doing the job, was knocked out after having an injection accidentally pushed into his backside.
DARLING, MR
Played by Robin Hunter
Jane Darling’s husband who waves his wife goodbye during Matron before heading back inside his house for a bit of fun with the shapely au pair.
DARVEY, DIANA
Role: Maureen in Behind
Born in Richmond, Surrey, in 1945, Diana Darvey followed her mother – who topped the bill at the Windmill Theatre during the war years – into showbusiness. Originally starting out as a singer and dancer, her early career was spent working with Miss Joan Baron’s Ballet in Madrid; spotted by former musical revue artist Celia Gomez, who groomed her to become England’s first female star in Spanish light entertainment. She later won more plaudits as leading lady to Spanish revue artistes Luis Cuenca and Pedro Pena in Barcelona. Three years later, she returned to Madrid’s Teatro Alcazar as the star attraction.
In the 1970s she was working on British television, making occasional appearances in shows such as sitcom And Mother Makes Five, starring Wendy Craig. She also played various character roles in several series of The Benny Hill Show. For many years continued to lead a successful career in cabaret at the Savoy and other top venues.
She died in 2000, aged fifty-four.
DAVENPORT, CLAIRE
Role: Blonde in Pub in Emmannuelle
Born in Sale, Cheshire, in 1933, Claire Davenport was the archetypal character actress, often seen playing a host of battleaxes, from fearsome traffic wardens to overbearing wives.
After grammar school she trained as a teacher at Liverpool’s St Catherine’s College and subsequently taught at a school in Salford. Always a keen amateur actress, she spent her evenings performing with various local companies before, in 1960, deciding to swap careers.
She studied at RADA for two years before making her professional debut in the stage version of television sitcom, The Rag Trade; the following year, she played Myrtle in the final series of the TV show.
Hers quickly became a regular face on television, mostly in comedies such as George and the Dragon, Love Thy Neighbour, Fawlty Towers, Robin’s Nest, George and Mildred and On the Buses. On the big screen she played a masseuse in The Return of the Pink Panther, a fat lady in The Elephant Man and a six-breasted dancer in Return of the Jedi. She subsequently popped up in various low-budget sex comedies, including The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones and Rosie Dixon – Night Nurse.
A series of strokes in the 1990s stopped her working. She died in 2002, aged sixty-eight.
DAVENPORT, DAVID
Roles: Bilius in Cleo, Sergeant in Don’t Lose Your Head and Major-domo in Henry
Born in Hertfordshire in 1921, David Davenport moved to London at the age of thirteen to attend the Cone Ripman ballet school, before joining the Lydia Kyasht Russian ballet at seventeen. Four years later, he was invited to join the Royal Ballet.
His career as a dancer was suspended for four years whilst he worked as an RAF wireless operator during World War Two, but he continued after the war with parts in Sleeping Beauty at the Royal Opera House in 1946 and Annie Get Your Gun in 1948. During the 1950s, he moved into musical stage work, playing in many productions including The King and I and Oklahoma! He also began choreographing ballets for the Joanna Denise Classical Dance Group and made the transition into acting, in films and television.
His small-screen credits include playing the nationally hated Malcolm Ryder in Crossroads and frequently appearing in All Creatures Great and Small. He also acted in numerous films including King’s Rhapsody and 84, Charing Cross Road.
He died in 1994, aged seventy-three.
DAVEY, BERT
Art Director on Cleo, Cowboy and Screaming! Began as an art director in the 1950s and went on to spend the next three decades working on such films as Time Is My Enemy, On the Beat, A Stitch in Time, Battle of Britain, At the Earth’s Core, The People That Time Forgot, Eye of the Needle and, in 1986, his last film, Aliens.
DAVID, EVAN
Role: Bridegroom in Cruising
Windsor Davis struck gold by playing Sgt. Major Williams in the sitcom It Ain’t Half Hot Mum as well as appearing in two Carry Ons.
DAVIES, WINDSOR
Roles: Fred Ramsden in Behind and Sergeant Major ‘Tiger’ Bloomer in England
Born in London in 1930, Windsor Davies is probably best known for playing loud-mouthed Sergeant Major Williams in Perry and Croft’s 70’s sitcom, It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum.
He worked as a teacher and miner before completing a drama course at Richmond College in 1961 and turning his attention to acting. His screen career had begun by the mid-60s with early credits including television shows Dixon of Dock Green, Redcap, The Corridor People and Probation Officer, playing Bill Morgan. His film work covers the likes of Murder Most Foul, The Alphabet Murders, Drop Dead Darling and Endless Night.
More recent credits include small-screen productions 2point4Children, Sunburn, Casualty, Vanity Fair, My Family and Cor Blimey!
DAVIS, JOAN
Continuity on Sergeant and Constable
Her other credits in continuity, dating back to the 1940s, include Candles at Night, Turn the Key Softly, A Town Like Alice, The Iron Petticoat, The Spanish Gardener, Campbell’s Kingdom, The 39 Steps, Victim and two Bond movies, Thunderball and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
DAVISON, RITA
Continuity on Don’t Lose Your Head, Henry and At Your Convenience
Rita Davison began working in continuity in the 1950s and proceeded to clock up a host of film credits. She joined the production team of films such as Innocents in Paris, The Vicious Circle, Tunes of Glory, Tom Jones, Help!, Petulia and her last film, 1981’s Dragonslayer. She also worked on the ITC drama series, The Saint.
DAWE, CEDRIC
Art Director on Doctor
Born in London in 1906, Cedric Dawe was designing for the US stage for several years before entering the British film industry. Other than the war years, during which he served in the army, he was regularly in employment.
His film credits included Black Limelight, Traveller’s Joy, Freedom of the Seas, Easy Money, So Long at the Fair, Street Corner, Star of India, Up in the World, A Hill in Korea and his penultimate film, The Day of the Triffids. He also worked on the 50s television series, Colonel March of Scotland Yard.
He died in 1996.
DAWES ROAD
Mentioned in Cabby during the scene where Peggy and Sally are driving along while being held at gunpoint by crooks.
DAWSON, NURSE STELLA
Played by Joan Sims
The accident-prone student nurse is seen in Nurse, working at the Haven Hospital. She’s so green she even thinks suppositories should be adminstered orally. Thankfully for poor old Ted York, the patient, she discovers her mistake before it’s too late.
DAY, TILLY
Continuity on Teacher
From the 1930s, when she worked on films such as The Mystery of the Marie Celeste, Tilly Day’s lengthy