Last of the Summer Wine - Enter the Finger - 7:40 pm Tuesday, March 17 on U&Drama +1

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.

Frank Thornton (Actor) .. Truly

Born: January 15, 1921 in London

Best Known For: Are You Being Served? and Last of the Summer Wine.

Early-life: Frank Thornton Ball was born in London on January 15, 1921 to Rosina and William. Frank wanted to act from an early age but his father encouraged him to have a more stable job, so he began working in insurance after leaving school. He took evening classes at the London School of Dramatic Art and after two years, he was invited to become a day student. During the Second World War, Frank was evacuated with the drama school and his first job was touring with four plays in Ireland. He joined the RAF as an airman and ended the war as an officer. After leaving the RAF in 1947, Frank joined a repertory company. He made his film debut in Radio Cab Murder (1954).

Career: Thornton went on to become a familiar face on TV, specialising in comedy. He made guest appearances in Hancock, Sykes, The Goodies, Love Thy Neighbour and Steptoe and Son. He is best known for playing Captain Peacock in the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served? He reprised his role for the spin-off series Grace & Favour. In 1997, he joined the cast of Last of the Summer Wine as Herbert 'Truly' Truelove, a role he played until 2010. He also appeared in Robert Altman's Gosford Park (2001). Thornton died peacefully in his sleep on March 16, 2013. He was 92.

Quote: From Are You Being Served?: 'Mr Humphries, are you free?'

Trivia: Thornton was nominated of an Olivier Award for his performance in the musical Me and My Girl.

Brian Conley (Actor) .. Boothroyd

Born: August 07, 1961 in London

Best Known For: A wealth of stage and TV work.

Early-life: Brian Paul Conley was born in west London on August 7, 1961. His father was a cab driver, his mother a dinner lady. Conley, who has severe dyslexia, wanted to get into showbusiness while still at school. He studied Performing Arts at The Barbara Speake Stage School and then, at the age of 16, hit the road and made a living performing cabaret in nightclubs. His father got a job working as a rigger supervisor at the BBC, while his brother Alan and sister Lynn also work in TV.

Career: Conley began his TV career as a warm-up man, but was fired because the producers thought he was so funny he wore the audience down. Since then he has had his own show, starred in TV sitcom Time After Time and played music legend Al Jolson in the West End musical Jolson. He is also famed for playing bullying PE teacher Doug Digby in ITV's 1970s-set comedy The Grimleys. On stage he has appeared in Me and My Girl, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Hairspray. He has also starred on the big screen in Circus, and on the small screen in Arthur's Dyke, Equilibrium, Marple and The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle. He also hosted the BBC talent series Let Me Entertain You. He largely works on the stage these days in pantomimes and his own show, The Best of Brian Conley, which showcases some of his material from past TV shows. In 2011, he toured the UK in Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show, a celebration of singer Neil Diamond. In 2012, he was a contestant on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

Quote: 'Fame? I love it. It's a right ego trip. I get a lot of money for doing something I enjoy.'

Trivia: Conley frequently plays Buttons in pantomime versions of Cinderella.

Brian Murphy (Actor) .. Alvin

Born: September 25, 1933 in Isle of Wight

Best Known For: Playing George Roper in Man About the House and George and Mildred.

Early-life: Brian was born on the Isle of Wight on September 25, 1933. During his national service at RAF Northwood, he met future actor Richard Briers. On leaving the RAF, Brian and Richard performed in productions by the Dramatic Society at what is now London South Bank University. Brian was also a member of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, with Yootha Joyce. During the 1960s and the early 1970s, Brian made guest appearances in a number of TV shows, including The Avengers, Z Cars, Sez Les, Callan, and Dixon of Dock Green.

Career: Murphy's big break came in 1974 when he began playing George Roper alongside Joyce in the sitcom Man About the House. Joyce played his long-suffering wife Mildred. The popularity of Murphy and Joyce's characters led to them starring in their own spin-off sitcom George and Mildred. The hugely popular series ran on ITV for five series until 1979 and ended after Joyce died in 1980. Murphy and Joyce also starred in a stage version of George and Mildred and a spin-off movie. Murphy went on to star in The Incredible Mr Tanner, L for Lester, Lame Ducks, One Foot in the Grave, the Booze Cruise TV movies, Last of the Summer Wine, and The Cafe.

Quote: 'I was just coming up to 40 when Man About the House fell into my lap and turned everything around.'

Trivia: Murphy and his wife, actress Linda Regan, have talked about their careers in An Audience with Linda Regan and Brian Murphy.

Mike Grady (Actor) .. Barry

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.

Sarah Thomas (Actor) .. Glenda

Jean Fergusson (Actor) .. Marina

Josephine Tewson (Actor) .. Miss Davenport

Robert Fyfe (Actor) .. Howard

Burt Kwouk (Actor) .. Entwistle

Tom Owen (Actor) .. Tom

Juliette Kaplan (Actor) .. Pearl

June Whitfield (Actor) .. Nelly

Born: November 11, 1925 in London

Best Known For: Terry and June, and Absolutely Fabulous.

Early-life: Born June Rosemary Whitfield in Streatham, London, on November 11, 1925. Her mother had hoped to become an actress, but was forbidden to do so by her father. Instead, she appeared in amateur dramatics and encouraged June to enter showbusiness by enrolling her in dance classes at the age of three. Her father was a company director. After the Second World War she moved to Huddersfield with her parents and trained to be a secretary before attending RADA, after which she landed her first professional role on the London stage.

Career: Whitfield became one of BBC Radio's most beloved stars - 22 million people regularly tuned in to her show Take It From Here during the 1950s - but is probably best known for her TV appearances, and has starred alongside Frankie Howerd, Peter Sellers and Tony Hancock. Among her many comedy programmes during the first half of her career were Steptoe and Son, Hancock's Half Hour and The Benny Hill Show. Her long professional relationship with Terry Scott resulted in such series as Happy Ever After and Terry and June. She has also appeared in several Carry On films. Since then Whitfield has won acclaim in Absolutely Fabulous, The Last of the Blonde Bombshells, Jude and Mirrorball.

Quote: 'I was never a great beauty. I think I amused more than I aroused. But at least that meant I didn't feel the pressures that many glamorous actresses do when they reach a certain age. Playing mums and grans never bothered me.'

Trivia: She was awarded an OBE in 1985, and a CBE in 1998.

Jane Freeman (Actor) .. Ivy

Ken Kitson (Actor) .. PC Cooper

Louis Emerick (Actor) .. PC Walsh

Roy Clarke (Writer)

Alan JW Bell (Director)

Last of the Summer Wine: Enter the Finger

7:40 pm - 8:20 pm, Tuesday, March 17 on U&Drama +1 (60)

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Enter the Finger
Season 29, Episode 1

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