk | Judge |
| 1958 | The Man with a Gun | Harry Drayson |
| 1958 | The Moonraker | Oliver Cromwell |
| 1958 | Too Many Crooks | Magistrate |
| 1958 | Blind Spot | Brent |
| 1958 | Happy Is the Bride | Chaytor |
| 1958 | I Was Monty's Double | Adjutant R.A.P.C. |
| 1958 | Gideon of Scotland Yard | Prosecuting attorney |
| 1958 | Law and Disorder | Sir Humphrey Pomfret |
| 1958 | Another Time, Another Place | Dr. Aldridge |
| 1958 | Blood of the Vampire | Chief Justice |
| 1957 | High Flight | Commandant |
| 1957 | The Good Companions | Monte Mortimer |
| 1957 | Dangerous Youth | Commanding Officer |
| 1957 | The Brothers in Law | Judge Ryman |
| 1956 | A Private's Progress | Psychiatrist |
| 1956 | Pursuit of the Graf Spee | Chaplain, "Exeter" |
| 1956 | The Baby and the Battleship | Aide |
| 1955 | Police Dog | Inspector |
| 1955 | A Time to Kill | Phineas |
| 1955 | Josephine and Men | Registrar |
| 1954 | The Stranger from Venus | Man at Desk |
| 1954 | Black 13 | Inspector |
| 1954 | Desert Mice | Staff Colonel |
| 1954 | Dangerous Cargo | Luigi |
| 1953 | The Pleasure Garden | Actor |
| 1953 | The Blue Parrot | Carson |
| 1952 | My Son, the Vampire | Actor |
| 1952 | Never Take No for an Answer | Actor |
| 1952 | Blind Man's Bluff | Lefty Jones |
| 1950 | Dark Interval | Cedric, Butler |
| 1949 | A Matter of Murder | Ginter |
| 1949 | Old Mother Riley's New Venture | Karl |
| 1948 | Escape from Broadmoor | Langford |
John Le Mesurier was born John Elton Halliley on 5th April 1912 at Chaucer Road, Bedford - England.
