A Tribute To Wendy Richard

[Guest rohale]

I know there are quite a lot of fans of British Television shows such as "Are You Being Served" and "Eastenders". Both shows starred the great Wendy Richard who unfortunately last week succumbed to cancer. She had a career that spanned over five decades in both film and television and was considered to be one of the most beloved British Actresses who ever graced the face of British television. She was a true legend that bar-none deserves to be recognised with some of the past greats who made an impact on British television and for the better. I found two websites that relatively have some nice things to say about Wendy Richard and I hope you enjoy them.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article5808823.ece

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7912730.stm

[Guest zipperzone]

Sorry to hear that. I always enjoyed ....Being Served, no matter how often I'd seen the episode.

 

My favorite British TV sitcom of all times is Keeping Up Appearances.

We all know a Mrs Bucket.

[JT Brooklyn]

So sad to hear about the Passing of Wendy Richard. Watching her thru the Years from "Are You Being Served" and "Eastenders" she always stood out as a very believable Character whomever she was portraying. R.I.P. :-(

 

Rohale Thank You for the 2 Links. Most Informative and No doubt she was extremely well liked by all who met or worked with her!

[mansniffing]

I too am a fan of "Are You Being Served" and love the whole cast.

 

Wendy Richard, Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Frank Thornton, Nicholas Smith, Trevor Bannister and all the rest of the cast were a perfect ensemble.

 

As with "Keeping Up Appearances" and "Golden Girls," I watch "Are You Being Served" over and over.

[AdamSmith]

>Wendy Richard, Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Frank Thornton,

>Nicholas Smith, Trevor Bannister and all the rest of the cast

>were a perfect ensemble.

 

And I am unanimous in that. :+

[JT Brooklyn]

Adam..L O L I did catch Mollie Sugden with her appearance on a recent PBS Pledge Drive. I know that John Inman Passed a while back. I'm guessing due to the Age of the other Characters that most now have also Passed? :-(

[Luv2play]

I too enjoyed Are You Being Served which I have watched on the US NPTV channels. All the cast were excellent. I remember that the character who played the senior tailor (forgot his stage name but he looked like Winston Churchill) was replaced during the series. Other than that the rest seemed to play throughout the long-lived series. Which character did John Inman play? It is sad that Wendy Richard died at such a young age.

[Guest zipperzone]

>I too enjoyed Are You Being Served which I have watched on

>the US NPTV channels. All the cast were excellent. I remember

>that the character who played the senior tailor (forgot his

>stage name but he looked like Winston Churchill) was replaced

>during the series. Other than that the rest seemed to play

>throughout the long-lived series. Which character did John

>Inman play? It is sad that Wendy Richard died at such a young

>age.

 

John Inman played the faggy men's wear salesman - Mr. Humphries

 

There have been many characters who had multiple actors over the years.

 

1 - I seem to recall three senior tailors

2 - There have been two junior sales men

3 - There have been two Mrs Peacocks

4 - There have been two "young Mr Grace"

5 - There have been numerous secretaries to both Mr Rumbold & Young Mr Grace

6 - There have been two janitor types, the latest being a Mr Harmon

 

........ and probably more I can't remember

 

Great show. A true classic which will probably run for years to come.

[Guest rohale]

The actor who resembled Sir Winston Churchill went by the name of Arthur Brough and he really became a very popular actor towards the end of his life. After years of struggle, it was " Are You Being Served " where he found notierity. In 1978, the cast and crew had just finished completion on the " Are You Being Served " movie and they were just two weeks shy from beginning the next television serial. Both Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft who were the show's creators received some terrible news that Arthur Brough had a heart attack and never recovered. It was a tremendous loss to the show.

 

As Zipperzone pointed out that there were three other actors who had to follow in Arthur Brough's footsteps and for one reason or another, they themselves as individual performers really didn't last terribly long on the show. I suppose it's fair to say that Arthur Brough became very much irreplacable on " Are You Being Served ". I just thought he was a wonderful actor and his performances for that show are still very much timeless and classic.

[JT Brooklyn]

rohale..There also was a Series based on a "Grace Bros" Retirement Home wasn't there, with a different title?

 

Was that the last time the most popular Character's appeared together?

 

Didn't it have something to do with a Hilarious Farmer and his Daughter who had the Hots for John Inman of all people? HaHa

 

Or after all these years of watching the Show, am I just confusing Characters and Plots? ;-)

[AdamSmith]

>rohale..There also was a Series based on a "Grace

>Bros" Retirement Home wasn't there, with a different

>title?

 

JT, right. It was called "Grace & Favour" in the UK. In the US, was retitled "Are You Being Served Again."

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103429/

[JT Brooklyn]

Adam.Thanks I wasn't sure. It has been quite awhile since I saw the Final Production. It's still nice to catch "Are You" when PBS runs it.

 

Unfortunately or Fortunately to catch the Final Episodes of Wendy Richard I think the "Eastenders" Series as shown in the U.S. is very behind in Episodes? Then again I don't believe PBS runs it on any set program sked as they did years ago? BBC America was showing it once in awhile a few years ago.

 

It was interesting to read that she decided to have her Character Pass On rather than re-marry also. Then again her Character experienced so much over the years what was really left.