INDEX

Arthur Askey

Hylda Baker

Alfie Bass

Ian Carmichael

Bernie Clifton

Sandy Powell

Max Wall

Denny Willis

MORE SOON

 Ian Carmichael 

(1920 - )

The son of an optician born in Hull on 18 June 1920, Ian Carmichael always wanted to act. He studied at RADA and made his first stage appearance aged 19. In 1941 he volunteered for army service returning to his acting career in 1947. His second film role came in Trottie True (1949), a film who's cast list includes Bill Owen, Hattie Jacques, Christopher Lee and Roger Moore.

He appeared in the West End production of Simon and Laura, and was the only member of the original cast to be retained for the film version made in 1955.

By this time his work had come to the attention of the Boulting Brothers who were looking for someone to play the key role of Stanley Windrush in Private's Progress. Richard Attenborough, Dennis Price, Terry-Thomas, William Hartnell, John le Mesurier, and David Lodge all played their part alongside him, to make this film a big hit with an audience for whom the war years were still fresh in the memory. Its huge success prompted the producers to transfer practically half the cast to a legal comedy called Brothers in Law, which featured Carmichael as a barrister completely lacking in confidence.

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Many of his films had a political theme to them. These include Left, Right and Centre with Alastair Sim and I'm All Right Jack, in which he again plays the role of Stanley Windrush for the Boulting brothers. 

School for Scoundrels was his second film with Alastair Sim. Made in 1960, Carmichael plays one of life's losers, Henry Palfrey, who is swindled by two crooked car salesmen, and about to lose the girl of his dreams to the wily Raymond Delauney (Terry-Thomas). In desperation Palfrey enrolls at the College of Lifemanship, where Mr Potter (Alastair Sim)  teaches him the art of ‘one-upmanship’ and ‘gamesmanship.’ Armed with his new skills, Palfrey sets about getting his own back on those that have taken advantage of him, closely observed by his teacher. This is my favorite among the many comedies Carmichael appeared in.

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As the Sixties went on, the film work dried up and he turned his efforts to the theatre and television. From 1965 to 1967 he played P. G. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster, opposite Dennis Price, in the TV series The World of Wooster. 

In 1971 he appeared in that classic British comedy film The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins. This film featured many of the comedy actors of the day and most of the cast will be found on the pages of this site. He played the part of Mr. Ferris in the sketch 'Pride', which also featured Alfie Bass. 

The seventies also saw him play the part of another silly-ass toff in a series of adaptations of five of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels.

He made a return to the big screen in 1979 playing alongside Arthur Lowe in a remake of the classic film The Lady Vanishes. Their performance together, as two cricket loving English eccentrics, stole the show and its a pity they never got to work together more often.  

He has now retired, but still accepts the occasional role such as in the recent television version of Wives and Daughters. As an actor he knew his limitations and never tried to pretend he was anything other than  a very good light comedian.

 FILMOGRAPHY