Ian Lavender, last of the Dad’s Army platoon, dies aged 77
IAN Lavender, the last surviving star of Dad’s Army, has died at the age of 77.
He played the hapless, scarf-wearing, whiny-voiced but lovable Private Pike in the classic TV sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War.
Pike was often berated by platoon leader Captain Mainwaring as ‘you stupid boy’ and was key to one of the show’s funniest and most frequently quoted moments when – during a rare encounter between the volunteer platoon from fictional Walmington- on-Sea and the enemy – a German officer demanded to know Pike’s name and Mainwaring, played by Arthur Lowe, ordered: ‘Don’t tell him, Pike!’
Private Pike was the youngest member of the Home Guard troop and a junior bank clerk. He would often refer to Sergeant Wilson, played by John Le Mesurier, as ‘Uncle Arthur’ because of his relationship with Pike’s over-protective mother, Mavis, played by Janet Davies.
Lavender cleared up a long-standing mystery from Dad’s Army during an interview with the Radio Times in 2018 when he revealed that when he asked the show’s creator David Croft if Uncle Arthur was Pike’s father ‘he looked at me and said, “Of course he is!”.’
Lavender died on Friday with his wife and sons by his side, his agent Hilary Gagan said. He had been ill for some time.
The actor also played Derek Harkinson, a gay friend of Pauline Fowler, in BBC soap East Enders, initially from 2001 to 2005, then returning in 2016. He left in 2017 after developing sepsis. He had survived bladder cancer in 1993 and a heart attack in 2004.
Birmingham-born Lavender, a policeman’s son, was only 22 when he was cast as Private Frank Pike in Dad’s Army. The programme ran for 80 episodes from 1968 to 1977, regularly attracting more than 18million viewers.
It was one of the most watched TV shows of its time and counted the late Queen among its fans. It also spawned a 1971 film and a stage show.
Lavender once said it was the luckiest day of his life when he was cast as the 17-year- old Pike. He was earning £9 a week during a six- month stint at Canterbury Rep when someone came up to him and said he looked stupid enough to do it.
He said: ‘I was a complete beginner and I suddenly joined what was probably Britain’s most experienced team of character actors. I was in a state of shock finding myself suddenly among so many great actors. When the moment came for me to speak, that funny voice of Pike just came out in a moment of panic.
‘But Private Pike took me from obscurity into the TV big time.’
Lavender trained at Bristol Old Vic and did his share of Shakespeare, including a West End production of The Merchant of Venice, starring Dustin Hoffman, in 1989. He also acted in other TV comedies such as Yes Minister, Keeping Up Appearances and Goodnight Sweetheart and in a Carry On film.
BBC director of comedy Jon Petrie said: ‘Ian was a much-loved actor and will be sorely missed by all who knew him. In his role of Private Pike, in Dad’s Army, he delivered some of the most iconic and loved moments in the history of British comedy.’
Lavender is survived by his wife, choreographer and stage director Michelle Hardy, and their sons Sam and Daniel.