Dame Starry

It's been quite a week this week!
I've just discovered that the actor, Tony Melody, passed away on 30th June, 2008 of cancer - no other details at the moment.

He was one of the first voices I ever heard on the radio in The Clitheroe Kid, but he's probably been in at least one episode of everybody's favourite series on TV, including Jossy's Giants, Sykes, Public Eye, Bergerac, George & Mildred - to name just a few.

RIP, Tony.

DS x.

wadsy

Another one gone! I will always remember him as the milkman in the "Come

Dancing" episode of Steptoe & Son. Hilarious! R.I.P Tony!

batman

RIP Tony .... I worked as 'runner' on a show he was in years ago (can't remember what it was) and he seemed like such a nice bloke. What a bad week!

Don't miss out on a chance to win a rare film in Bat-Quiz 13 closing date - 31/8/8.

Lord Brett

Oh, what a shame! I'll have to tell Jackie when I get home from work, as they share the same home town, Drax in North Yorkshire.

Marky B

A great stooge in many a production. RIP Tony.
Mark

I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas - how he got in my pyjamas,I'll never know

EHV_Emmetts

I read this sad news earlier this morning on another forum.

R.I.P. Tony.

It's been a very sad week.

smudge

Tony M was a cracking character actor, of the type that we don't seem to produce any more.

Respect.

Smudge

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

julian_craster

Tony Melody: Star of the TV series 'Rule Britannia'

THE INDEPENDENT
Thursday, 10 July 2008

The slightly sad-looking face and receding hairline of Tony Melody were familiar to television viewers in dozens of programmes over half a century, particularly sitcoms and soaps. He was a prolific character actor who provided the perfect foil to top comedy stars such as Hylda Baker, Eric Sykes and Harry Worth.

His breakthrough came during the heyday of radio comedy, in The Clitheroe Kid, the long-running show (1957-72) starring the diminutive, Lancashire-born, former music-hall performer Jimmy Clitheroe in the guise of a naughty schoolboy. Melody played Mr Higginbottom, a 6ft 4in taxi driver and Jimmy's arch-enemy, and he joined Clitheroe in the television version, Just Jimmy between 1964 and 1966.

Later, the actor was seen in sitcoms as one of Reg Varney's workmates, Len Peacock, in Down the Gate (1975-76), set in a fish market; as Sergeant Billy Machin, a policemen keeping an eye on a family of petty crooks, in The Nesbitts are Coming (1980); and as Archie, the owner of a seedy café, in The Incredible Mr Tanner (1981), alongside Brian Murphy as a street escapologist.

But he also had one starring role of his own, as the hapless George Bradshaw in Rule Britannia (1975), created by Vince Powell. A group of former shipmates arranged a reunion 25 years after going their separate ways, with George and his wife, Lil (Jo Warne), hosting the gathering. It lasted for an entire series, as George was led astray, into drinking and punch-ups, with Jock McGregor (Russell Hunter) from Scotland, Paddy O'Brien (Joe Lynch) from Ireland and Taffy Evans (Richard Davies) from Wales.

In between the sitcoms, Melody took four different roles in Coronation Street, playing a coach proprietor when residents went on a trip to the Blue John mines in the Peak District in 1965, a taxi driver (1965), Harold Eaton, a decorator working at the Rovers Return (1968), and, in 2000, the MC of a Blackpool ballroom dancing competition in which Norris Cole and Vera Duckworth took part.

Born in London in 1922, Melody was just a boy when his family moved to Leeds. When his parents ran the Station pub in Goole, East Yorkshire, he would sing with the resident pianist. On leaving school, he did National Service in the RAF, then furthered his theatrical ambitions by developing a stand-up comedy act in one of Ralph Reader's Gang Shows, which performed for British troops stationed in different countries and included future stars such as Tony Hancock in its cast.

After landing his role in The Clitheroe Kid following an audition at the BBC, Melody became the compère and singer, accompanied by the Northern Dance Orchestra, in another radio programme, The Straw Hat Club. His first television appearance was alongside Hylda Baker in the sitcom Be Soon (1957) and he was later in demand for both comedy and drama, in episodes of popular series such as Public Eye (1972), Z Cars (1973), Bergerac (1981, 1983), Last of the Summer Wine (1983, 2003), All Creatures Great and Small (1989) and Heartbeat (1995).

Many will remember him as the milkman who taught Harold Steptoe (Harry H. Corbett) to dance in Steptoe and Son (1970) when the younger of the two rag-and-bone men was trying to win over a new girlfriend who was a ballroom-dancing enthusiast. He also took two roles in Emmerdale, as Nicholas Martin in 1983 and the farmer Jed Outhwaite in 1998, and had small parts in the films Yanks (1979) and Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980).

For more than 40 years, Melody lived in Bispham, Lancashire, the home town of his second wife, the former dancer Margaret Little (née Insole), whom he met in pantomime in Skegness.

Anthony Hayward

Anthony John Melody, actor: born London 18 December 1922; twice married (three sons, one daughter); died Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire 26 June 2008.

Chevyman

Oh dear, we have lost another fine actor whose career spanned 50 years.

RIP Tony

Lord Brett

My mother in law knew his parents, as they also ran The New Huntsman pub in Drax, where she has lived since coming to England from German after the war (My mum in maw, not Mrs Melody).y

julian_craster

From Times Online
July 10, 2008
Tony Melody: TV character actor and singer

Tony Melody was one of Britain’s most prolific character actors, playing small roles in over a hundred television series. His craggy, hangdog facial looks made him ideal casting for comedy but he was equally at home in serious drama. In 2002 he enjoyed cult status with children after appearing in a series of tongue-in-cheek Mcdonald’s commercials.

The Lancashire-born actor began his career in variety and as a child sang in pubs. He went on to sing with the Northern Dance Orchestra and, in the early 1950s, broke into television, acting as a feed to stars such as Hylda Baker and Jimmy Clitheroe.

He appeared in series such as Steptoe and Son (notably in one episode teaching Harold Steptoe to dance), Play for Today, Barlow at Large, Coronation Street and Emmerdale Farm (as it was originally known). Then, throughout the 1960s and 1970s he became much in demand as a singer in summer shows and pantomimes, particularly in northern seaside resorts such as Blackpool and Skegness. In pantomime he was often cast as Simple Simon or Buttons and in later years played the Baron or King.

In his later career he had meatier roles on TV, playing leads in Casualty and Where The Heart Is. He was the chief of police in several series of Bergerac and in Heartbeat famously helped Greengrass (Bill Maynard) to steal a train. Other appearances included playing Harold Lapping in Dalziel and Pascoe and he was the landlord in Last of the Summer Wine.

He made several films including Little Lord Fauntleroy with Alec Guinness, but his best role was as Mr Moreton in John Schlesinger’s wartime romantic drama Yanks, in which he appeared opposite Richard Gere.

Commenting on his looks, Melody once said: “Don’t be fooled by this long face, for I am a joyful man.”

He is survived by his wife, Maggie, a former dancer.

Tony Melody, actor and singer, was born in Lancashire on December 18, 1923. He died on July 26, 2008, aged 84

Brigger

Julian, Thanks for the posts; but can you clarify where Tony was born; one report says London; the other states Lancashire.

billy bentley

Any chance of anyone posting a picture ? I can't put a face to this actor who I'm obviously familiar with and who's work I must have enjoyed .

Brigger

This is the late Mr Melody..

David Brent

Fabulous character actor both in comedies and drama.
A real Lancashire lad who seemed so natural on the screen.
We will not see his like again.
R.I.P Tony.

Dave.