John Le Mesurier, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley, (5 April 1912 — 15 November 1983), was a British actor best known for playing Sergeant Wilson in Dad's Army.
In 1933, he developed an interest in acting, enrolling at the Fay Compton Studio of Dramatic Art in 1933. The next year, he started work in repertory theatre, making his first onstage appearance in Dangerous Corner. His first TV appearance came four years later in The Marvellous History of St Bernard.
In World War II, he went to India as a Captain in the Royal Tank Regiment but returned to acting after the war's end. He appeared in his first film in 1948, in the short film Death in the Hand. Over his career, Le Mesurier would go on to appear in over 120 films.
At the end of The '50s and the start of The '60s, Le Mesurier appeared as nine separate characters in Hancock's Half Hour, while other work he did with Tony Hancock included his films The Rebel and The Punch and Judy Man. In 1966, he starred in both George and the Dragon with Sid James, Peggy Mount, and Keith Marsh, and Series 2 of Pardon the Expression with Arthur Lowe.
Le Mesurier was soon reunited with Lowe in 1968 when the two were cast as the leads of Dad's Army; he was the second choice for Sergeant Wilson, after Robert Dorning. At first, Le Mesurier didn't want to take the role so soon after he had finished his long run in George and the Dragon, but soon agreed once he was offered more money and his friend Clive Dunn joined the cast. Sergeant Wilson was based heavily on Le Mesurier, who decided to play the character the same way he had acted during his aforementioned time as a Captain in India. In 1971, Le Mesurier won a BAFTA for his role in the Play for Today episode, "Traitor", which was his only award.
Following Dad's Army, Le Mesurier kept making appearances in British films (including Confessions of a Window Cleaner and Three for All), narrated Bod, and returned to the role of Wilson for It Sticks Out Half a Mile, the Dad's Army radio sequel.
He married fellow actor Hattie Jacques in 1949 and had two sons with her. The marriage wasn't a successful one, however, and Jacques had an affair with John Schofield, her driver. Le Mesurier took the blame for the divorce to keep Jacques' name clean, and in 1966, married Joan Malin, later Joan Le Mesurier. Le Mesurier was also cheated on by Joan, who started a relationship with and moved in with the aformentioned Tony Hancock, who had spiraled into serious alcoholism. After a year, Joan couldn't handle Hancock's abuse and came back to Le Mesurier, who forgave both for the affair.
He died at the age of 71 after slipping into a coma brought on by a haemorrhage. He wrote his own death notice for The Times, which mentioned that he "Wishes it to be known that he conked out on November 15th" and that he "sadly misses family and friends".
Works on TV Tropes he appeared in:
Films- Ben-Hur (1959) — Doctor (Uncredited Role)
- Doctor in Love (1960) — Dr. Mincing
- The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's (1960) — Minister of Education
- The Rebel (1961) — Office Manager
- The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963) — Assistant Commissioner
- The Punch and Judy Man (1963) — Charles Arthur Ford
- The Pink Panther (1963) — Defence Barrister
- Operation Crossbow (1965) — British Army Officer (Deleted Role)
- Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) — French Painter
- Where the Spies Are (1966) — MacGillivray
- The Wrong Box (1966) — Dr. Slattery
- Eye of the Devil (1966) — Dr. Monnet
- Casino Royale (1967) — M's Driver (Uncredited Role)
- The Italian Job (1969) — Governor
- The Magic Christian (1969) — Sir John (Uncredited Role)
- Doctor in Trouble (1970) — Purser
- On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) — Pelham
- Dad's Army (1971) — Sergeant Arthur Wilson
- Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974) — Inspector Radlett
- The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975) — Lord Redcliff
- Jabberwocky (1977) — Chamberlain
- Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978) — Dr. Deere
- The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980) — Perkins
- Hancock's Half Hour, 9 episodes:
- "The Lawyer: The Crown v James S." (1957) — Lord Chief Justice Williams
- "The New Nose" (1959) — Dr. Francis Worthington
- "The Horror Serial" (1959) — Colonel
- "The Servants" (1959) — Colonel Winthrop
- "Lord Byron Lived Here" (1959) — National Trust Officer
- "The Cruise" (1959) — Captain
- "The Cold" (1960) — Dr. Callaghan
- "The East Cheam Centenary" (1960) — Man (Uncredited Role)
- "The Lift" (1961) — Air Marshal
- Danger Man, episode "An Affair of State" (1960) — Alvarado
- The Avengers, 2 episodes:
- "Mandrake" (1964) — Dr. Macombie
- "What the Butler Saw" (1966) — Benson
- Adam Adamant Lives!, episode "The Terribly Happy Embalmers" (1966) — Velmer
- All Gas and Gaiters, episode "The Bishop Gets the Sack" (1967) — Timothy Post
- Dad's Army, 80 episodes:
- 80 episodes (1968-77) — Sergeant Arthur Wilson
- "The Two and a Half Feathers" (1970) — Colonel Arthur Smythe
- Shine a Light, episode "The Great Relief" (1970) — Lighthouseman Lionel Parrott
- Doctor at Large, episode "Mr. Moon" (1971) — Stanley Moon
- Play for Today, episode "Traitor" (1971) — Adrian Harris
- The Goodies, episode "Farm Fresh Food" (1971) — Uncle Tom
- Jason King, episode "If It's Got to Go - It's Got to Go" (1972) — Dr. Litz
- Sykes, episode "Uncle" (1972) — Lord Hetherington
- Blue Peter, 1 episode (1973) — Sergeant Arthur Wilson
- Bod, 13 episodes (1975) — Narrator
- Ripping Yarns, episode "Roger of the Raj" (1979) — Colonel Runciman
- Worzel Gummidge, episode "Very Good, Worzel" (1980) — Baines
- Brideshead Revisited, 2 episodesshow list (1981) — Father Mowbray
- Hi-de-Hi!, episode "Carnival Time" (1982) — Dean Hugo Buxton
