julian_craster

The Times Obituary
John Junkin
January 29, 1930 - March 7, 2006

Prodigious scriptwriter and actor who bolstered British TV and
radio comedy for thirty years


IN OCTOBER 1998 a letter in The Times from John Junkin read:
"May I confess to not being quite as upset as many people at the loss of
first-class cricket by BBC Television, principally because it will give
viewers a chance to see the three new series I have devised.
"These consist of 26 programmes on gardening, 26 on travel and
26 on cooking, with a Christmas special in which a well-known gardener is
invited to take a celebrity chef to some glamorous location and cook him."

Junkin, by then living in near poverty in rented accommodation
in Buckinghamshire, had good reason to feel perplexed by the new direction
of television entertainment, an industry which for three decades could
hardly do without him. Junkin wrote, often in his garden shed, for some of
Britain's best-known comedians, including Morecambe and Wise, Marty Feldman,
Ronnie Barker and Mike Yarwood. Between 1961 and the mid-1970s Junkin was
constantly on the screen in situation comedies such as Sam & Janet, On the
House, Marty, Hello Cheeky and The Rough with the Smooth, and in dramas
Emergency Ward 10, Z Cars and Dr Finlay's Casebook.

He played the character Shake in the Beatles film A Hard Day's
Night, and went on to appear in Chicago Joe and the Showgirl, Handful of
Dust and, recently, The Football Factory. Junkin's main contribution to
entertainment, however, was his innumerable and consistent contributions,
through writing and acting, to the success of others.

Born in Ealing, West London, Junkin began his working life as a
schoolteacher but was gradually drawn into writing. He was a member of
Associated London Scripts, a co-operative based in W12 that included Dave
Freeman, Spike Milligan, Terry Nation, Johnny Speight and Eric Sykes,
managed by Beryl Vertue. Through Milligan's connection with the group Junkin
contributed scripts to Peter Sellers's The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d, a radio
show before its time in sheer silliness. It ran for five series until 1956.
Junkin teamed up with Freeman and Nation to write the radio sitcom The
Floggits for Elsie and Doris Waters. Sensing further success, in 1960 he
committed himself to scriptwriting but worked as a labourer to support
himself.

Junkin wrote for the comedians Ted Ray and Jimmy Logan, and
joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, taking the lead role in the
original production of Sparrers Can't Sing. He appeared with Rex Harrison in
August for the People at the Royal Court in London, and after that work in
television and radio was plentiful.

In 1961 he first appeared in the Benny Hill Show, playing
bystanders and the butt of jokes; something for which he would be enrolled
in The Goodies and Marty, in which an evil old couple played by Marty
Feldman and Tim Brooke- Taylor would each week conspire to reduce him to
tears.

Junkin's range in small roles was infinite; his appearance in A
Hard Day's Night led to the role of "Large Child" alongside John Lennon in
another Richard Lester film, the anti-war, anti-narrative and possibly
anti-film How I Won the War. For years he voiced one of the Brooke Bond
chimps, and he continued to work on the stage and to write quiz-show
formats. He appeared on several anti-quizzes in the Mornington Crescent
style, such as Lucky 13 for Radio 2. "Is it possible to hear a tangerine
speak?" "Yes, if you go to Tangier where he lives."

In 1970 Junkin was given a rare lead role in On the House, in
which he played Charlie Cattermole, a harassed site foreman continually at
odds with a firebrand shop steward played by Kenneth Connor. His success
peaked in 1976 when he was given equal billing with Barry Cryer and Tim
Brooke-Taylor in Hello Cheeky, which moved from radio to a prime-time slot
on ITV. The sketches, most of which involved obvious set-up gags and
appalling puns, did not bring Junkin or Brooke-Taylor the acclaim they had
won in Marty; the show was moved to a late-night slot and allowed to expire.

In the mid-1980s, while working on a spoof pantomine for Russ
Abbot, Junkin and Cryer were asked by a reporter what they thought of the
upstart "alternative" comedy writers and comedians. While Cryer replied that
he found much that he recognised and admired, Junkin said that he had no
idea who they were, nor much cared. Yet his own brand of punnery and
family-orientated whimsy was on the wane. He wrote, with Bill Tidy, The
Fosdyke Saga and The Grumbleweeds for radio, but as the 1980s drew to a
close the work dried up.

Junkin fell out with a producer - he never told the press which
one - over the writing of a game show for which he had devised the format.
Litigation cost him £70,000, and was swiftly followed by a tax bill for
£120,000 after years of financial indiscipline.

When radio and television work petered out completely he got up
at 4.30 in the morning to submit jokes to a DJ in Newcastle. Junkin's wife
left him, but he managed to joke: "We became incompatible. I no longer had
an income and she was no longer pattable."

In recent years his fortunes were repaired slightly with an
appearance in EastEnders and decent roles in two British films, Girl from
Rio and The Football Factory.

He is survived by his daughter.


John Junkin, scriptwriter and comic entertainer, was born on
January 29, 1930. He died on March 7, 2006, aged 76.


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Obituary
John Junkin

Scriptwriter to the stars and comedy actor with a penchant for cops and
robbers

Dennis Barker
Wednesday March 8, 2006
The Guardian


John Junkin, who has died from lung cancer aged 76, was a gifted
scriptwriter who made an important contribution to British comedy from the
immediate postwar years to the early 1990s. With more than 1,500 shows to
his credit - most notably the Morecambe and Wise series - he worked with
Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, and scripted an award-winning Marty
Feldman television special.
Although also a serviceable actor, Junkin was a sadly ungifted manager of
his own career and life. In the 1990s he alienated the BBC by ill-advisedly
starting to sue the corporation, was separated from his wife, and complained
that he could no longer make his way in a medium now dominated by marketing,
rather than creative, people.

Looking like a cross between a secondhand car dealer and an unfrocked
bishop, and with a voice that owed a lot to cigarette smoking, the tall and
bald Junkin saw himself as a jobbing actor whose writing gave him the
independence to decline poor parts.
From 1978, he turned out Morecambe and Wise scripts, with Barry Cryer, while
carrying on with his own acting work, often as a policeman or a crook. He
also wrote Christmas specials for Eric and Ernie - an art form which
attracted many and various celebrities for guest appearances, including the
then prime minister, Harold Wilson.

Junkin was given several of his own shows, some of them with considerable
appeal. The programme simply called Junkin, for Southern Television in the
early 1970s, involved inviting a hundred women into the studio and enabling
some of them to do something they had always secretly wanted to do - such as
throwing custard pies at Wilson and Edward Heath, by now the prime minister.
Neither man seemed inclined to play; so the women were presented with two
lifelike dummies instead.

There was something of Junkin's own background in the parts he played in
films and on television, and in his humour as a scriptwriter. He was born in
Ealing, west London, the son of a policeman, and taught in an East End
school for three years, ending up hating it. He liked the children but
detested teachers and the education department "bores". Fortunately for him,
he was still living at home at the age of 25, and his parents allowed him to
be what he called a "butterfly" for six months, during which time he tried
to write for radio.

In the late 1950s, he teamed up with Dr Who author Terry Nation to write a
BBC radio series which featured a large number of popular performers,
including Anthony Newley, Elsie and Doris Waters, Ronnie Barker, Joan Sims
and Hugh Paddick. Then, in 1960, Harry H Corbett, who played young Harold in
Steptoe and Son, introduced him to Joan Littlewood and her radical Theatre
Workshop in Stratford, east London. The institution appealed to his
anarchical temperament; and his strong presence in sometimes dodgy authority
roles was noticed by the critics. The secret of survival for him was, he
said, surviving as an actor - and in that pursuit he was prepared to "play
Hamlet, walk the high wire, try anything".

By the mid-1970s he was one of the busiest men in British television,
teaming up with writing partner Tim Brooke-Taylor for the BBC series The
Rough with the Smooth, in which he played the rough diamond flatmate to
Brooke-Taylor's smoothie. At the same time, he was working on a series
featuring Dorothy L Sayers' fictional upper-crust private detective Lord
Peter Wimsey; acting as a jewel thief in a television play about gentlemanly
thief Raffles; playing what he called a "Hughie Green type" (after the
game-show host of that era) in a BBC education programme; chairing a quiz
show for BBC Radio 2 and appearing in his own radio programme, later
transferred to television, Hello Cheeky.

The comedian Marty Feldman won the Golden Rose of Montreux Award with a
Junkin script in 1972, and its author worked regularly for top funny men
Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes, Leslie Crowther, Jim Davidson,
Mike Yarwood and Bob Monkhouse.

As an actor, Junkin played Alf Garnett's milkman in the series Till Death Us
Do Part, a boozy husband in Sam and Janet with Joan Sims, a building foreman
in On The House. Film appearances included the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night
(1964), Wombling Free (1977) and A Handful of Dust (1988).

Throughout his most active period, when Junkin's way with a show was to work
on it throughout the night if necessary, he was regarded as a hardened
bachelor, having brief relationships with many women. But he met a public
relations executive 18 years his junior called Jennie when he was 47, while
recording one of the Hello Cheeky programmes in Leeds. They married, lived
in a house overlooking Hampstead Heath, and had a daughter, Annabel, to whom
Junkin remained devoted.

Disaster then struck. Work tailed off, his family life became difficult; by
1997 he was applying for a job as script editor with the BBC and not getting
even a reply. He began denouncing the "suits" who had taken over television;
his wife had asked for a separation in 1992 and he began to live alone
again. Two years before, he had fallen out with the producer of a game show
he had devised, threatened to sue him and found himself facing bills of
£70,000 - on top of large sums of money he owed the Inland Revenue. In one
year, he worked for only four days.

Though he claimed he was not bitter, he had some reason to be, for he had
made an undeniably joyous contribution to British comedy over a very long
period of effortful creativity.

·John Junkin, actor and scriptwriter, born January 29 1930; died March 7
2006

arty-dave

A sad loss. I liked and admired John Junkin since first becoming aware of him in the Beatles' Hard Days Night.

ollie

Goodbye Cheeky [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/no.gif[/img]
I asked this elsewhere but,as Junkin is an unusual surname (if real) was john related to Harry w Junkin also a writer (gideons way )

cheers Ollie.

"Bullseye !!"

Rob Compton

Agreed a-d. I well remember his work for Southern TV. Always came across as one of nature's nice blokes.

RIP

rgds
Rob

Rennie

DAILY TELEGRAH OBITUARY

John Junkin
(Filed: 08/03/2006)

John Junkin, who has died aged 76, was an actor and scriptwriter with a showbusiness career that spanned 40 years and encompassed some of the best-known television series of the 1960s and 1970s; as well as working with Morecambe and Wise, Ronnie Barker and Spike Milligan, Junkin appeared in Z Cars, All Creatures Great and Small and, most recently, EastEnders, in which he played the mysterious pensioner Ernie Johnson.



When not acting Junkin was a prolific contributor to programmes such as The Benny Hill Show, The Eric Sykes Show and The Jim Davidson Show. He was a regular guest on the panel game shows Blankety Blank, Give Us A Clue and Crosswits, and hosted his own television show, Junkin, for four years.

Tall and balding, with heavy features (he was once described as "looking like a lugubrious potato"), Junkin was a permanent fixture on British television during the 1970s, prompting one critic to note that "John Junkin seems to be everywhere these days". Junkin's explanation was that he was easy casting material. "I'm so nondescript," he said. "I look like the bloke next door. I always seem to be wearing one of those sheepskin coats."

John Junkin was born at Ealing, west London, on January 29 1930. Educated locally, in 1952 he qualified as a primary school teacher and worked for the next three years at a school in the East End of London. But he became disillusioned with teaching. "I loved the kids," he recalled, "but hated the adults and the bores from the Education Authority."

He began writing radio spots for Peter Sellers and in 1955 he decided to become a full-time writer. He and his co-writer, Terry Nation, inventor of the Daleks, spent the next five years working on material for various comedians including Frankie Howerd, Ronnie Barker and Harry Worth.

In 1960 Harry H Corbett introduced Junkin to Joan Littlewood, who invited him to join her Theatre Workshop company. Junkin took over the leading role opposite Barbara Windsor in Sparrers Can't Sing and went on to star in the West End production of the same show later that year.

He made his film debut in 1962 with a tiny part in Peter Sellers's vehicle The Wrong Arm of the Law, and went on to appear in another Sellers film, Heavens Above, in 1963. Trying to establish himself as a film actor, Junkin accepted small roles in several pictures, including The Pumpkin Eaters (1964); Doctor in Clover (1965); The Knack (1965); and The Wrong Box (1966). "The secret is to survive as an actor," he explained. "I'd play Hamlet, walk the high-wire, try anything."

Immediately after Sparrers Can't Sing, Junkin went on to play opposite Rex Harrison in August for the People at the Royal Court. In 1964 he followed it with the lead in Maggie May, again cast in a role he described as "another loud-mouthed cockney". The same year he also appeared in the Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night.

Throughout the 1960s Junkin continued both to act and to write comedy material. Performances in series such as Till Death Us Do Part, Dr Finlay's Casebook and Dixon of Dock Green were interspersed with contributions to Hugh and I, Sykes and The Marty Feldman Show. He then returned to the theatre, perhaps inadvisedly, in the musical version of The Four Musketeers. He was to have played Aramis but, like co-stars Bill Owen and Jeremy Lloyd, he asked to be released from his contract before the opening of the show. "The writer kept messing about with the script," he said later, "and then somebody decided the scenery ought to be motorised." He eventually agreed to honour his contract for three months before leaving.

By the early 1970s Junkin's career was at its height. At one point it was possible to watch him in three different programmes on the same evening. In 1971 he hosted his own programme for Southern Television. Despite being panned by the critics for indulging in "holiday camp humour", Junkin was successful with audiences and ran for four years. The show, which played to an all-women studio audience, typically featured women being dipped in batter, balancing pancakes on their heads and dissolving into uncontrolled hysterics.

Meanwhile, Junkin was also starring as Charlie Cattermole in the ill-fated situation comedy On the House. The programme ran for two series but was taken off the air after critics complained that it was "vulgar". But he restored his reputation as an actor and writer with The Rough with the Smooth, in which Junkin and Tim Brooke-Taylor played two script-writers who are sharing a flat. The following year they joined forces again to write and star in Hello Cheeky.

He continued to appear on television and write for other performers throughout the 1970s, but by the end of the decade (after roles in Confessions of a Driving Instructor and Confessions from a Holiday Camp) he was getting fewer acting parts and began appearing as a panellist on game shows. He also devised and hosted Jump on Radio 2 and could frequently be heard as a voice-over in television commercials. He later gained an entry in the Guinness Book of Records as the voice of "Mr Shifter", one of the monkeys in the PG Tips advertisement, the longest-running commercial on television.

During the 1980s Junkin appeared in All Creatures Great and Small and co-starred in the short-lived situation comedy Sam and Janet with Joan Sims. He also had cameo roles in two feature films, A Handful of Dust (1987) and Chicago Joe and the Showgirl (1990).

In later life, amid mounting debts and the collapse of his marriage, Junkin became increasingly disillusioned with the world of showbusiness, particularly television, of which he had been a stalwart for so many years. He was still in demand, however, as an after dinner speaker, and made more than 300 speeches at venues across the country. He had been suffering from lung cancer and died yesterday.

John Junkin married, in 1977, Jenny Claybourn, who survives him with their daughter.

frankie_boy

According to the BMD Index, Junkin was his real name. His mother's maiden name was Kavanagh. There were 11 Junkins on the 1881 census- two families, one living in Kent, the other in Middlesex. I'm guessing that he might be descended from John Junkin (b.1842- Eggesford, Devon), who was a publican in Stepney (The Captain Cook Inn). I also have records of Junkins living in Dundee and Edinburgh- I am led to believe that it is a corruption of Jenkin/Jenkins.

ollie

Thanks for that,a bit more detail than i was expecting [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] i just thought as both john and harry w junkin were tv writers,there may have been a family connection,nepatism and the entertainent biz being what it is. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif[/img]

cheers Ollie.

"Bullseye !!"

smudge

Not sure, but I THINK Harry Junkin was an American writer and script fixer...

Nope - THE SAINT reference book reminds me he was Canadian, but yes - a script editor.

SMUDGE

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/vampire.gif[/img]

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

David Brent

An integral part of British television excellence over the last 40 years.
Not a major star but instantly recognisable by all viewers. Seeing him on screen in his numerous television appearances was like catching up with an old mate.
Excelled in both comedy and drama.
Will be sadly missed.

Dave.

Fellwanderer

Agreed - very likeable.

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rip.gif[/img] Cheeky

FELL

foha80

Couldn't agree more,he will be missed.

Terry

John Llewellyn Moxey

Another good one gone, and missed.

John Llewellyn

stevie boy

Just caught up with this thread after watching John with Marty Feldman last night and also recently in The Football Factory. He was a good actor and also a very talented script writer, it is such a shame that he was another that ended up skint.

lordtednfs

I loved to watch John Junkin on Jokers Wild with another of my favourites, Barry Took. Together they were in my mind excellent and used to feed off each other. Thanks for the memories John, may you RIP.

________________
Hooked off the line

stevie boy

I can say from meeting him that Barry Took was a gentleman, we spoke about Marty and some of the sketches in about 1988.