Ian Lavender


Ian Lavender
Born Arthur Ian Lavender
16 February 1946 (1946-02-16) (age 63)
Birmingham, England
Occupation Actor
Years active 1967–present
Spouse(s) Miki Hardy (US born actress)

Arthur Ian Lavender, better known as Ian Lavender, (born 16 February 1946) is an English stage, film and television actor, best known for his role as Private Frank Pike in the BBC comedy series Dad's Army.

Contents

Early life and career

Born in Birmingham, England [1], he later went straight from Bournville Boys Technical School, later Bournville Grammar-Technical School for Boys, where he had appeared in many school dramatic productions including playing Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, with the assistance of a grant from the City of Birmingham. He quickly made his mark as a talented young actor and following his graduation in 1967 appeared on stage in Canterbury. His first television appearance was as the lead in an ATV play entitled "Flowers at my Feet" in 1968.

Shortly afterwards, he was cast as Private Pike, the youngest member and 'stupid boy' of the platoon in Dad's Army. This made him a household name and gave him the great advantage of working alongside a number of experienced and distinguished actors during his formative years, helping him to hone his acting skills. He appeared in the entire run of the series and in the spinoff film, made in 1971. He still takes part in occasional fan conventions and cast reunions. In 2008, he did an introduction for the first colour broadcast of "Room at the Bottom" in almost 40 years, which aired on BBC Two.

After Dad's Army, Lavender returned to the theatre, most notably starring in a production of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice alongside Dustin Hoffman. Between 1971 and 1973 Lavender joined Dad's Army castmate Arthur Lowe on the BBC radio comedy Parsley Sidings. He also appeared in films and television series, one of which featured him starring alongside Peter Jones. During the 1970s he appeared as a supporting actor in a number of British "low farce" films, including one Carry On film - Carry On Behind (1975). He was reunited with David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd in 1977 for the television series Come Back Mrs Noah, though it was not particularly successful. 1978's The Glums proved rather more satisfactory, being a recreation of the characters from the popular Take It From Here radio series, written by its original writers Frank Muir and Denis Norden.

In 1983, Lavender featured again as Frank Pike in the BBC Radio sitcom It Sticks Out Half a Mile. The sitcom was a radio-sequel to Dad's Army, but ran for only one series. Lavender then appeared in several other TV comedy shows during the 1980s, including two episodes of Yes Minister, as Dr Richard Cartwright, and the short-lived The Hello Goodbye Man, as the inept salesman Denis Ailing. Lavender also appeared in Granada Television's 1990 television game show Cluedo, based on the board game.

During the 1990s Ian Lavender continued to appear occasionally in television comedy roles including a bit-part as a burglar alarm salesman in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. He made a rather memorable appearance in Goodnight Sweetheart as two different parallel universe versions of the time-travelling lead character's son Michael.

In 2001 Lavender joined the BBC1 soap opera EastEnders, playing the role of Derek Harkinson, a gay friend of Pauline Fowler. Lavender continued in EastEnders for four years, with storylines mainly involving the Fowler family, before leaving the series in 2005.[2]

Lavender then toured with The Rocky Horror Show musical, playing the Narrator. He also played the part of a patient in the 5 May 2007 episode of Casualty on BBC. In late 2007, he toured in the comedy play Donkey's Years.

Recent career

In May 2008, Lavender appeared in the BBC documentary series Comedy Map of Britain. He also appeared on BBC 1's The One Show on Thursday 31 July 2008. Lavender then made a variety of appearances during 2008 in connection with the 40th anniversary of Dad's Army. These include a reunion with surviving cast members in July,[3] and an appearance on BBC1's Jonathan Ross Salutes Dad's Army in August. Lavender also recorded a special introduction for a 'lost' colour episode of the sitcom which was broadcast on 13 December.[4]

Over Christmas 2008, Lavender appeared in Celebrity Mastermind on BBC1. As presenter John Humphrys asked his name, fellow contestant Rick Wakeman shouted 'Don't tell him, Pike!', a reference to Captain George Mainwaring's most famous line from Dad's Army.

In January 2009, it was confirmed that Ian Lavender had been cast as Monsignor Howard in the West End production of Sister Act the Musical. The musical opened at the London Palladium on 2 June 2009, and is expected to run through to 13 February 2010.[5]

From September 2009, Lavender will appear in the film, 31 North 62 East, an independent psychological thriller starring John Rhys-Davies, Marina Sirtis, Heather Peace and Craig Fairbrass.[6]

Personal life

Lavender was previously married to actress Sue Kerchiss. He married his second wife, the American-born Miki Hardy, who is three years his senior, just six days after his bladder cancer was diagnosed in 1993. Lavender said recently "We had being living together for 16 years and it was something I should have done a long time before, these things change you, they help you to see what is important in life." [7]

The bladder tumour was operated on successfully and, although Lavender has regular check-ups, doctors seem confident the cancer will not return. Lavender also survived a heart attack in the summer of 2004.[8]

Ian Lavender is a life-long supporter of Aston Villa F.C., and when filming began on Dad's Army, he was allowed to choose Frank Pike's scarf from an array in the BBC wardrobe, he chose a claret and blue one—Aston Villa's colours.[9]

References

  1. ^ GRO Register of Births: MAR 1946 6d 813 BIRMINGHAM - Arthur I. Lavender, mmn = Johnson
  2. ^ "Eastenders-Character-Derek Harkinson". bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/characters_cast/characters/character_derek_h.shtml. Retrieved on 2008-12-15. 
  3. ^ "Dad's Army star slams current TV". bbc.co.uk. 10 July 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7499169.stm. Retrieved on 2008-12-15. 
  4. ^ "'Lost' Dad's Army show back on TV". bbc.co.uk. 12 July 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7780889.stm. Retrieved on 2008-12-15. 
  5. ^ "Sheila Hancock, Patina Miller cast in Sister Act". London Theatre Guide. 29 January 2009. http://www.londontheatre.co.uk/londontheatre/news/ja09/sisteract333141.htm. Retrieved on 2009-02-22. 
  6. ^ "31 North 62 East - Cast". 31north62east.com. 2008. http://www.31north62east.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=6. Retrieved on 2009-01-07. 
  7. ^ Marriage
  8. ^ "Celebrity Health - Ian Lavender". bbc.co.uk. 8 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6175576.stm. Retrieved on 2008-12-15. 
  9. ^ Whitehead, Richard (2008-09-01). "The soul of Aston Villa in 50 moments, page 9". The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/aston_villa/article4652386.ece?token=null&offset=96&page=9. Retrieved on 2008-09-15. 

Television Roles

Year Title Role
1968 to 1977 Dad's Army Private Frank Pike
1977 to 1978 Come Back Mrs Noah Clive Cuncliffe
1978 to 1979 The Glums Ron Glum
1982 Yes Minister Dr Richard Cartwright
1984 The Hello Goodbye Man Denis Ailing
2001 to 2005 EastEnders Derek Harkinson

Filmography

External links

v • d • e
Major cast members of Dad's Army


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