It Ain’t Half Hot Mum and Dad’s Army star John Clegg dies aged 90 as tributes pour in for beloved BBC star

Beloved BBC actor John Clegg has died aged 90.

The star, who was greatest generally known as La Di Da Gunner Graham in It Ain’t Half Scorching Mum, handed away peacefully and a non-public funeral shall be held on August 29 in West Sussex.  

An announcement on Tuesday stated he ‘died peacefully in care’ and ‘shall be missed by all his buddies from the theatre, his buddies in Chichester and his household.’

BAFTA member Morris Brilliant MBE paid tribute to John on X, penning: ‘We may be very sorry certainly to listen to that La Di Da Gunner Graham, actor John Clegg, has gone to that nice live performance celebration within the sky, aged 90. He actually was one of many boys who entertained us.’

Tributes then poured in for the star, who additionally appeared on Dad’s Military, with the British Comedy Society posted on X: ‘We’re saddened to study of the dying of actor John Clegg, greatest generally known as It Ain’t Half Scorching Mum’s Padrewski, Gunner Graham. He was 90.’

The star, who was greatest generally known as La Di Da Gunner Graham in It Ain’t Half Scorching Mum, handed away peacefully whereas in care – he additionally made a quick look in Dad’s Military 

John, born to English dad and mom in Murree, Punjab, India in 1934, performed Gunner ‘Paderewski’ Graham within the traditional sitcom. 

He additionally appeared in episodes of Dad’s Military and Mr. Bean, and extra just lately in romantic comedy movie Bridget Jones’s Diary.

John was married to fellow sitcom star Mavis Pugh, till her dying in 2006, with each starring in 1988’s You Rang, M’Lord and 1972’s Are You Being Served?

Pugh additionally appeared in Fawlty Towers whereas Clegg had a smaller half in 2001’s Bridget Jones’ Diary.

In October 2017, Clegg gave a chat known as ‘My Life as an Actor’ to the Chichester Literary Society detailing his profession that started on the prestigious RADA drama college in London. 

He entertained an viewers with tales together with his encounter with a younger Dame Judi Dench who stated she did not suppose he was suited to conventional Shakespearean roles.

As a fan of Rudyard Kipling, Clegg additionally co-produced a one-man present with spouse Mavis, primarily based on the storyteller, that achieved success on the Edinburgh Pageant within the Nineteen Eighties.

Tributes poured in for the star, with the British Comedy Society posted on X: ‘We’re saddened to study of the dying of actor John Clegg, greatest generally known as It Ain’t Half Scorching Mum’s Padrewski, Gunner Graham. He was 90’

It Ain’t Half Scorching Mum was first broadcast in BBC One in 1974 and ran over 56 episodes earlier than ending in 1981.

The comedy, set in India through the closing months of the Second World Conflict, attracted as much as 15 million viewers at its peak within the Nineteen Seventies.

However it’s usually thought-about too offensive for at the moment’s extra woke sensibilities – notably as a result of white actor Michael Bates darkened his pores and skin to play Indian character Rangi Ram.

However British-Indian comic Sanjeev Bhaskar, who discovered fame within the comedy sequence Goodness Gracious Me, says the comedy shouldn’t be banned from repeat channels or streaming platforms.

‘There’s been these discussions about programmes which were eliminated,’ he stated, including that he understood that ‘this present day’ some traditional reveals are thought-about unacceptable.

However he defined: ‘I’ve at all times defended It Ain’t Half Scorching Mum. My argument was at all times that to begin with, Michael Bates might communicate Urdu fluently.

It Ain’t Half Scorching Mum was first broadcast in BBC One in 1974 and ran over 56 episodes earlier than ending in 1981

The BBC has reportedly deemed traditional sitcom It Ain’t Half Scorching Mum too racist to ever air once more. However the present has acquired assist from British-Indian comic Sanjeev Bhaskar (Above Windsor Davies, left, and Michael Bates within the TV sequence)

‘He served within the Military in India and he might communicate the language. And secondly, inside that programme, the character he was taking part in wasn’t the butt of the joke… He [Rangi Ram] was the fixer, he was the one who sorted issues out.’

Chatting with fellow comic Rob Brydon on his podcast in 2022, he stated it was additionally vital to not erase outdated programmes as they provide an perception into the previous.

‘Context is every little thing,’ he stated. ‘My argument has at all times been about making an attempt to guage issues from that point, to know what the social local weather was like as regards to leisure. Society strikes on and it evolves.

‘The issue for me with eradicating them utterly is that they’re a part of the story, the social story of the place we have got to now… I am all for placing up disclaimers, placing up all these sorts of issues, however I believe erasing it form of erases a few of that journey.’