Gorden Kaye, born Gordon Irving Kaye, (7 April 1941 — 23 January 2017), was a British actor best known for playing René Artois in 'Allo 'Allo!.
His TV debut came when he played a railway guard in Champion House. After appearing in Little Malcolm, he was cast as Bernard Butler in Coronation Street. He made frequent appearances in David Croft's sitcoms, with a guest role in It Ain't Half Hot, Mum, three guest roles in Are You Being Served?, and a small recurring role in Come Back Mrs. Noah.
Croft tried to cast him in the lead role of Oh Happy Band!, but Kaye was unavailable, and the role was given to Harry Worth. Kaye finally got his big break from Croft when he was cast in the lead role of 'Allo 'Allo!. After six series, Kaye was seriously injured during the Burns' Day Storm in 1990. While driving his car, a piece of wood was blown through his windscreen and stuck in his head. Luckily, Kaye made a full recovery (albeit with a scar on his forehead for the rest of his life) and was able to return to work, doing a further three series and the two Clip Shows for 'Allo 'Allo!.
He died at the age of 75.
Works on TV Tropes he appeared in:
Film- Jabberwocky (1977) — Sister Jessica
- Brazil (1985) — M.O.I. Lobby Porter
- Inside George Webley, episode "Are You Sure or Only Positive" (1968) — Clerk
- Coronation Street, 37 episodes (1969-70) — Bernard Butler
- Emmerdale, 7 episodes (1973-75) — Gerry
- Till Death Us Do Part, episode "TV Licence" (1974) — Television Licence Inspector
- Sykes, episode "Bath" (1976) — Mr. Macclesfield
- It Ain't Half Hot, Mum, episode "The Pay Off" (1977) — Burly Soldier
- Come Back Mrs. Noah, 6 episodesshow list (1977-78) — Nicky Manson
- Are You Being Served?, 3 episodes:
- "Do You Take This Man?" (1978) — Mr. Tomiades
- "Mrs Slocombe, Senior Person" (1979) — Plastic Mac Customer
- "Closed Circuit" (1981) — Mr. Fortescue
- All Creatures Great and Small, episode "Pups, Pigs and Pickle" (1978) — Kit Bilton
- Shoestring, episode "Higher Ground" (1979) — Tom Clarke
- Citizen Smith, episode "The Party's Over" (1979) — "His Man"
- 'Allo 'Allo!, 87 episodes (1982-2007) — René Artois
- Minder, episode "Get Daley" (1984) — Sammy
- Play for Today, episode "Rainy Day Women" (1984) — Vicar
- Screen Two, episode "In the Secret State" (1985) — Buff
- Last of the Summer Wine, episode "The Last Surviving Maurice Chevalier Impression" (1990) — Maynard Lavery
- Noel's House Party, 1 episode (1992) — René Artois
- Screen One, episode "The Bullion Boys" (1993) — Nickson
