Last of the Summer Wine: A Landlady for Smiler


6:40 pm - 7:20 pm, Tuesday, December 23 on U&Drama (20)

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About this Broadcast

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A Landlady for Smiler
Season 12, Episode 10

The wily trio set about trying to find a new home for Smiler, whose wife has left him after 33 years of marriage and gone to live with her sister in Australia


subtitles
Movie/Drama Sitcom

Cast & Crew

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Peter Sallis (Actor) .. Clegg
Bill Owen (Actor) .. Compo
Brian Wilde (Actor) .. Foggy
Kathy Staff (Actor) .. Nora Batty
Jane Freeman (Actor) .. Ivy
Stephen Lewis (Actor) .. Smiler
Jean Fergusson (Actor) .. Marina
Robert Fyfe (Actor) .. Howard
Juliette Kaplan (Actor) .. Pearl
Roy Clarke (Writer)
Alan JW Bell (Director)

More Information

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Did You Know..

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Peter Sallis (Actor) .. Clegg
Born: February 01, 1921 in Twickenham, Middlesex
Best Known For: Playing Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine and providing the voice of Wallace in Wallace & Gromit.
Early-life: Peter Sallis was born on February 1, 1921, in Twickenham, Middlesex. His first job was as a bank clerk and he held no desire to be an actor until he became an RAF instructor during the Second World War. One of his pupils, Peter Bridge, asked him to play the leading part in Noel Coward's Hay Fever at the YMCA. Peter never looked back and eventually maked his TV debut in a 1947 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Career: Roles in films such as Doctor in Love, The Mouse on the Moon, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and Charlie Bubbles followed. BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine made him a household name. He featured in all 295 episodes as Norman Clegg between 1973 and 2010. He also played his character's father in short-lived prequel First of the Summer Wine. He was also the voice of Wallace of Wallace & Gromit fame in the acclaimed A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and A Matter of Loaf and Death. He was awarded an OBE in the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours list for services to drama. He died on June 2, 2017 at the age of 96.
Quote: "I don't eat it, because of the cholesterol effect. I've never eaten much in the way of cheese ever. However, I don't mind pretending that I like it."
Trivia: When Sallis was first asked by Nick Park to voice Wallace for a student film, he donatated his £50 fee to charity.
Bill Owen (Actor) .. Compo
Born: March 14, 1914 in London
Best Known For: Playing Compo in long-running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine.
Early-life: William John Owen Rowbotham was born in London on March 14 1914. When he was old enough to do so, he toured music halls with his own cabaret act to pay for acting classes. Repertory theatre followed before his career was interrupted by military service.
Career: After the Second World War, Owen went on to appear in a number of films, including The Way to the Stars (1945), School for Secrets (1946), When the Bough Breaks (1947), and Once a Jolly Swagman (1949). His film career would also see him appear in a number of early Carry On films and several Lindsay Anderson movies, including O Lucky Man! (1973) and In Celebration (1974). On the stage, he starred alongside Katherine Hepburn in As You Like It, and with Spike Milligan in Son of Oblomov. Owen wrote the lyrics for the musical The Matchgirls. TV came knocking in 1973 when he landed the role of Compo Simmonite in Roy Clarke's Last of the Summer Wine. Owen played a central role in the success of the sitcom and appeared in the show for 26 years until his death in 1999. Away from acting, he was a strong supporter of the Labour Party.
Quote: "Give a man a beer, waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and waste a lifetime!"
Trivia: Owen wrote songs that were recorded by Pat Boone, Matt Monro, Harry Secombe, Englebert Humperdinck and Cliff Richard.
Brian Wilde (Actor) .. Foggy
Kathy Staff (Actor) .. Nora Batty
Born: July 12, 1928 in Cheshire
Best Known For: Playing Nora Batty in Last of the Summer Wine.
Early-life: Born Minnie Higginbottom in Cheshire on July 12, 1928. She took an office job with the National Gas & Oil Engine Company in Ashton-under-Lyne and this gave her the opportunity to perform in the firm's amateur acting group. She started acting professionally in 1949 in repertory companies in Scotland and Wales.
Career: After marrying schoolteacher John Staff in 1951, she had two children and took a break from acting for 10 years. Fellow actor Gerald Harper, a friend from her rep days, persuaded her to return and she became an extra in TV. She appeared in a number of small roles until her big break came in 1973 when she was cast in the pilot episode of Last of the Summer Wine. Over 35 years, she appeared in 29 series of the long-running sitcom playing a broom-wielding, humourless battleaxe. During her time on Summer Wine, she also appeared in Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Crossroads. She had a recurring role as Mrs Blewett in Open All Hours. She starred in a revived version of Crossroads in 2001 but left after a year due to the soap's racy storylines. She died on December 13, 2008, at the age of 80.
Quote: "I enjoyed myself as Nora Batty because I enjoyed the comedy."
Trivia: Nora Batty was synonymous with wrinkled stockings.
Jane Freeman (Actor) .. Ivy
Stephen Lewis (Actor) .. Smiler
Jean Fergusson (Actor) .. Marina
Robert Fyfe (Actor) .. Howard
Juliette Kaplan (Actor) .. Pearl
Roy Clarke (Writer)
Alan JW Bell (Director)