Line #12 Creator/JamesBeck


1	[[quoteright:617:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jamesbeck.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:617:[[Series/DadsArmy Walmington-on-Sea]]'s FriendInTheBlackMarket.]]
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4	James Beck, born Stanley James Carroll Beck, (21 February 1929 -- 6 August 1973), was a British actor best known for playing Private Walker in ''Series/DadsArmy''.
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6	After doing his national service in the British Army, he started a career in acting, first on stage and then moving to TV. Some of his first TV roles came in episodes of ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'' and ''The Merchant of Venice''. From 1964-67 he played Seargent Bowden in ''Series/CoronationStreet'', making from one to three appearances in the soap a year in this time.
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8	When ''Dad's Army'' was being cast in 1968, Jimmy Perry had hoped to play the spiv Private Walker in addition to his writing duties but was talked out of the role by his producer and co-writer, David Croft. Beck was cast due to having, as Perry said he had, "the right mix of cheekiness and charm".
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10	While starring in ''Dad's Army'', he also starred in ''Romany Jones'' as Bert Jones, a layabout living on a caravan site; filmed a {{Pilot}} with his ''DA'' co-star, Creator/ArthurLowe, called ''Bunclarke With an E'', which was based on scripts from ''Series/HancocksHalfHour''; and starred in the radio sitcom ''The Motorway Men'' with another ''DA'' co-star, Creator/BillPertwee.
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12	He fell into a coma and died from a tragic combination of heart failure, renal failure, and pancreatitis at the age of 44. As for what was to happen to Beck's four aforementioned series, the final two episodes of ''Dad's Army'''s sixth series had to be quickly rewritten to explain Private Walker's absence, ''Romany Jones'' gained a new lead in the form of Jonathan Cecil's Jeremy Crichton-Jones, ''Bunclarke With an E'' went unproduced, and ''The Motorway Men'' wasn't continued.
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14	!!Works on TV Tropes he appeared in:
15	[[AC:Films]]
16	* ''Film/CarryOnLoving'' (1970) -- Mr. Roxby (DeletedRole)
17	* ''[[Film/DadsArmy1971 Dad's Army]]'' (1971) -- Private Joe Walker
18	[[AC:Series]]
19	* ''Series/DixonOfDockGreen'', 6 episodes:
20	** "New Man in the Manor" (1961) -- Geoff Bastin
21	** "Outside the Gates" (1962) -- Bert Mason
22	** "The Switch" (1963) -- Don
23	** "Facing the Music" (1964) -- Jim Carter
24	** "Other People's Lives" (1965) -- Tommy Preston
25	** "The Step-Brother" (1967) -- Gordon
26	* ''Series/ZCars'', episode "The Five Whistles" (1962) -- Constable
27	* ''Series/CoronationStreet'', 8 episodes (1964-67) -- Sergeant Bowden
28	* ''Series/AllGasAndGaiters'', episode "The Bishop Rides Again" (1966) -- Policeman
29	* ''{{Series/Foreign Affairs\|1966}}'', 2 episodes:
30	** "Can We Have Our Ball Back?" (1966) -- Waiter
31	** "The Leak" (1966) -- Burke
32	* ''Series/DadsArmy'', 59 episodes:
33	** 59 episodes (1968-73) -- Private Joe Walker
34	** "The Two and a Half Feathers" (1970) -- Private Green
35	* ''Series/DoctorInTheHouse'', episode "What Seems to Be the Trouble?" (1970) -- Mr. Wale
36	* ''Series/{{Jackanory}}'', episode "Humbert, Mr Firkin, and the Lord Mayor of London/The Golden Horse" (1970) -- Storyteller
37	* ''Series/TheTroubleWithYouLilian'', episode "The Presence" (1971) -- Man

Context Creator / JamesBeck