’Allo ’Allo! star Kaye dies aged 75
Actor Gorden Kaye, best known for playing René Artois, a café owner in Germanoccupied France in the BBC series ’Allo ’Allo! died yesterday, aged 75.
Actor Gorden Kaye, best known for his role in the longrunning sitcom ’Allo ‘Allo!, has died aged 75.
Kaye played reluctant resister and cafe owner René Francois Artois in the show, set in Nazi-occupied France during the Second World War. The show ran on BBC One from 1982 to 1992 and remains one of Britain’s best-loved sitcoms.
Vicki Michelle, who played Rene’s mistress and waitress Yvette Carte-blanche in the show, said Kaye was “loved the world over”.
Paying tribute on Twitter alongside a photograph of the pair during their time on ’Allo ’Allo!, she posted: “So sad to hear news of Gorden Kaye. A brilliantly talented actor consummate professional, loved the world over. There’ll never be another Rene.”
As René, Kaye risked his neck to aid the resistance and stay out of trouble with the Nazis.
A frequent philanderer, Rene was a surprise attraction for the local women and had love affairs with a number of his waitresses.
Before landing his careerdefining role, Kaye appeared in a number of shows including It Ain’t Half Hot Mum and Are You Being Served? and played Elsie Tanner’s nephew in Coronation Street.
In 1990 he nearly died in a freak accident which left him with severe head injuries when a wooden advertising hoarding blew through his car windscreen during a storm.
Kaye had a five-and-a-half hour emergency brain operation following the incident and said: “I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”