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Leslie Dwyer

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Leslie Dwyer
in The Way Ahead (1944)
Born
Leslie Gilbert Dyer[1]

(1906-08-28)28 August 1906
Catford, London, England
Died26 December 1986(1986-12-26) (aged 80)
Truro, Cornwall, England
Resting place
Tregony New Cemetery
OccupationActor

Leslie Gilbert Dwyer (28 August 1906 – 26 December 1986[2][3]) was an English film and television actor.[4]

Early life

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He was born in Catford to a theatrical family: his father the popular music hall comedian Johnny Dwyer, his mother a straight actress and his great-uncle the Cosmopolitan actor J. B. Howe. Trained by his parents and at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, Dwyer made his first appearance on stage in 1916 at the age of ten, singing a medley of World War I songs at the Palace Theatre, Euston. Three years later, he was cast as a wolf in Peter Pan at St James's Theatre, auditioned personally by the author J. M. Barrie. More stage work followed and in 1921, he started to appear in silent movies, which led to "talkies" and appearances on television.

[5][6][7][8][9]

Career

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He is perhaps best known to television audiences for his role as the Punch and Judy man Mr Partridge in BBC sitcom Hi-de-Hi!. Film roles included In Which We Serve (1942), The Way Ahead (1944), the 1952 remake of Hindle Wakes, Act of Love (1953) in which he played a two hander scene opposite the young Brigitte Bardot, Room in the House (1955), the 1959 remake of Hitchcock's The 39 Steps, and Die, Monster, Die! (1966).

He played Sergeant Dusty Miller in the original 1942 production of Terence Rattigan's play Flare Path, the first role to help bring him into notice.[10][11]

He played Drinkwater in the 1953 television production of George Bernard Shaw's Captain Brassbound's Conversion. His most notable television role was as Mr. Partridge, the miserable, hard-drinking Punch and Judy man with an aversion to children, in the British sitcom Hi-de-Hi!. He took roles in Public Eye in 1969, Doctor Who (as Vorg in Carnival of Monsters in 1973) and in Steptoe and Son, Terry and June, Wodehouse Playhouse, Z-Cars and The Sweeney, in which he played "old sea dog" Ted Greenhead in the episode Trojan Bus.

Death

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Dwyer died on 26 December 1986, aged 80 (respiratory failure due to pulmonary embolism). His funeral took place at St Cuby's Church, Cuby on 2 January 1987[12] and his grave is located in Tregony New Cemetery.

Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ↑ "FreeBMD Entry Info". www.freebmd.org.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  2. ↑ GRO Register of Deaths: DEC 1986 21 674 TRURO – Leslie Gilbert Dwyer, DoB = 28 Aug 1906, aged 80
  3. ↑ BFI
  4. ↑ "Leslie Dwyer". BFI. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012.
  5. ↑ "Leslie was born to entertain". The Argus. 20 July 1971. p. 5. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  6. ↑ "A lifetime on stage and still loving it!". Birmingham Evening Mail. 17 August 1978. p. 2. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  7. ↑ "Maplin's entertainer enjoys holidays at home". The West Briton. 19 January 1984. p. 24. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  8. ↑ "Obituary: Leslie Dwyer". The Daily Telegraph. 30 December 1986. p. 12. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  9. ↑ "TV's Leslie was a real character". Telegraph & Argus. 10 January 1987. p. 21. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  10. ↑ "Backstage". The Tatler & Bystander. 9 April 1947. p. 37. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  11. ↑ Rattigan, Terence (2001). The Collected Plays of Terence Rattigan, Volume One, The Early Plays 1936–1952, p. 80. The Paper Tiger; ISBN 978-1-889439-27-3.
  12. ↑ "Deaths". The Daily Telegraph. 31 December 1986. p. 17. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  13. ↑ "Love and Mrs McGee". collections-search.bfi.org.uk.
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