Jon Pertwee

[billy farmer]

I thought i would start a new Thread for one of my all time favourite Actors Jon Pertwee who played two of my favourite TV characters - the third Doctor (my second favourite Doctor Who after Tom Baker) in the classic Sci-Fi series Doctor Who (one of my all time favourite TV programmes) and the title role in the series Worzel Gummidge (one of my all time favourite children's programmes) which ran from 1979-1981, Jon Pertwee returned to the role on TV in Worzel Gummidge Down Under (1987-1989).

Jon Pertwee also appeared in many other TV programmes including Ivanhoe, The Jon Pertwee Show, The Avengers, Beggar My Neighbour, Blue Peter, Whose Baby?, 3-2-1 and Noel's House Party, Jon Pertwee was also a storyteller on 10 episodes of Jackanory (1966-67) and presented the murder mystery game show Whodunnit? from 1974-1978.

Jon Pertwee also appeared in many films including Murder At The Windmill (1949), Nearly A Nasty Accident (1961), Carry On Cleo (1964), Runaway Railway (1965), Carry On Cowboy (1965), Carry On Screaming (1966), Up In The Air (1969), The House That Dripped Blood (1971), One Of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975), The Boys In Blue (1983) and Carry On Columbus (1992).

Jon Pertwee auditioned for and was accepted by the royal academy of dramatic art (RADA) in 1936, he was later expelled after he refused to play a greek wind during one of the lessons, feeling it was a waste of both his time and his father's hard earned money.

Jon Pertwee was an officer in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, he was a crew member of HMS Hood and was transferred off the ship shortly before it was sunk by the Bismarck, among various postings Pertwee worked briefly in Naval Intelligence at Westminster alongside future Prime Minister Jim Callaghan, it was during his time in the Navy that Jon woke up one morning after a drunken night out while in port to find a tattoo on his right arm, which was occasionally seen during his time in Doctor Who.

Jon Pertwee acted on Radio for many years, from 1959 to 1977 he had a long running role as the conniving Chief Petty Officer Pertwee in The Navy Lark, his wartime experiences served him well when he joined BBC armed forces Radio Comedy Mediterranean Merry-Go-Round in December 1945, Navy spin-off Waterlogged Spa followed in 1948 - among the many characters Pertwee played was the Postman, who earned his own Radio series Puffney Post Office in 1950, The Navy Lark was Pertwee's greatest Radio success, in the 1990's Pertwee reprised the role of Doctor Who with two audio productions for BBC Radio - The Paradise of Death (1993) and The Ghosts of N-Space (1996).

Jon Pertwee was also a successful stage performer and appeared in many productions including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and There's a Girl in My Soup, Jon Pertwee also played Worzel Gummidge and Doctor Who (in Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure in 1989) on stage.

Jon Pertwee also made several singles and LP's, in 1972 while still in the role of the Doctor, he released a vocal version of the Doctor Who theme music entitled Who is the Doctor, in 1976 he recorded a promotional flexi-disc for Heinz called The Noodle Doodle Man, in 1980 he released the single Worzel's Song which reached No 33 in the UK charts, Jon Pertwee also made other Worzel Gummidge singles and an album entitled Worzel Gummidge Sings, an album was also released in 1981 featuring 14 tracks that appeared in the musical stage production of Worzel Gummidge, the tracks were sung in character by original cast members - Jon Pertwee, Una Stubbs and Geoffrey Bayldon, Jon Pertwee also contributed to and appeared on several other LP's.

Jon Pertwee was born on July 7th 1919 in Chelsea, London, England.

Jon Pertwee's father was the famous playwright and Actor Roland Pertwee and his mother was the stage Actress Avice Scholtz, his parents separated when he was young and he was raised by his paternal grandmother, his elder brother Michael Pertwee became a film and stage writer, Jon Pertwee was the first cousin of Bill Pertwee (who also became an Actor), the Actor Henry Ainley was a close friend of Jon Pertwee's father Roland and was also Jon Pertwee's godfather and Ainley's son Anthony appeared alongside Pertwee in the 1983 Doctor Who anniversary story The Five Doctors playing the role of the Master.

Jon Pertwee was married twice, he married his first wife Actress Jean Marsh in 1955, they divorced in 1960, he married his second wife Ingeborg Rhoesa (to whom he remained married until his death in 1996) the same year, they had two children together, Sean and Dariel (both of whom followed their father in to the acting profession).

Any other fans of this great Actor on Brit Movie.

[dvdman]

yes he was a brilliant actor esp with dr who and worzel gummidge mind you i did not know that he made records for the show

[torinfan]

He was my favorite Dr Who, too. I loved his performance in "The House That Dripped Blood" as an actor who turns into a vampire.

[billy farmer]

[The Thunder Ch]

I was priveleged to attend the 25th anniversary Doctor Who convention in Chicago way back in 1980 - all the Doctors to that point were there. Pertwee and Troughton had a double act going.... Tom Baker avoided Pertwee as apparently there were hard feelings between them because Baker hadn't wanted to work in the Five Doctors...if only there'd been digital camera then instead of the camera I did have, so I only got about 10 photos instead of 10000!

Fans of Pertwee might like to see The Curious Case of Santa Claus. Pertwee plays a psychiatrist, to whom Santa Claus (James Coco) comes for help, as he's feeling depressed one Christmas eve.

Theirs is a bridging story, so there's not a lot to it, but their interaction is amusing, and I've always enjoyed it.

[billy farmer]

The front cover of the February 24th - March 2nd 1979 issue of TV Times featuring Jon Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge.

[billy farmer]

A TV Times listing from February 25th 1979, from the same issue of TV Times as my previous post on this Thread (February 24th - March 2nd 1979).

[Cushing Fan]

Awww Jon Pertwee, Ive recently introduced my five year old daughter to 'Worzel Gummidge' and she loves it :-) She even named a bear she got for her birthday 'Worzel' so for me that is proof that both the show and Jon can still wave their magic over an audience.
It was always a pleasure to see him doing his roles in 'the carry on' films too....I especially love him as the sheriff in 'carry on cowboy'. They could have used his talents a lot more in these films. Great to watch the youtube interviews :-)

[wellendcanons]

I too love Jon in the Carry On films. Carry On Screaming is my favourite of the Carry On films. However, I think Jon has his best scenes in Carry On Cowboy. In fact for me he has by far the best scenes in the film. Along with Peter Davison, he is my joint favourite Dr Who. I like all the Doctor's though.

wec

[Freddy]

One of my favourites,his character Worzel Gummidge was a joy and it was qreat shame when the television companies didn't do anymore episodes and I believe Jon Pertwee then took it to New Zealand.

[billy farmer]

[Gerald Lovell]

I've always found this confrontation quite interesting:

No. 3 Jon Pertwee gets the gaze from his former self No. 1 William Hartnell ten years before DOCTOR WHO first materialised on Earth in Will Any Gentleman . . . ? (1953).

Jean Marsh plays an uncredited dancer in this film and I think it may be where Jon first met her. Jean was of course his first wife.

[cornershop15]

That's a great capture, Gerald. The best you've done, I think. I can't find any posters or stills from the film and wasn't aware it's in colour.

A rare chance to see Jon Pertwee with Jean Marsh,
who is the spitting image of Maureen Lipman here!:


Dated 21st December 1954, so this could well be the announcement of the couple's engagement as they married the following April.

I've never been a fan but acknowledge that this has been an upsetting year for Doctor Who fans with the deaths of Jon's co-stars Nicholas Courtney and Elisabeth Sladen. I am ashamed to admit that I'd never heard of Yolande Palfrey until seeing her obituary thread a few days ago. All very sad.

On a much happier note, Network are about to release the second series of Whodunnit? soon. As with William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton in Doctor Who, Edward Woodward was just before 'my time' as presenter, and that was the previous year! I can only remember Jon and panellists Patrick Mower and Anouska Hempel, all of whom are on the forthcoming DVD. This again makes me think my first clear memories are from when I was about nine.

[billy farmer]

The front cover of the June 22nd - 28th 1974 issue of TV Times featuring Jon Pertwee (the new presenter of Whodunnit?).

[billy farmer]

A TV Times article about Jon Pertwee from the June 22nd - 28th 1974 issue of TV Times (same issue as above post).

[billy farmer]

Here are the links to 2 websites where you can learn more about one of my all time favourite children's TV programmes Worzel Gummidge - The Completely Unofficial Worzel Gummidge Site "The Wonderful Worzel Gummidge!" - Home

[billy farmer]

According to Pertwee's biography Moon Boots and Dinner Suits (published 1984), as a young boy he played with the son of the gamekeeper on the family estate, the gamekeeper was A.A. Milne and his son was Christopher, the inspiration for Milne's later tales of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh.

[Steve Crook]

According to Pertwee's biography Moon Boots and Dinner Suits (published 1984), as a young boy he played with the son of the gamekeeper on the family estate, the gamekeeper was A.A. Milne and his son was Christopher, the inspiration for Milne's later tales of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh.

A.A. Milne wasn't a gamekeeper. He mainly lived in London but had a country home in Hartfield, East Sussex. Christopher was born in Chelsea and was mainly brought up by his nanny at their Chelsea home, although they would have visited their country estate

Steve

[chuffnobbler]

I have his autobiog, but not got round to reading it yet.

A special mention for the wonderful, wonderful One Of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing: a "Carry On for kids", with a truly all-star cast and loads of laugh-out-loud moments. Jon Pertwee is an old military buffer who gets on the wrong side of a dinosaur skeleton!

[billy farmer]