Early years of TV favourite a right carry-on!
Nostalgia remembers the wartime escapades and acting career of Bramhall Carry On star Peter Butterworth
BACK in June 1941, Peter Butterworth thought he was in the clear after three days on the run from the Dulag Luft prisoner-of-war camp near Frankfurt. The future Carry-On star was 27 miles from the prison compound when a member of the Hitler Youth raised the alarm and he was captured.
Ever the comedian, Butterworth joked he’d never work with children again!
The Dulag Luft escape was one of a series attempted by Butterworth during World War II. They eventually led to him being sent to the high-security Stalag Luft III camp near Sagan, the scene of The Great Escape.
Born in Bramhall in February 1915, Butterworth served as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm before starting his acting career. His first brush with wartime captivity came in 1940 when the
Fairey Albacore torpedo bomber he was flying in was shot down by a Messerschmitt 109 on the Dutch coast. One crew member was killed and another wounded.
The plane made a forced landing on the island of Texel and Butterworth was taken prisoner, eventually arriving at the Dulag Loft prisoner-of-war transit camp.
He escaped through a tunnel only to be thwarted by the Hitler Youth – and made two more bids for freedom before being transported to Stalag Luft III.
It was here that he met life-long friend Talbot Rothwell, who was to become the writer of many Carry On films.
The pair formed a duo to entertain the troops – and even aided the famous escape bids later portrayed in the classic 1963 movie The Great Escape.
They performed a song and then engaged in banter that caused so many boos and hisses that the
Germans couldn’t hear the noise of an escape tunnel being dug!
Butterworth and Rothwell weren’t the only budding actors incarcerated in Stalag Luft III. Also in the camp were Rupert Davies, who went on to appear in Z Cars, Danger Man and Maigret, and Sybil Thorndike’s son John Casson.
Butterworth was also one of the vaulters who helped stage the famous wooden horse escape, which again become the subject of a film in 1949.
But when he auditioned for a part in The Wooden Horse, the producers said he didn’t look heroic or athletic enough for the role – even though he was there!
Undeterred, Butterworth pushed on with his show business career, landing a role in the Val Guest film William Comes to Town in 1948. The pair became good friends and Butterworth ended up appearing in seven more movies directed by Guest. Butterworth’s TV breakthrough came in the early 1950s when he played chauffeur Lockitt in the Terry Thomas sketch show How Do You View?
It was actually the first comedy series on British TV and featured Thomas as a ‘glamorous, mischievous and discreetly cashstrapped’ man-about-town.
The programme’s cast included Avril Angers, Diana Dors and Butterworth’s real-life wife, actress and impressionist Janet Brown.
In 1965, another of Butterworth’s TV roles was playing the Meddling Monk in the BBC sci-fi series Doctor
Who, starring William Hartnell.
Butterworth’s long run in the Carry On movies (he appeared in 16 of them) started with Carry On Cowboy in 1965 and ended with Carry on Emmanuelle in 1978.
All his Carry On characters were slightly off-beat and eccentric and he was often cast as the comic sidekick to a major character.
Occasionally he’d have almost silent parts with great dramatic effect – such as the shuffling patient in Carry On Again Doctor in 1969.
One of his most well remembered roles – and one of the funniest - was as Pepe, the harassed manager of the unfinished hotel on the island of Elsbels in the 1972 movie Carry On Abroad.
The movie, written by Talbot Rothwell, featured all the Carry On cast except for Jim Dale and Terry Scott, and introduced Jimmy Logan and Carol Hawkins.
On stage, Butterworth toured the country with fellow Carry On stars Kenneth Connor, Sid James and Barbara Windsor.
Peter Butterworth died in 1979 from a heart attack he suffered in Coventry where he was playing Widow Twankey in the pantomime Aladdin. He was 63.
● You can read more about Manchester stage and screen stars in Clive Hardy’s three Around Manchester books covering the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Each book is packed with around 300 past images of Manchester along with fascinating insights and commentary from the author. The price is £14.99 per book, with all postage and packing paid. Just go to inostalgia.co.uk to place your order or telephone 01928 503777.