The son of a foundry man from the Midlands, Dale was smitten by show
business when his father brought him to London during the latter stages
of World War Two. From then on until he was 16, Dale devoted much of
his out-of-school time to dancing lessons. Briefly an office boy on
leaving school, he soon quit to become a full-time comedian on the northern
club circuit. He was touring London music halls as a bottom-of-the-bill
comedian by 1953. Two years national service in the RAF followed, after
which he entered television. From 1963, Dale gave the 'Carry On' films
the one thing they had missed - a semi-straight juvenile lead. Perhaps
his best for them was the central role in Carry
On Cowboy (1965), as the drainage engineer from East Finchley who
somehow finds himself in the Wild West having to take on the feared
Rumpo Kid (Sid James) in a gun duel.
At this time he also worked as a disc jockey and made progress as a
scriptwriter and songwriter: his song Georgy
Girl (1966), for the film of the same title, won an Oscar nomination.
As a comedian, Dale's strengths had been his engaging personality, his
facial contortions and acrobatic skills. After leaving the 'Carry On'
team in 1970, Dale also played the lead in one or two more bitingly
satirical film comedies such as Adolf
Hitler - My Part in His Downfall (1972) and The National Health
(1973). In America, there was a film or two for the Disney studio. Dale
played Christopher Columbus when the Carry On series was revived during
the 1990s with the dire Carry On Columbus (1992).
