Arthur Lowe

He is now best known for the role of Captain Mainwaring in the BBCs classic sitcom "Dads Army" , although he was not the first choice for it. Thorley Walters and Leonard Rossiter turned it down and Jon Pertwee had also been considered.

Son, Stephen Lowe .

He was interviewed live on BBC TVs lunchtime magazine programme Pebble Mill at One on the day of his death.

He was an active supporter of the British Conservative Party.

Suffered a stroke in 1979.

He played the same character (Leonard Swindley) in three different series: "Coronation Street" , "Pardon the Expression" and "Turn Out the Lights" .

There was a memorial service for him at the Church of St Martin-in-the Fields, London on 24 May 1982.

Three weeks into the shooting of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" , Alec Guinness panicked and decided he couldnt play George Smiley; he suggested Lowe as a replacement.

Narrated a public information film reminding motorway drivers that the right hand lane is not a "fast lane" but is for overtaking only.

Son of Arthur Lowe (Big Arthur) (1888-1971) and Mary Annie (Nan) Lowe (ne Ford) (1885-1981).

Two biographies of him have been published: Arthur Lowe - Dads Memory by his son Stephen, which was issued in 1997; and Arthur Lowe by Graham Lord in 2002.

In January 1982, Richard Burton had his private aeroplane fly Lowe to film a cameo role in the television series "Wagner" , his last screen performance.

In 1972, he recorded the novelty songs "How I Won The War" and "My Little Girl, My Little Boy".

In 2005, he was one of the first 100 to be honoured with his name set into the pavement in Londons Avenue of the Stars in Convent Garden.

In an interview for a "Dads Army" retrospective on BBC television in 2010, Clive Dunn , described Lowe sitting at the bar in the evenings when they were filming on location, consuming a drink which Lowe named Amazon after his yacht. Dunn described the drink as comprising "gin and ginger ale, with a single slice of cucumber".

In his final years, Lowes alcoholism worsened and he was reduced to acting in pantomimes and touring theatre productions. Graham Lords biography recalls that by 1979, Lowe was suffering from major health problems but continued to drink increasing amounts of alcohol, sometimes passing out on stage or at dinner. He was also a heavy smoker and his weight ballooned. Lowe had long suffered from narcolepsy.

In December 2007, plans were unveiled for a statue of Lowe to be erected in Thetford, Norfolk, where the outside scenes for "Dads Army" were filmed. The statue was unveiled on 19 June 2010, by the writers of the series, Jimmy Perry and David Croft. The star has also had two blue plaques unveiled, one at Maida Vale and one at his birthplace in Hayfield, Derbyshire.

He dropped out of high school at the age of 15.

When touring at coastal theatres with his wife, Lowe used his distinctive 1885 former steam yacht Amazon as a floating base. He bought Amazon as a houseboat in 1968 but realised her potential and took her back to sea in 1971; this unique vessel is still operating in the Mediterranean. The ship had a bar with a semicircular notch cut halfway along, to enable both the portly figure of Lowe and his wife to serve behind the bar at the same time, acting as hosts during the parties they threw on board.

He had a clause in his contract for "Dads Army" saying that he would not be filmed without his trousers on.

He made his debut at the Manchester Repertory Theatre in 1945, where he was paid 5 per week for twice-nightly performances.

Acting must be scaled down for the screen. A drawing room is a lot,smaller than a theatre auditorium.

An actor is an actor is an actor. The less personality an actor has off,stage the better. A blank canvas on which to draw the characters he,plays. .