Arthur Lowe

Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 – 15 April 1982) was a British actor. His acting career spanned nearly forty years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom Dad's Army from 1968 until 1977, was nominated for seven BAFTAs and became one of the most recognised faces on television.

For other people named Arthur Lowe, see Arthur Lowe (disambiguation).

Arthur Lowe
Born	(1915-09-22)22 September 1915 Hayfield, Derbyshire, England [1]
Died	15 April 1982(1982-04-15) (aged 66) Birmingham, England [2]
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1945–1982
Spouse(s)	Joan Cooper ​ ( m. 1948; his death invalid year) [3]
Children	1

Lowe began his working life shortly before the Second World War (1939–1945) and he featured in many theatrical performances after the war. It was not until he landed the part of Leonard Swindley in the British television soap Coronation Street that he became a household name. He played the character until 1966, while continuing film work. In 1968 he took on his role in Dad's Army, written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft. His success as this character led to considerable television and theatrical work, which put pressure on his health. Lowe's final years were dominated by alcoholism and illness and he died from a stroke on 15 April 1982, aged 66.

Early life

Lowe was born in Hayfield, Derbyshire, the only child of “Big” Arthur (1888–1971) and Mary Annie “Nan” Lowe (née Ford, 1885–1981). His father worked for a railway company and was in charge of moving theatrical touring companies around Northern England and the Midlands, using special trains.[4] The younger Arthur went to Chapel Street Junior School in Chapel Street, Levenshulme, Manchester.

His original intention was to join the Merchant Navy but this was thwarted by his poor eyesight. Working at an aircraft factory, he joined the British Army on the eve of the Second World War but not before experiencing his first brush with acting, by working as a stage hand at the Manchester Palace of Varieties. Lowe served in the Middle East with the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry and took part in shows put on for the troops. At the end of the war he was discharged from the army, having served as a radar technician in the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers reaching the rank of Sergeant.[5][6]

Early career

Lowe made his debut at the Manchester Repertory Theatre in 1945, where he was paid £5 per week for twice-nightly performances.[4][7] He worked with various repertory companies around the country and became known for his character roles, which included parts in the West End musicals Call Me Madam, Pal Joey and The Pajama Game. An early brief film role was as a reporter for Tit-Bits magazine, near the end of Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949). Lowe married Joan Cooper (1922–1989) on 10 January 1948. They had met in 1945 when she was his leading lady at the Manchester Repertory Theatre and they remained together until his death. Their son, Stephen Lowe, was born on 23 January 1953.[4][7]

By the 1960s, Lowe had made the transition to television and landed a regular role as draper/lay preacher Leonard Swindley in the northern soap opera Coronation Street (1960–65). His character became sufficiently popular with viewers for him to appear in the spin-off series, Pardon the Expression (1966) and its sequel Turn Out the Lights (1967). Leonard Swindley was not a role Lowe relished and he longed to move on. During the months he was not playing Swindley, he remained busy on stage or making one-off guest appearances in other TV series such as Z-Cars (1962) and The Avengers (1967).

Stardom

In 1968, Lowe was cast in his best remembered role, as Captain Mainwaring in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army (1968–1977). His colleagues on the show later remarked that the role resembled him: pompous and bumbling. Lowe had a clause written into his contract, specifying that he would never have to lose his trousers.[8] He also played Mainwaring's drunken brother Barry Mainwaring, in the 1975 Christmas episode "My Brother and I". Lowe and his character also surfaced in a radio version of Dad's Army, a stage play and a feature-length film released in 1971. While Dad's Army was not in production, Lowe appeared in plays at the National Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre. In 1968 Lowe was invited by Laurence Olivier to act at the National Theatre at the Old Vic and appeared in Somerset Maugham's Home and Beauty in 1968 and later The Tempest in 1974 with John Gielgud.[9]

He also had prominent parts in several films directed by Lindsay Anderson, including if.... (1968) and O Lucky Man! (1973). His other film roles during this period included Spike Milligan's surreal The Bed Sitting Room (1969), in which he mutates into a parrot, a drunken butler in The Ruling Class (1972) with Peter O'Toole and Theatre of Blood (1973), a horror film starring Vincent Price, with Lowe as a critic murdered by the deranged actor played by Price.

On television he appeared twice as a guest performer on The Morecambe and Wise Show (1971 and 1977), alongside Richard Briers in a series of Ben Travers farces for the BBC, as the pompous Dr Maxwell in the ITV comedy Doctor at Large (1971) and as Redvers Bodkin, a snooty, old-fashioned butler, in the short-lived sitcom The Last of the Baskets (1971–72). Between 1971 and 1973 Lowe joined Dad's Army colleague Ian Lavender, on the BBC radio comedy Parsley Sidings and played Mr Micawber in a BBC television serial of David Copperfield (1974). He employed a multitude of voices on the BBC animated television series Mr. Men (1974), in which he was the narrator in addition to voicing all the characters.

In 1972 Lowe also recorded the novelty songs "How I Won The War" and "My Little Girl, My Little Boy".[10]

While touring at coastal theatres with his wife, Lowe used his distinctive 1885 former steam yacht Amazon as a floating base. He bought Amazon as a houseboat in 1968 but realised her potential and took her back to sea in 1971; this unique vessel is still operating in the Mediterranean.[11] The ship had a bar with a semicircular notch cut halfway along, to enable both the portly figure of Lowe and his wife to serve behind the bar at the same time, acting as hosts during the parties they threw on board.[12]

In an interview for a Dad's Army retrospective on BBC television in 2010, Lowe's co-star, Clive Dunn, described him sitting at the bar in the evenings when they were filming on location, consuming a drink which Lowe named 'Amazon' after his yacht. Dunn described the drink as comprising "gin and ginger ale, with a single slice of cucumber".[13]

Later career

When Dad's Army ended in 1977, Lowe remained in demand, taking starring roles in television comedies such as Bless Me, Father with Daniel Abineri (1978–1981), as the mischievous Catholic priest Father Charles Clement Duddleswell and in Potter (1979–80) as the busybody Redvers Potter. By now he was making many television commercials, but his later stage career mainly involved touring the provinces, appearing in plays and pantomimes with his wife, Joan.

In 1981 he reprised his role as Captain Mainwaring for the pilot episode of It Sticks Out Half a Mile, a radio sequel to Dad's Army. At Christmas 1981 Lowe appeared in pantomime with his wife. His last film role was in Lindsay Anderson's Britannia Hospital (1982). In January 1982 Richard Burton had his private aeroplane fly Lowe to film a cameo role in the television series Wagner, his last screen performance.

Death

Like his wife, Lowe suffered from alcoholism.[14] In his final years, Lowe's alcoholism worsened and he was reduced to acting in pantomimes and touring theatre productions. Graham Lord's biography recalls that by 1979, Lowe was suffering from major health problems but continued to drink increasing amounts of alcohol, sometimes passing out on stage or at dinner. He was also a heavy smoker and his weight ballooned. Lowe had long suffered from narcolepsy.[5] On 14 April 1982, Lowe gave a live televised interview on Pebble Mill at One.[15] Later the same day, he collapsed from the onset of a stroke in his dressing room at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, before a performance of Home at Seven, in which he appeared with his wife Joan. He died in hospital early the following morning, aged 66.

He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at Sutton Coldfield Crematorium, following a sparsely attended funeral. Joan did not attend as she refused to miss a performance of Home at Seven and was appearing in Belfast at the time. A memorial service was held in May 1982 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, attended by his family, former colleagues and many friends. His last sitcom, A.J. Wentworth, B.A., with Lowe as a boys' preparatory school master, was shown during July and August 1982.

Tom Cole wrote in the Radio Times: "There are few actors who charmed viewers both young and old with such ease, and fewer still who could be trusted with the task of bringing classic literary characters like Charles Pooter and A.J. Wentworth to life." His national acclaim continued well after his death, with a statue of Lowe erected in the town of Thetford, where most of the location work for Dad's Army was filmed. Lowe was respected and admired among colleagues, including Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud. His sudden death received a large number of tributes. Speaking in 2002 Paul Scofield described Lowe as "a rare talent" and a "seriously brilliant actor".

After his death Arthur Lowe received many tributes from British actors. John Inman described Lowe as "a great actor" and John Le Mesurier did the same. Similar tributes were made by Jimmy Perry, who described him as "a very kind man and would go out of his way to help actors less fortunate than himself. His rich comic genius will be sadly missed". Clive Dunn referred to Lowe as one of the greatest "comic actors" he had ever worked with. Graham Lord wrote, in his 2003 biography, that "almost every actor who worked with Arthur considered him to be outstanding".

Memorials

In December 2007, plans were unveiled for a statue of Lowe to be erected in Thetford, Norfolk, where the outside scenes for Dad's Army were filmed.[16]

Statue of Captain Mainwaring, Arthur Lowe's Dad's Army character in Thetford.

The statue was unveiled on 19 June 2010, by the writers of the series, Jimmy Perry and David Croft.[17] The star has also had two blue plaques unveiled, one at Maida Vale and one at his birthplace in Hayfield, Derbyshire.[18][19][20]

Television roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1960–65 1965–1966 1967	Coronation Street Pardon the Expression Turn Out the Lights	Leonard Swindley	241 episodes
1968–1977	Dad's Army	Captain Mainwaring	80 episodes
1970	Rookery Nook	Harold Twine
1970	Turkey Time	Edwin Stoatt
1971	Doctor at Large	Dr Maxwell
1971–1972	The Last of the Baskets	Redvers Bodkin
1972	It's Murder, But Is It Art?	Phineas Drake
1974	Microbes and Men	Louis Pasteur
	David Copperfield	Wilkins Micawber
1977	Car Across the Pass		Galton & Simpson Playhouse
1974–1978	Mr Men	Narrator and Character Voices	Animated Series based on picture books by Roger Hargreaves
1978–1981	Bless Me, Father	Father Charles Clement Duddleswell
1979	The Plank		Slapstick Comedy for TV
1979–1982(series three released 1983)	Potter	Redvers Potter
1982	A.J. Wentworth, B.A.	Arthur James Wentworth, B.A.	posthumous

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1948	London Belongs to Me	Commuter on Train	Uncredited
1949	Floodtide	Pianist	Uncredited
	Stop Press Girl	Archibald	Uncredited
	Kind Hearts and Coronets	The Reporter
	Poet's Pub	Coach Guide	Uncredited
	The Spider and the Fly	Town Clerk
	Cage of Gold	Short Man	Uncredited
	Gilbert Harding Speaking of Murder	3rd Drama critic
1954	Final Appointment	Mr. Barrett
1955	Reluctant Bride	Mr. Fogarty
	The Woman for Joe	George's Agent	Uncredited
	One Way Out	Sam
	Murder Anonymous	Fingerprint Expert	Uncredited
	Windfall		Uncredited
1956	Who Done It?	Bit Part	Uncredited
	Breakaway	Mitchell
	The Green Man	Radio Salesman
	High Terrace		Uncredited
1957	Hour of Decision	Calligraphy Expert
	Stranger in Town	Jeweller
1958	Blind Spot	Garage Mechanic	Uncredited
	Stormy Crossing	Garage Owner
1959	The Boy and the Bridge	Bridge Mechanic
1960	The Day They Robbed the Bank of England	Bank Official	Uncredited
	Follow That Horse!	Auctioneer	Uncredited
1962	Go to Blazes	Warder
1963	This Sporting Life	Charles Slomer
1965	You Must Be Joking!	Husband
1967	The White Bus	Mayor
1968	If....	Mr. Kemp: Staff
1969	It All Goes to Show	Councillor Henry Parker
	The Bed Sitting Room	Father
1970	Spring and Port Wine	Mr. Aspinall
	Some Will, Some Won't	Police Sergeant
	The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens	John Dickens
	Fragment of Fear	Mr. Nugent
	The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer	Ferret
1971	A Hole Lot of Trouble	Whitehouse
	Dad's Army	Captain Mainwaring
1972	The Ruling Class	Daniel Tucker
	Adolf Hitler – My Part in His Downfall	Major Drysdale
1973	Theatre of Blood	Horace Sprout
	O Lucky Man!	Mr. Duff / Charlie Johnson / Dr. Munda
	No Sex Please, We're British	Mr. Bromley
1974	Man About the House	Spiros
1976	The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones	Dr. Thwackum
1977	The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It	Dr. William Watson, M.D.
1979	The Lady Vanishes	Charters
1980	Sweet William	Captain Walton
1982	Britannia Hospital	Guest Patient

BAFTA Awards

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
1969	BAFTA TV Awards	Best Actor	Dad's Army	Nominated
1970	BAFTA TV Awards	Best Light Entertainment Performance	Dad's Army	Nominated
1972	BAFTA TV Awards	Best Light Entertainment Performance	Dad's Army	Nominated
1973	BAFTA Film Awards	Best Supporting Actor	O Lucky Man!	Won
1974	BAFTA TV Awards	Best Light Entertainment Performance	Dad's Army	Nominated
1974	BAFTA TV Awards	Best Actor	Microbes and Men and David Copperfield	Nominated
1977	BAFTA TV Awards	Best Light Entertainment Performance	Dad's Army	Nominated

References

1. GRO Register of Births: DEC 1915 7b 1413 HAYFIELD – Arthur Lowe, mmn = Ford
2. GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1982 32 0628 BIRMINGHAM – Arthur Lowe, DoB = 22 September 1915
3. GRO Register of Marriages: MAR 1948 5d 800 MARYLEBONE – Arthur Lowe = Gatehouse or Cooper
4. "The Stardom of Suburban Man", Evening News, London, 28 October 1977
5. John Oliver "Lowe, Arthur (1915–1982)", BFI Screenonline
6. "'Dad's Army' Press Release". BBC. July 1968. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
7. "Arthur Lowe – The Proud Father", TV Times, 14–20 October 1978
8. Sale, Jonathan (15 November 2000). "Dad's Army: the story of a classic television show by Graham McCann". The Independent. London: Independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 March 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
9. Arthur Lowe by Graham Lord, Orion 2002, p 189 and 224
10. "Arthur Lowe with Mike Sammes Singers – How I Won The War". Retrieved 14 December 2016.
11. "Links with our members:Museums and Vessels:Amazon". World ship trust. Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
12. Nevin, Charles (30 October 1994). "Dad's Navy: As Captain Mainwaring, he entertained millions with his pomposity and his delusions of grandeur. But the real Arthur Lowe fancied himself as a different sort of captain". The Independent. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
13. "Amazon – Cocktail Recipe". Makemeacocktail.com. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
14. Hogan, Michael (31 August 2016). "Alcoholism, rape and murder – the dark side of British sitcoms". The Telegraph.
15. "Arthur Lowe – Pebble Mill at One – BBC – 1982 Last interview Complete". YouTube. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
16. Steven Nolan Show Radio Five Live, 1 December 2007
17. "Dad's Army captain statue unveiled in Thetford". BBC News. 20 June 2010.
18. "Arthur Lowe blue plaque". Openplaques.org. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
19. "Blue plaques: Leisure and culture – Derbyshire County Council". Derbyshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
20. "Dad's Army star Arthur Lowe honoured with blue plaque". BBC News. 30 August 2011.

Further reading

Two biographies of Arthur Lowe have been published: Arthur Lowe – Dad's Memory by his son Stephen, which was issued in 1997; and more recently, Arthur Lowe by Graham Lord in 2002. In 2000, The Unforgettable Arthur Lowe was part of The Unforgettable series of TV biographies of comedy performers.

External links

• Arthur Lowe on IMDb
• Arthur Lowe at the BFI's Screenonline
• Arthur Lowe at British Comedy Guide
• Performances in the Theatre Archive University of Bristol