John Devon Roland Pertwee ( PUR-twee; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996), known professionally as Jon Pertwee, was an English actor. He is best known for portraying the third incarnation of the Doctor in the television series Doctor Who from 1970 to 1974, as well as for starring in the BBC Radio sitcom The Navy Lark (1959–1977) and playing the title role in the television series Worzel Gummidge (1979–1981) and Worzel Gummidge Down Under (1987–1989).
Born into a family of actors and writers, Pertwee's rebellious behaviour led to his expulsion from two schools and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He subsequently took small parts in repertory theatre, including productions written by his playwright father Roland, and later performed in radio and films. During World War II, Pertwee served in the Royal Navy and worked in the Naval Intelligence Division. Post-war, he became known for his comedic voices and impressions, particularly on the radio programme Mediterranean Merry-Go-Round. He played Chief Petty Officer Pertwee and various other roles in The Navy Lark, and appeared in four films in the Carry On series from 1964 to 1992.
In 1969, Pertwee was cast as the Third Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. Despite his reputation as a comic actor, Pertwee introduced an action-oriented "leading man" interpretation of the character, influenced by contemporary espionage fiction and his own enthusiasm for gadgets and fast vehicles. He later hosted the ITV game show Whodunnit? (1974–1978). Pertwee enjoyed renewed success as the scarecrow Worzel Gummidge in a Southern Television adaptation of Barbara Euphan Todd's children's books; after its cancellation he successfully campaigned for a sequel series produced by TVNZ. In his later years he maintained a close association with Doctor Who by attending many fan conventions and reprising the role in various productions, including in the anniversary television specials "The Five Doctors" (1983) and Dimensions in Time (1993).
Early life
Family background John Devon Roland Pertwee was born in Kensington, London, on 7 July 1919, the second son of writer-actor Roland Pertwee and stage actress Avice Scholtz. His paternal ancestors were aristocratic French Huguenots, descended from Charlemagne, who fled France and settled in England in the late 17th century. The family name "de Perthuis de Laillevault", which derives from Pertuis, was anglicised to "Pertwee". Pertwee described his mother as having "Austrian/German" heritage.
Many of Pertwee's relatives were in show business. His older brother Michael was a writer for film and stage and, with Roland, created the first British television soap opera The Grove Family in 1957. Pertwee's second cousin once removed was actor Bill Pertwee. His great-aunt was actress Eva Moore; her daughter Jill Esmond married Laurence Olivier. Pertwee's godfather was actor Henry Ainley, a close friend of his father; Ainley's son Anthony later appeared opposite Pertwee in the 1983 Doctor Who episode "The Five Doctors". Pertwee stated in 1976 that "the theatre seemed such an obvious thing to do that I started rebelling before I'd even joined it. Because it was the family business I never had to struggle to join it—I took it for granted, which is maybe why I've never taken it seriously enough."
Pertwee's parents divorced in 1921 following Avice's involvement in an affair. Pertwee and his brother Michael were raised by their paternal grandmother in Surrey and Kensington. Roland remarried in 1927, and the Pertwee brothers moved back in with him and their new step-brother. Pertwee remained estranged from his mother, who also remarried, and did not bond with her when they were briefly reconciled in his teens.
Education
Pertwee attended Aldro School, a preparatory boarding school in Surrey, but was expelled at the age of seven after he broke a lavatory chain by swinging on it while mimicking Tarzan. At his next school, Wellington House preparatory in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, he put on theatrical shows. At 13 years of age, Pertwee joined his brother at Sherborne School in Dorset. In his 1984 autobiography, Pertwee recalled that he was expelled from the school after threatening a prefect who refused to accept that two older students were bullying him. He attended Frensham Heights School in Surrey, where at the age of 16 he started an open-air theatre company.
In 1936, Pertwee auditioned for the Central School of Speech and Drama but he was failed for his lisp. He was admitted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but "asked to leave" because he refused to play a Greek wind in Euripides' Iphigenia. Another account for his expulsion was that he allegedly wrote rude remarks on the lavatory walls about the principal, who considered him talentless, though Pertwee denied this in a 1984 interview. Pertwee was motivated by an encounter with Charles Laughton, who stated that dismissal from RADA was the proper way for an actor to start their career.
Career 1936–1939: Early acting roles While still at school, Pertwee worked as a circus performer riding the wall of death on a motorcycle with a toothless lion in the sidecar. In 1936, after leaving RADA, he briefly toured the country in a double-decker bus with the Arts League of Service Travelling Theatre, directed by Donald Wolfit. In 1937, he joined Springfield Theatre in Jersey, and adopted the name "Jon" from a misspelling on a Springfield Theatre billing. He was dismissed from the theatre company for playing practical jokes.
Pertwee took small repertory theatre parts in Birmingham, York and Liverpool. In April 1938, he joined the Rex Lesley-Smith Repertory Players at West Pier, Brighton, where he appeared in his father's play Interference. Pertwee starred in The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles at the Festival Theatre, Cambridge, alongside actress Sarah Churchill; Pertwee and the theatre company regularly shared tea breaks with her father, future Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Later in 1938, he appeared in Goodbye, Mr. Chips at the Q Theatre. Pertwee made his BBC radio debut in Voyage to the Sun, transmitted 13 March 1938. A week later he narrated a Northern Ireland production of Lillibulero.
In 1938, Pertwee was playing a small part in his father's play To Kill a Cat at the Aldwych Theatre. When his co-star John Salew was unable to attend the recording of a radio programme, he sent Pertwee in his place. Salew was fired and Pertwee was hired as his replacement, which led to regular work in Radio Luxembourg productions such as Marmaduke Brown, Backstage Wife, Young Widow Jones, Mr Reeder and Stella Dallas. Pertwee also made small appearances in various film productions by Denham Film Studios, such as Dinner at the Ritz (1937), A Yank at Oxford (1938) and Young Man's Fancy (1939). He appeared with his father in The Four Just Men (1939), a film Roland co-wrote, in which Pertwee delivered his first on-screen film lines.
1939–1945: Naval career
Pertwee's acting career was halted by the outbreak of the Second World War. He entered the Royal Navy in late 1939 as an ordinary seaman, service number P/JX178358, and spent six years in service. He met naval sailor and future Doctor Who co-star Patrick Troughton several times during the war. Pertwee was a crew member of the ill-fated battlecruiser from 29 November 1940, but was transferred off the ship for officer training only weeks before she was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941; all but three men aboard were killed. He was injured in a bombing raid at Portsmouth barracks, which resulted in back problems later in life. Pertwee was posted to the Isle of Man as a sub-lieutenant, where he was one of the founding members of the Service Players, an amateur drama society. During his time in the navy, Pertwee woke up after a drunken birthday celebration in port to find a tattoo of a cobra on his right forearm—it is visible in his first Doctor Who story Spearhead from Space (1970).
Pertwee was transferred to the Security Staff of the Naval Intelligence Division in Westminster, where he worked alongside future Prime Minister James Callaghan, future James Bond author Ian Fleming and the man considered to be the inspiration for Bond, Patrick Dalzel-Job. Pertwee was initially dissatisfied with his appointment as he did not excel at "code and mathematics", but was encouraged when he learnt his commanding officer intended to utilise his acting abilities. One of his first jobs involved touring the country to lecture service branches on the importance of maintaining security. In 1994, Pertwee recalled, "I did all sorts. Teaching commandos how to use escapology equipment, compasses in brass buttons, secret maps in white cotton handkerchiefs, pipes you could smoke that also fired a .22 bullet. All sorts of incredible things. Now that suited me perfectly, as I have always loved gadgets." According to Pertwee, he made "a few shillings" from selling Winston Churchill's cigar ends left over from security meetings, rather than disposing of them as requested.
Pertwee was later reassigned to naval broadcasting. He was talent-spotted by producer Eric Barker, who involved Pertwee in the radio programme Mediterranean Merry-Go-Round—the naval version of the variety show Merry-Go-Round—which was intended to maintain the morale of the British armed forces. Pertwee's first episode was transmitted on 30 November 1945. After the war, Mediterranean Merry-Go-Round became the civilian programme Waterlogged Spa.
1946–1968: The Navy Lark and other post-war roles Pertwee became known for his ability to create and perform a variety of comedic characters, voices and accents, and he worked prolifically in radio. Additionally, his live television debut was on 1 November 1946, introducing the hour-long variety show Little Show. His first television acting role was as the judge in the 1946 television film Toad of Toad Hall. Two Mediterranean Merry-Go-Round television broadcasts aired in 1947. Pertwee appeared in the radio programmes Navy Mixture (1947), The Adventures of Captain Kettle (1947), Up the Pole (1947–1948) and Listen, My Children (1948). In 1949, the Radio Times described him as "the versatile Jon Pertwee – a brilliant comedian".
Pertwee starred in the crime film Murder at the Windmill (1949) and first received star billing for the comedy film Will Any Gentleman...? (1953), the latter featuring future First Doctor actor William Hartnell. Pertwee was noted for his physical resemblance to American actor Danny Kaye, and he doubled for Kaye in the London scenes of the film Knock on Wood (1954).
One of Pertwee's most popular Waterlogged Spa characters was an incompetent West Country postmaster with the catchphrase "It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you tears [the letters] up". The character featured in a spin-off radio series, Puffney Post Office, which began airing on 21 April 1950. In 1953, Pertwwe played Ugly Sister Buttercup in the pantomime Cinderella at the London Palladium. In 1955, the radio programme Pertwee's Progress was launched as a vehicle for Pertwee; it lasted 13 episodes. Beginning in 1955, he appeared in five editions of the monthly variety series Round the Bend. Pertwee played Norman Evans' sidekick in Evans Abode (1956–1957), a series of four television specials. He appeared on the radio programme Workers' Playtime (1956–61). In 1957, he presented the daytime television series Mainly for Women. Pertwee also worked on stage in the 1950s, which included performing as a vaudeville comedian at the Glasgow Empire Theatre and sharing a bill with Max Wall and Jimmy James. Pertwee sustained further back injuries when co-star Bernard Bresslaw fell on him on set of the science fiction comedy film The Ugly Duckling (1959).