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This month, just twenty days after his 89[SUP]th[/SUP] birthday, David Croft died peacefully in his sleep, in his family home in Portugal. Survived by his wife, Ann, and his seven children, children-in-law, and grandchildren, show-business mourns the loss of a true comedic giant.
On September 7[SUP]th[/SUP], 1922 a comedic genius was born. Though unknown to Anne Croft, a musical comedy star and later theatre manager, and Reginald Sharland, an actor, their youngest son, David John was going to be one of the greatest comedy writers and producers the industry has ever seen.
David Croft took his mother's last name after his parent's separated at the age of nine; his father left to become a radio star in the United States. He first went to St John's Wood prep school in north London, then later Rugby school in Warwickshire, but had to leave before his 16[SUP]th[/SUP] birthday to help his mother's production company. Shortly after he turned 16, director Roy Speer cast him as the hero in the musical Charing Cross Road, making him BBC's youngest juvenile lead.
Show-business had to wait, however, as he became an ARP (Air Raid Precautions) warden in WWII. He later joined the Royal Artillery at the age of 19 and served in North Africa before going on to India and Singapore, rising to the rank of major. After being demobilised in 1947, and he quickly returned to what he loved. Croft once said that he first walked on a stage at the age of four and knew he wouldn't want to work anywhere else.
After the war, Croft started by producing summer shows at Butlin's holiday camps. He worked in repertory where he met his wife, the actress Ann Callender. He also appeared in West End Musical comedies, joined the BBC Show Band singers, wrote pantomime scripts for Howard and Wyndham featuring stars like Tommy Steele and Norman Wisdon, and collaborated with composer Cyril Ornadel for a musical starting Cicely Courtneidge and Jack Hulbert, among other things.
In 1955, commercial or independent television was launched and crop became a light entertainment script editor for Associated Rediffusion. He later became the entertainment producer of Tyne Tees, writing many jingles and being introduced to situation comedy while producing Under New Management, and writing musical sitcom, Sunshine Street, which is likely to have inspired his turning an HG Well's novel into a musical that was produced by Harry Horner.
Soon after, he moved to the BBC in London and continued to work, first producing The Benny Hill Show then Hugh and I, then Beggar My Neighbour. However, it wasn't until he teamed up with Jimmy Perry, who was cast in Beggar My Neighbour, did he truly find his niche. Croft and Perry co-wrote Dad's Army, a comedy based on Perry's experience at the Watford Home Guard. The show pokes fun at the British class system, which wasn't entirely in tune with the 1960's cultural revolution for a classless society.
BBC executives initially objected to the premise of the show. “You cannot take the mickey out of Britain's finest hour,” Paul Fox, controller of BBC ONE, had said at the time. John le Mesurier thought the show would be “an absolute disaster.” Croft suppressed the report, however, and continued with the show. A wise move. His initial audience of eight million in 1968 went up to over 16 million by 1972. The show came out with a feature film in 1971, ran until 1977, and gave both Croft and Perry the Writer's Guild of Great Britain award for best British TV script in 1970. To this day, Dad's Army is enjoyed by audiences both young and old, and it continues to be voted one of Britain's favourite comedies.
Croft's genius did not end there, however. He and Perry went on to write 58 episodes of Hi-de-Hi and 26 episodes of You Rang, M'Lord. While still writing for Dad's Army, they also created 56 episodes of It Ain't Half Hot Mum, a comedy of a British army concert party in the tropics which ran from 1974-1981. A show of its kind has never been repeated because it presented homosexual and racial stereotypes, which in today's media would be considered politically incorrect.
Croft never cared about being politically correct, though, and this was proven when he teamed up with Jeremy Lloyd for the 69 episodes of Are You Being Served? The show, starring John Inman, featured a mature content department store worker. mature content lobbyists had complained about the way Inman's character was portrayed, and Bill Cotton, head of BBC light entertainment at the time had told Croft “You can't have the poof.” To which Inman had said: “If the poof goes, I go.” and so the show remained.
Lloyd's working relationship with Croft continued on to the first six of the nine series of 'Allo 'Allo, a comedy about Nazi occupied France, which was rumored to be one of the favourites of the Queen Mother. The show was widely popular and was sold to several countries, including France and Germany; perhaps because Croft poked fun an everyone. “Our Germans are insensitive, nest-feathering and kinky, the French are devious, nest-feathering and immoral, and the British are real twits,” he'd once said.
Not quite done, and with six hit shows under his belt, David Croft went for lucky number seven, collaborating with Richard Spendlove to produce Oh, Dr. Beeching!, the last of his comedies before he retired, ending his career having written almost 500 scripts, and priding himself at never having to have to venture into “domestic comedy.”
“I write ordinary, non-controversial comedy which gives families a good laugh. They know nobody's going to say, 'shag'. If you took all the swearing out of Billy Connolly's act, what would be left of it?” Croft had said. And this sentiment was repeated by one of the stars of It Aint't Half Hot Mum, Melvyn Hayes when he said: “There were no swear words in his shows. His programmes were the kind of thing you could sit in front of the TV and watch with your grandmother and grandchildren.”
Yes. David Croft was good at making people laugh, and doing so in as wholesome a manner as possible. Despite his shows' preoccupation with class, their characterization of homosexuals, or the many references to campness, all his characters were endearing caricatures of both the actors who played them and people you might know.
Always taking his work seriously, with every part of the script worked out perfectly, and always preferring to work with people he knew, Croft made many lifelong friends in the business. He was appointed OBE in 1978, won Bafta's Desmond Davis award in 1981 for outstanding contribution to television, a Royal Television Society silver medal in 1991, and the lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy Awards in 2003. In 2004, his autobiography, You Have Been Watching... was published.
“He taught us so much, that was the great thing about him,” said actress Ruth Madoc. “He'd let you look in the camera lens and he'd teach you about that shot. He was a very, very clever man and not only did he do television but he slipped so easily into producing, writing and directing theatre, too.”
Madoc is just one of the many actors, executives, script writers, and industry professionals that will miss David Croft. “The world is a less funny place for his going,” said Jon Plowman, former head of comedy at BBC.
Shortly after his passing, Croft's family posted a statement on his official website saying. “He was a truly great man, who will be missed by all who had the great fortune of knowing and loving him.”
“He would have been proud that you had all been watching.”
On September 7[SUP]th[/SUP], 1922 a comedic genius was born. Though unknown to Anne Croft, a musical comedy star and later theatre manager, and Reginald Sharland, an actor, their youngest son, David John was going to be one of the greatest comedy writers and producers the industry has ever seen.
David Croft took his mother's last name after his parent's separated at the age of nine; his father left to become a radio star in the United States. He first went to St John's Wood prep school in north London, then later Rugby school in Warwickshire, but had to leave before his 16[SUP]th[/SUP] birthday to help his mother's production company. Shortly after he turned 16, director Roy Speer cast him as the hero in the musical Charing Cross Road, making him BBC's youngest juvenile lead.
Show-business had to wait, however, as he became an ARP (Air Raid Precautions) warden in WWII. He later joined the Royal Artillery at the age of 19 and served in North Africa before going on to India and Singapore, rising to the rank of major. After being demobilised in 1947, and he quickly returned to what he loved. Croft once said that he first walked on a stage at the age of four and knew he wouldn't want to work anywhere else.
After the war, Croft started by producing summer shows at Butlin's holiday camps. He worked in repertory where he met his wife, the actress Ann Callender. He also appeared in West End Musical comedies, joined the BBC Show Band singers, wrote pantomime scripts for Howard and Wyndham featuring stars like Tommy Steele and Norman Wisdon, and collaborated with composer Cyril Ornadel for a musical starting Cicely Courtneidge and Jack Hulbert, among other things.
In 1955, commercial or independent television was launched and crop became a light entertainment script editor for Associated Rediffusion. He later became the entertainment producer of Tyne Tees, writing many jingles and being introduced to situation comedy while producing Under New Management, and writing musical sitcom, Sunshine Street, which is likely to have inspired his turning an HG Well's novel into a musical that was produced by Harry Horner.
Soon after, he moved to the BBC in London and continued to work, first producing The Benny Hill Show then Hugh and I, then Beggar My Neighbour. However, it wasn't until he teamed up with Jimmy Perry, who was cast in Beggar My Neighbour, did he truly find his niche. Croft and Perry co-wrote Dad's Army, a comedy based on Perry's experience at the Watford Home Guard. The show pokes fun at the British class system, which wasn't entirely in tune with the 1960's cultural revolution for a classless society.
BBC executives initially objected to the premise of the show. “You cannot take the mickey out of Britain's finest hour,” Paul Fox, controller of BBC ONE, had said at the time. John le Mesurier thought the show would be “an absolute disaster.” Croft suppressed the report, however, and continued with the show. A wise move. His initial audience of eight million in 1968 went up to over 16 million by 1972. The show came out with a feature film in 1971, ran until 1977, and gave both Croft and Perry the Writer's Guild of Great Britain award for best British TV script in 1970. To this day, Dad's Army is enjoyed by audiences both young and old, and it continues to be voted one of Britain's favourite comedies.
Croft's genius did not end there, however. He and Perry went on to write 58 episodes of Hi-de-Hi and 26 episodes of You Rang, M'Lord. While still writing for Dad's Army, they also created 56 episodes of It Ain't Half Hot Mum, a comedy of a British army concert party in the tropics which ran from 1974-1981. A show of its kind has never been repeated because it presented homosexual and racial stereotypes, which in today's media would be considered politically incorrect.
Croft never cared about being politically correct, though, and this was proven when he teamed up with Jeremy Lloyd for the 69 episodes of Are You Being Served? The show, starring John Inman, featured a mature content department store worker. mature content lobbyists had complained about the way Inman's character was portrayed, and Bill Cotton, head of BBC light entertainment at the time had told Croft “You can't have the poof.” To which Inman had said: “If the poof goes, I go.” and so the show remained.
Lloyd's working relationship with Croft continued on to the first six of the nine series of 'Allo 'Allo, a comedy about Nazi occupied France, which was rumored to be one of the favourites of the Queen Mother. The show was widely popular and was sold to several countries, including France and Germany; perhaps because Croft poked fun an everyone. “Our Germans are insensitive, nest-feathering and kinky, the French are devious, nest-feathering and immoral, and the British are real twits,” he'd once said.
Not quite done, and with six hit shows under his belt, David Croft went for lucky number seven, collaborating with Richard Spendlove to produce Oh, Dr. Beeching!, the last of his comedies before he retired, ending his career having written almost 500 scripts, and priding himself at never having to have to venture into “domestic comedy.”
“I write ordinary, non-controversial comedy which gives families a good laugh. They know nobody's going to say, 'shag'. If you took all the swearing out of Billy Connolly's act, what would be left of it?” Croft had said. And this sentiment was repeated by one of the stars of It Aint't Half Hot Mum, Melvyn Hayes when he said: “There were no swear words in his shows. His programmes were the kind of thing you could sit in front of the TV and watch with your grandmother and grandchildren.”
Yes. David Croft was good at making people laugh, and doing so in as wholesome a manner as possible. Despite his shows' preoccupation with class, their characterization of homosexuals, or the many references to campness, all his characters were endearing caricatures of both the actors who played them and people you might know.
Always taking his work seriously, with every part of the script worked out perfectly, and always preferring to work with people he knew, Croft made many lifelong friends in the business. He was appointed OBE in 1978, won Bafta's Desmond Davis award in 1981 for outstanding contribution to television, a Royal Television Society silver medal in 1991, and the lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy Awards in 2003. In 2004, his autobiography, You Have Been Watching... was published.
“He taught us so much, that was the great thing about him,” said actress Ruth Madoc. “He'd let you look in the camera lens and he'd teach you about that shot. He was a very, very clever man and not only did he do television but he slipped so easily into producing, writing and directing theatre, too.”
Madoc is just one of the many actors, executives, script writers, and industry professionals that will miss David Croft. “The world is a less funny place for his going,” said Jon Plowman, former head of comedy at BBC.
Shortly after his passing, Croft's family posted a statement on his official website saying. “He was a truly great man, who will be missed by all who had the great fortune of knowing and loving him.”
“He would have been proud that you had all been watching.”
