Patrick Cargill

File:Cargill.jpg

Publicity still of Patrick Cargill from Father, Dear Father

Patrick Cargill (3 June, 1918 – 23 May, 1996) was a British actor.

Cargill was one of the West End's most distinguished actors and a brilliant farceur. His sense of timing was excellent, an essential part of comedy acting. Although it was television that brought him fame, it was on the boards that he perfected a style which others sought to emulate. At the time of his death, most of the critics agreed that he had created a style in low farce which, when referring to a role was described as a Patrick Cargill part. A brilliant farceur, he brought much to the acting profession.

Biography

Cargill was born to middle-class parents living in Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex. He made his debut appearance in the Bexhill Amateur Theatrical Society at Bexhill-on-Sea, his home town, as a teenager before joining Anthony Hawtrey's company at Buxton, Croydon, and later the Embassy Theatre at Swiss Cottage in London.

When the Second World war broke out, he was selected for training at the Royal Military Academy. Cargill became a commissioned officer in the British Army, and spent most of his active service in India.

After the war, Cargill returned to acting as a supporting player in John Counsell's rep at Windsor alongside Barbara Bruce and Beryl Reid and scored a huge hit in the revue The World's the Limit, which was watched by Her Majesty the Queen and 26 of her guests one evening. He made his first West End appearance in 1953 in Ian Carmichael's revue, High Spirits at the London Hippodrome. He also co-wrote the stage play Ring For Catty, with Jack Beale. The second of the Carry On films, Carry On Nurse produced in 1959 was based on this play.

In 1961 in the final BBC series of "Hancock's Half-hour", Cargill played the Doctor to Tony Hancock's patient in the famous sketch "The Blood Donor"

After a number of other West End roles he landed that of Bernard in Boeing Boeing at the Apollo Theatre in 1962. The farce, which was almost tailor made for him, attracted major producers to him and he went on to star in Say Who You Are at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1965 and to direct Not Now Darling by Ray Cooney and John Chapman at The Strand Theatre in 1968. In that year, Cargill had his big break when he was offered the chance of his own television situation comedy on ITV.

Father, Dear Father was written specifically for him and his unique off-beat farcical talent, and he was cast as Patrick Glover, a thriller writer, but an inept father of two teenage daughters played by Natasha Pyne (Anna) and Ann Holloway (Karen). The show ran until 1973 and showcased many other stars, such as Leslie Phillips, Ian Carmichael, Tony Britton, Jeremy Child, Joyce Carey, Ursula Howells, Terence Alexander, Donald Sinden, Eric Barker, Rodney Bewes, June Whitfield, Richard O'Sullivan, Bill Fraser, Dandy Nichols, Bill Pertwee, Peter Jones, Joan Sims, Richard Wattis, Jack Hulbert, Hugh Paddick, Roy Kinnear and Beryl Reid. The series was produced and directed by William G. Stewart, later to be the presenter of Channel 4 quiz show Fifteen to One.

Never one to let the grass grow under his feet, he also starred in a French Feydeau farce series entitled Ohh La La on BBC2 in 1968. These adaptations of French farces translated by Ned Sherrin and Caryl Brahms were perfect for Cargill, a master in low farce. These vignette Feydeau farces were originally intended to provide variety for Parisian audiences who were used to more than one production for an evening's entertainment. The final of this series, the third, titled Patrick Cargill In Ooh La La! - showcased Feydeau's longer pieces. The three series ran from 1968 until 1973.

In 1976 Cargill returned to the TV screens with The Many Wives of Patrick, playing a middle-aged playboy who is trying to divorce his sixth wife in order to remarry his first. This series again showcased many famous stars such as Patrick Macnee and Dawn Adams

The 1980s was something of a revival for Cargill's natural talent at farce. He co-starred in Key for Two with Moira Lister at the Vaudeville Theatre and then at the Old Vic Theatre in William Douglas-Home's After the Ball is Over. In 1986 he starred in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Chichester Festival Theatre, in which he played the part of Senex.

In his final years, Cargill was seen in Captain Beaky at The Playhouse in 1990 and after that he toured in Derek Nimmo's British Airways Playhouse. For the centenary staging of Charley's Aunt in 1992, Cargill played the part of the dreaded Spettigue.

Films

His film appearances included An Alligator Named Daisy and Express Bongo; two of the Carry On films: Carry On Regardless (1961) and Carry On Jack; Help! in which he co-starred with The Beatles and more notably Charlie Chaplin's A Countess from Hong Kong, in which he played the part of the butler, Hudson. With the exception of A Countess from Hong Kong, his performances were never acclaimed.

Music

A lesser known detail of Cargill's showbusiness career is the handful of recordings that he made in the 1960s and 70s. The first was an album called Father, Dear Father made in 1969. Cargill sang a medley of songs and to this day you can find the album being traded on specialist sites. The female voice on the album was not Noel Dyson (Nanny) but that of June Hunt, a friend of Cargill.

He followed this with three singles. One called Father, Dear Father Christmas and another called Thinking Young and the final single called Father, Dear Father. None of these recordings were successful but their very existence underscores how well rounded Cargill's talents were.

Personal life

From the mid 1960s Cargill lived at Sheen Gate Gardens near Richmond, Surrey. He spent his time 'resting' at Spring Cottage, his country retreat situated In Warren Lane, near Cross-in-Hand, East Sussex.

For many years Cargill's companion was Vernon Page, an eccentric landscape gardener, poet and lampoon songwriter, until he married in 1984 with Cargill's blessing. Cargill was not a 'celebrity' seeking man, who quietly disliked his famous status. He would shun the awards ceremonies in favour of a quiet evening at home playing Mah Jong. He never made any public acknowledgment of his private life as he felt that to admit to being gay would damage his professional image. Notwithstanding his reluctance to come out in this respect, Cargill was happy being gay in his private life and his wit when not in the spotlight reflected that. Once, whilst lunching with Ray Cooney, the theatrical impresario, Cargill wittily observed, when a particularly handsome waiter mistakenly removed his soup spoon, "aah look Ray, the dish has run away with the spoon". In the later years of his life, Cargill lived in Henley on Thames with his last companion, James Camille Markowski.

The love of his life was his Bentley, a beautiful drop-head, black and dark green motor of which only six were ever made. Cargill also had a Mini and often told the story about driving through Barnes one day and on seeing one of the other six Bentley Drop-Head's at the traffic lights, waved furiously at the driver, only to realise that he was driving his mini that day! In the mid 1980's he changed the Bentley for a less remarkable Rolls Royce.

He had innumerable pets, including a monkey, a parrot, and a wethered sheep. His favourite pet was Ra, a cross-border collie and Charles, a wonderfully wild cat that lived at Spring Cottage and often attacked Cargill's house guests in their beds early in the morning by attempting to suckle their nipples, much to the alarm of its victims.

Death

The year before Cargill died, he was knocked down by a car in Australia, which latterly led to his cause of death being incorrectly reported as a hit and run accident. Suffering from a brain tumour, he was being nursed in a hospice in Richmond, London at the time of his death, aged 77

Quotations

• ""Comedy is instinctive. You know it's there but the moment you consciously search for it you're completely lost. Timing is a skill that you develop over the years. It gives you the necessary courage to wait - to pause while the audience gathers in anticipation."

• During the shooting for the Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night," Cargill was lounging by the pool when not required on set in the West Indies. John Lennon was also by the pool, and leaned forward from the edge of the pool and said to Cargill: "Patrick, you have worked hard to achieve success and there must have been times when the going was tough. What's it like? I mean, was it fun to get where you are? I've never had that, you see. We never struggled, we just became famous, successful ... what have I missed?" Cargill replied quietly "It is different for everyone, John, you've missed nothing. Each person's life is unique and that is what makes life so interesting, you never know what is round the corner."

External links

• Patrick Cargill at IMDb
• Bio at "The Avengers"