Charles Hawtrey (actor, born 1914)


George Frederick Joffre Hartree, known professionally as Charles Hawtrey, was an English actor, comedian, singer, pianist and theatre director.
He began at an early age as a boy soprano, in which role he made several records, before moving on to radio. His later career encompassed the theatre, the cinema, through the [Carry On (franchise)|Carry On films], and television.

Life and career

Early life

Hawtrey was born in Hounslow, Middlesex, England, in 1914, to William John Hartree and his wife Alice, of 217 Cromwell Road, as George Frederick Joffre Hartree. He took his stage name from the theatrical knight Sir Charles Hawtrey, and encouraged the suggestion that he was Hawtrey's son.
Following study at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London, he embarked on a career in the theatre as both actor and director.

1920s and 1930s

Hawtrey made his first appearance on the stage in Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, as early as 1925. At the age of 11 he played a 'street Arab' in Frederick Bowyer's fairy play The Windmill Man.
His London stage debut followed a couple of years later when, aged 13, he appeared in another 'fairy extravaganza', this time at the Scala Theatre, singing the role of the White Cat and Bootblack in the juvenile opera Bluebell in Fairyland. The music for this popular show had been written by Walter Slaughter in 1901, with a book by Seymour Hicks that provided part of the inspiration for J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan.
In Peter Pan itself, at the London Palladium in 1931, Hawtrey played the First Twin, with leading parts taken by Jean Forbes-Robertson and George Curzon. This played in several regional theatres, including His Majesty's Theatre in Aberdeen. In 1936 Hawtrey acted in a revival of the play, this time taking the larger role of Slightly alongside the husband-and-wife partnership of Elsa Lanchester and Charles Laughton, playing Peter and Hook. A review in The Daily Telegraph commended Hawtrey for having "a comedy sense not unworthy of his famous name".
Hawtrey played Jerry Morton in Bats in the Belfry, a farce written by Diana Morgan and Robert MacDermott, which opened at the Ambassadors Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, on 11 March 1937. The cast included Dame Lilian Braithwaite and Henry Kendall, as well as Vivien Leigh as Jerry's sister Jessica. The play ran for 178 performances at the Ambassadors Theatre before moving to the Golders Green Hippodrome on 16 August 1937.
Hawtrey acted in films from an early age, first appearing while still a child, and as an adult his youthful appearance and wit made him a foil to Will Hay's blundering old fool in the comedy films Good Morning, Boys and Where's That Fire?. In all he appeared in more than 70 films including, from this period, Alfred Hitchcock's Sabotage.
Hawtrey had another stage success in 1939, when he was cast in the role of Gremio in Tyrone Guthrie's production of The Taming of the Shrew at the Old Vic, in which Roger Livesey starred as Petruchio and his wife, Ursula Jeans, as Katherine.
Hawtrey was also an accomplished musician. He recorded as a boy soprano and was billed as 'The Angel-Voiced Choirboy' even at the age of 15. In 1930 he recorded several duets with the girl soprano Evelyn Griffiths for the Regal label. He was a semi-professional pianist for the armed forces during the Second World War.

1940s

Hawtrey continued in music revue, starring in Eric Maschwitz's New Faces at the Comedy Theatre in London, and was praised for his "chic and finished study of an alluring woman spy". New Faces included the premiere of the song "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square", which quickly became a wartime favourite.
During and after the Second World War, Hawtrey also appeared in the West End in such shows as Scoop, Old Chelsea, Merrie England, Frou-Frou and Husbands Don't Count. Hawtrey also directed 19 plays, including Dumb Dora Discovers Tobacco at the Q Theatre in Richmond and, in 1945, Oflag 3, a war drama co-written with Douglas Bader.
By the 1940s, Hawtrey was appearing on radio during Children's Hour in the series Norman and Henry Bones, the Boy Detectives alongside the actress Patricia Hayes. Later, he provided the voice of snooty Hubert Lane, the nemesis of William in the series Just William. His catchphrase was "How's yer mother off for dripping?"
Hawtrey's film career continued, but The Ghost of St. Michael's and The Goose Steps Out were his last films with Will Hay. After the latter film he asked Hay to give him bigger roles, but Hay refused.
Hawtrey directed two films: What Do We Do Now?, believed lost, a musical mystery written by the English author George Cooper and starring George Moon; and Dumb Dora Discovers Tobacco, featuring Flora Robson.
In 1948, Hawtrey appeared at the Windmill Theatre, Soho, in comedy sketches presented as part of Revudeville. In the same year, he was incorrectly credited as 'Major Markham' in The Story of Shirley Yorke,, using two pseudonyms.
In 1949 he appeared as the bar-hand/piano player in the Ealing comedy Passport to Pimlico.

1950s

In 1956, Hawtrey appeared alongside his future Carry On co-star Hattie Jacques in the comedian Digby Wolfe's ATV series Wolfe at the Door, a 12-week sketch show. Not screened in London, it ran in the Midlands from 18 June to 10 September. In this series Wolfe explored the comic situations that could be found by passing through doorways, into a theatrical dressing room, for example. The programmes were written by Tony Hawes and Richard Waring.
In the same year Hawtrey made a brief appearance in Tess and Tim under the Saturday Comedy Hour banner. This short-run series starred the music hall comedians Tessie O'Shea and Jimmy Wheeler. In 1957, Hawtrey appeared in a one-off episode of Laughter in Store, this time working with Charlie Drake and Irene Handl.
Hawtrey's television career gained a major boost with The Army Game, in which he played the part of Private 'Professor' Hatchett. Loosely based on the film Private's Progress, the series followed the fortunes of a mixed bag of army National Service conscripts in residence at Hut 29 of the Surplus Ordnance Depot at Nether Hopping in remote Staffordshire.
I Only Arsked! was a feature film spin-off. Hawtrey left the series in 1958.

1960s

In Our House Hawtrey played a council official, Simon Willow. The series was created by Norman Hudis, the screenwriter for the first six Carry On films. Hattie Jacques and Joan Sims also starred. The series initially ran for 13 episodes from September to December 1960, returning the following year with Bernard Bresslaw and Hylda Baker added to the cast. Of the 39 episodes transmitted, only three survive.
Best of Friends had essentially the same writers and production team as Our House. Hawtrey again acted alongside Hylda Baker but this time playing the role of Charles, a clerk in an insurance office, next door to a café run by Baker. She accompanied him on insurance assignments and protected him when he was feeling put upon by his Uncle Sidney, who wished to but could not, dismiss his nephew. The series ran to thirteen episodes and was the last television series in which Hawtrey had a regular role.
By this time Hawtrey had become a regular in the Carry On films series. He was in the first, Carry On Sergeant, and more than twenty others. His characters ranged from the wimpish through the effete to the effeminate and would always, regardless of the historical setting, be seen wearing Hawtrey's signature round glasses. In her autobiography, Barbara Windsor wrote about Hawtrey's alcoholism and his outrageous flirting with the footballer George Best. While filming Carry On Spying, in which they played secret agents, Windsor thought that Hawtrey had fainted with fright over a dramatic scene on a conveyor belt. In fact, he had passed out because he was drunk. When he came on set with a crate of R. White's lemonade everyone knew that he had been on another binge. He smoked Woodbines and played cards between takes with Sid James and other members of the cast. In 1965, Hawtrey's mother Alice died; Hawtrey was grief-stricken and started drinking more. Apparently, Hawtrey could often be heard talking to his mother in his dressing room, even though she had died.
Gerald Thomas, the director of the Carry On films, explained in 1966 that "In the beginning Charles's shock entrance was an accident, but realising the potential I set out deliberately to shock and now his first appearance is carefully planned.... Apart from the comedy value of the unlikely role he plays, I'm careful to arrange the right timing for his actual appearance, so that the two factors combined surprise the audience into instant risibility." In the mid-1960s, Hawtrey performed in the British regional tour of the stage musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which also included his Carry On co-star Kenneth Connor.

Later life and career

Although the Carry On films made a handsome return for their producer, Peter Rogers, the cast were not well remunerated, commonly receiving a standard fee of £5,000 per film. Hawtrey used public transport to get to and from work, and was once given a lift to Pinewood Studios by Laurence Olivier. Requested to embrace Barbara Windsor at a meeting with the press, Hawtrey hurriedly left the room, requesting a man in her place.
Hawtrey moved in 1968 to Deal, in Kent, reputedly because of the sailors at the local naval base. He lived at 117 Middle Street, Deal, where he remained until his death. There is a small commemorative blue plaque on the front exterior wall of this property to identify his former residence. Hawtrey cut an eccentric figure in the small town, becoming well known for promenading along the seafront in extravagant attire, waving cheerfully to the fishermen and for frequenting establishments patronised by students of the Royal Marines School of Music.
In 1970, he appeared with Sid James in the South African film Stop Exchange. He made an appearance in Grasshopper Island, a children's programme, alongside Patricia Hayes, Julian Orchard, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Frank Muir. Filmed in Wales and Corsica, this adventure series featured three small brothers nicknamed Toughy, Smarty and Mouse, who run away to find an uninhabited island.
Hawtrey's last film was Carry On Abroad, after which he was dropped from the series. Hoping to gain higher billing, Hawtrey withdrew from a television programme, Carry On Christmas, in which he was scheduled to appear, giving just a few days' notice. Peter Rogers, the producer of the Carry On films and shows, said "He became rather difficult and impossible to deal with because he was drinking a lot. We used to feed him black coffee before he would go on. It really became clear that we were wasting time". Hawtrey's alcohol consumption had noticeably increased since Carry On Cowboy, which was released in the year his mother died.
Without steady film work, Hawtrey performed in pantomime and summer seasons in the regions, playing heavily on his Carry On persona in such shows as Carry On Holiday Show-time and Snow White at the Gaiety Theatre, Rhyl, Stop it Nurse at the Pavilion Theatre, Torquay, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs again at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham. His last pantomime season was Christmas 1979.
Hawtrey also played parts in a series of radio plays about a criminal gang written by Wally K. Daly for the BBC, alongside Peter Jones, Lockwood West and Bernard Bresslaw. These were Burglar's Bargains, A Right Royal Rip-off and The Bigger They Are.

Personal life

Little is known about Hawtrey's early years or later private life. He guarded his relationships very carefully as male homosexual sex was illegal and punishable by a prison sentence, until decriminalised by the Sexual Offences Act 1967. His outrageous drunken promiscuity did not attract sympathy, nor did his general peevish demeanour and increasing eccentricity earn him many close friends. If fans asked him for an autograph, Hawtrey would often swear at them and rip their paper in half.
Kenneth Williams recounted a visit to Deal in Kent where Hawtrey owned a house full of old brass bedsteads that the eccentric actor had hoarded, believing that "one day he would make a great deal of money from them".
Hawtrey spent most of his life living with his mother, who suffered Alzheimer's disease in later years. Another anecdote recounted by Williams describes how during the filming of Carry On Teacher, Joan Sims cried out to Hawtrey that his mother's handbag had caught fire after her cigarette ash fell into it. Without batting an eyelid, Hawtrey poured a cup of tea into the bag to put out the flames, snapped the handbag shut and continued with his conversation. He would often bring his mother onto the set and then lock her in his dressing room when he was required to film a scene. Williams also recounted his gathering up of the sandwiches left over from a buffet for the Carry On cast. Williams was envious of Hawtrey's acceptance of his sexuality: "He can sit in a bar and pick up sailors and have a wonderful time. I couldn't do it."
On 6 June 1981, Hawtrey suffered a heart attack.Sunday Sun
7 June 1981, Page 50 He next hit the headlines after his house caught fire on 5 August 1984. He had gone to bed with a 15-year-old rent boy and had left a cigarette burning on his sofa. Newspaper photographs from the time show a fireman leading an ill-looking, emotional, partially clothed and toupeeless Hawtrey to safety. Hawtrey told the press that "The smell of smoke woke me up and there were flames coming up the stairway. I've lost a lot of valuable antiques and sentimental keepsakes but I am all right. It was all very frightening".

Death

In late September 1988 Hawtrey was admitted to the Buckland Hospital, Dover.Birmingham Evening Mail. Thu, 29 September 1988 ·Page 9 He was discovered to be suffering from peripheral artery disease, a condition brought on by a lifetime of heavy smoking. Hawtrey was told that to save his life, his legs would have to be amputated. He refused the operation, allegedly saying that he preferred 'to die with his boots on' and died at 3:30 am on 27 October 1988, at Windthorpe Lodge Nursing Home in Walmer, near Deal.Black Country Evening Mail 28 October 1988, Fri ·Page 7 It was claimed that on his deathbed he threw a vase at his nurse who asked for an autograph. On 2 November 1988, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered in Mortlake Crematorium, close to Chiswick in London. Nine mourners attended; no friends or family were there.

Legacy

Hawtrey was portrayed by Hugh Walters in the television film Cor, Blimey!. This was adapted by Terry Johnson from his stage play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick ; the original play did not feature Hawtrey as a character. In the BBC Four television play Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!, Hawtrey was played by David Charles.
He is also the subject of a one-man biographical stage play, Oh, Hello!, by Dave Ainsworth, premiered in 2001 at The Torch Theatre, which was revived in 2014/2015 for the actor's centenary, with Jamie Rees in the role.
He has been the subject of two biographies: Charles Hawtrey 1914–1988: The Man Who Was Private Widdle by Roger Lewis and Whatshisname: The Life and Death of Charles Hawtrey by the broadcaster Wes Butters. BBC Radio 4 broadcast Butters' documentary, Charles Hawtrey: That Funny Fella with the Glasses, in April 2010.
Reference is made to Hawtrey by John Lennon just before the song "Two of Us" on the Beatles' Let It Be album. Lennon says: "I Dig a Pygmy, by Charles Hawtrey and The Deaf-Aids. Phase one, in which Doris gets her oats."
The sleeve of the Smiths' compilation album The Very Best of The Smiths features Hawtrey.

Filmography

Tell Your Children as minor role This Freedom Marry Me as Billy HartThe Melody-Maker as TornMayfair Girl Smithy High Finance As Good as New Trouble in Store Hyde Park as Secondary Supporting Role Little Stranger Murder at Monte Carlo Boys Will Be Boys Windfall Man of the Moment as Tom Get Off My Foot Well Done, Henry as Rupert McNabCheer Up as dancing Boy Scout The Brown Wallet Sabotage as studious youth at the aquarium Good Morning, Boys as SeptimusMelody and Romance reciting Shakespeare at audition Where's That Fire? as WoodleyJailbirds as NickThe Ghost of St. Michael's as Percy ThorneThe Goose Steps Out as MaxLet the People Sing as Young OrtonMuch Too Shy as student of Modern Art Bell-Bottom George as BBC man A Canterbury Tale as Thomas DuckettMeet Me at Dawn as reporter at the fair The End of the River as RaphaelThe Story of Shirley Yorke Passport to Pimlico as Bert FitchThe Lost People as prisoner Dark Secret as Arthur FigsonRoom to Let as Mike AtkinsonSmart Alec as FarrThe Galloping Major as Lew RimmelHammer the Toff as cashier Brandy for the Parson as George CrumbYou're Only Young Twice as Adolphus HaymanFive Days as Bill To Dorothy a Son as waiter at pub As Long as They're Happy as TeddyboyTimeslip as office-boy Simon and Laura as railway porterMan of the Moment as play director Jumping for Joy as punter at bar Who Done It? as disc jockeyThe March Hare as FisherCarry On Sergeant as Peter GolightlyI Only Arsked! as Pvt. 'Professor' HatchettCarry On Nurse as Humphrey HintonCarry On Teacher as Michael BeanPlease Turn Over as JewellerInn for Trouble as Silas WitheringCarry On Constable as PC Timothy GorseCarry On Regardless as Gabriel DimpleDentist on the Job as Mr. RoperWhat a Whopper as ArnoldCarry On Cabby as Terry 'Pintpot' TankardCarry On Jack as Walter SweetlyCarry On Spying as Charlie BindCarry On Cleo as SenecaCarry On Cowboy as Chief Big HeapCarry On Screaming! as Dan DannCarry On Don't Lose Your Head as Duc de PommfritThe Terrornauts as Joshua YellowleesCarry On Follow That Camel as Captain Le PiceCarry On Doctor as Mr. BarronCarry On Up the Khyber as Pte. James WiddleCarry On Camping as Charlie MugginsCarry On Again Doctor as Doctor Ernest StoppidgeZeta One as SwyneCarry On Up the Jungle as Tonka the Great / Walter BagleyStop Exchange as The ButlerCarry On Loving as James BedsopCarry On Henry as Sir Roger de LodgerleyCarry On at Your Convenience as Charles CooteCarry On Matron as Dr. Francis A. GoodeCarry On Abroad as Eustace Tuttle

Television appearances

Tess and Tim, BBC Wolfe at the Door, ATV Laughter in Store, BBC The Army Game, Granada as Private 'Professor' HatchettOur House, ABC as Simon WillowBest of Friends, ABC as CharlesGhosts of Christmas, a.k.a. Carry On Christmas, Thames as Spirit of Christmas Past / Angel / Convent GirlCarry On Long John, a.k.a. Carry On Again Christmas, a.k.a. I'm Worried About Jim Hawkins, Thames as Bell RingerGrasshopper Island, ITV as The Elderly BoyThe Princess and the Pea as Court JesterThe Plank, Thames as Co-DriverMovie Memories, Series 1 Episode 2, Anglia as self, interviewed by Roy HuddRunaround, Halloween Special, Southern Television as Count DraculaSuper Gran, "Super Gran and the State Visit", Tyne Tees as Clarence, Duke of Claridge

Theatrical appearances

The Windmill Man, Boscombe Hippodrome as Street ArabBluebell in Fairyland, Scala Theatre, London as White Cat and BootblackPeter Pan, The London Palladium as First TwinPeter Pan, The London Palladium as SlightlyMembers Only, Gate Studio Theatre, London Bats in the Belfry, Ambassadors Theatre, London as Jerry MortonShakespeare Birthday Festival, Old Vic, London The Taming of the Shrew, Old Vic, London New Faces, Apollo Theatre, London The New Ambassadors Revue, Ambassadors Theatre, London Scoop!, The Vaudeville Theatre, London Old Chelsea, Palace Theatre, Manchester Merrie England, Winter Garden Theatre, London Variety with Will Hay, Victoria Palace Theatre, London Revudeville, Windmill Theatre, London Frou-Frou, The New Lindsay Theatre, London Husbands Don't Count, Winter Garden Theatre, London as MoutonA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Bristol Hippodrome, Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth, and other locations as HysteriumThe Mating Game, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford as ArthurStop It Nurse, Pavilion Theatre, Torquay as Dr B C DimpleNo Sex Please We're British, Theatre Royal, Margate Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bristol Hippodrome

Radio appearances

This list is partially compiled from the BBC Radio Archive.Vaudeville, BBC Regional Programme London Will Shakespeare, BBC Regional Programme London as A BoyVaudeville, "The Writ", BBC Regional Programme London as HotchkissAn Ideal Husband, BBC National Programme Daventry I Sketch Your World, BBC Regional Programme London The Watched Pot, BBC Regional Programme London as William, a page-boy at BrionyCharing Cross Road, BBC Regional Programme Northern Frederica, BBC Regional Programme Daventry as Johann Heinrich Jung-StillingPostman's Knock, BBC Regional Programme London Big Business, BBC Regional Programme Pursuit of Adonis, BBC Regional Programme London The Breadwinner, BBC National Programme Daventry Old Words to New Music, BBC Regional Programme London The Calendar, BBC Regional Programme London as Andy LynnThe Secret Garden, BBC Regional Programme London The Trial of Peter Potter, BBC Regional Programme Northern Ireland David Copperfield, BBC Regional Programme London On and Off, BBC Regional Programme London The Squirrel's Cage, BBC Regional Programme Northern A Radio Version of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film Top Hat, Regional Programme Northern Ireland Royal Matinee, Regional Programme London An excerpt from the Eric Maschwitz revue New Faces, BBC General Forces Programme The Dragon's Dinner, BBC Home Service Review After Review, BBC Home Service The New Ambassadors Review, BBC General Forces Programme £250 Red Cross Radio Contest, BBC Home Service Sammelkin, BBC Home Service as Timothy TrantBirds of a Feather, BBC Home Service Darling I Loathe You, BBC Home Service Behind The Laughter, BBC Home Service as Syd Fletcher Just Kidd-ing, BBC General Forces Programme Intimate Review 1914-1942, BBC Home Service At This Time of Night, BBC Home Service Norman and Henry Bones, the Boy Detectives, BBC Home Service as Norman Bones (108 episodes)Old Chelsea, BBC Home Service They Went Singing, BBC Home Service as Alfred MortimerThe Box of Delights, BBC Home Service as MouseDavid, BBC Home Service as David Mystery at Witchend, BBC Home Service as David MortonPaul of Tarsus, BBC Home Service Dr Johnson, BBC Home Service as Samuel Johnson Treasure Island, BBC Home Service as Jim Hawkins John Bunyan, BBC Home Service Dickon The Will Hay Programme, BBC General Forces Programme Music Hall, BBC Home Service The Swish of the Curtain, BBC Home Service William Booth, BBC Home Service as JimThe Secret Six, BBC Home Service as Charles BouveryThe Secret Six Again, BBC Home Service as CharlesMr Perrin and Mr Traill, BBC Home Service as LarkinThe Tinderbox, BBC Home Service as Shoemaker's boyA Voyage to Lilliput, BBC Home Service The Story of Joseph, BBC Light Programme as BenjaminJust William, BBC Light Programme as HubertHarriot Mellon, BBC Home Service as Freddy
  • The Pied Piper of Hamlyn, BBC Home Service as Second burgherMusical Theatre of the Air, "Dear Appointment", BBC Home Service as Gus Green, the boyThe Wishing Apple, BBC Home Service as The SerpentFull Cycle, BBC Home Service as David HardcastleThe Edistone Light, BBC Home Service The Story of David, BBC Home Service No Sentiment in Business, BBC Home Service as ErnieThree Men in the Snow, BBC Home Service as Fritz HagedornA New Heaven and a New Earth, BBC Regional Programme London Tom Lord's Cricket Ground, BBC Home Service Fallada! Fallada!, BBC Home Service as CurdkinShow Parade, "Dempson's Dummies", BBC Light Programme The Old Wives Tale, BBC Home Service as Cyril PoveyThe October Review, BBC Home Service The Case of the Lump of Metals, BBC Home Service as Corporal Mackworth of the RAFA Christmas Carol, BBC Home Service as Peter CratchitSnakes and Snake Charmers, BBC Home Service as JeremyGolden Pavements, BBC Home Service as JeremyThe Adventures of PC49, BBC Home Service as ParvoPincer's Progress, BBC Home Service as MossA House to Let, BBC Home Service as FlipHenry of Navarre, BBC Home Service as Charles IXOliver Twist, BBC Home Service as Tom ChitlingHorace Clabtrout and the Beanstalk, BBC Home Service as Horace ClabtroutRay's a Laugh, BBC Light Programme The High and Mighty, BBC Home Service as Edward VIThe Feast of Lanterns, BBC Home Service as MouseThe Magic Pond, BBC Home Service as Han ChungTomorrow Mr Tompion!, BBC Home Service as Master BangerWriting for Sound: 2: Dreaming Bandsmen, BBC Home Service as Junker JimThe Siege of Mocking Hill, BBC Home Service as Mr. TrimbleLife with the Lyons, "Dial Special Branch", BBC Light Programme I Only Arsked, BBC Light Programme The Memoirs of Betsy Mae Meadows, "Somewhere a Voice is Calling", BBC Home Service as CyrusThe 78 Show, BBC Radio 2 as selfBurglar's Bargains, BBC Radio 4 as FingersFunny You Should Ask, BBC Radio 2 as selfA Right Royal Rip-off, BBC Radio 4 as FingersThe Bigger They Are, BBC Radio 4 as FingersA Harvest of Hayes, BBC Radio 4 as self