Arthur Lowe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Arthur Lowe
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Lowe as Captain Mainwaring in Dad's Army
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| Born | 22 September 1915 Hayfield, Derbyshire, England
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| Died | 15 April 1982 (aged 66) Birmingham, England
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| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1945–1982 |
| Spouse(s) |
Joan Cooper
(m. 1948) |
| Children | 1 |
Arthur Lowe (born September 22, 1915 – died April 15, 1982) was a famous English actor. He acted for 37 years, starring in many plays and TV shows. He is best known for playing Captain Mainwaring in the popular British sitcom Dad's Army from 1968 to 1977. He was nominated for seven BAFTA awards and became a very well-known face on UK television.
Arthur Lowe started acting professionally in England in 1945. This was after he served in the army during the Second World War. He worked in theatre, films, and television throughout the 1950s. He became nationally famous in 1960 when he got the part of Leonard Swindley in the TV soap opera Coronation Street. He played this character until 1966, while also doing other acting jobs.
In 1968, he took on his most famous role in Dad's Army. This show was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft. Being in Dad's Army helped him get even more character roles. Even though his health got worse in his later years, he kept a very busy acting schedule. He passed away from a stroke on April 15, 1982, when he was 66 years old.
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Arthur Lowe's Early Life
Arthur Lowe was born in Hayfield, Derbyshire. He was the only child of Arthur Lowe (who was also called "Big Arthur") and his mother, Nan. His father worked for a railway company. In 1916, his family moved to Levenshulme, a suburb of Manchester. Young Arthur, sometimes called "Little Arthur," went to Chapel Street School. From about 1927, he attended Alma Park School. One of his first times acting on stage was in a school play in December 1929.
Arthur wanted to join the Merchant Navy, which transports goods by sea. However, his poor eyesight stopped him from doing so. His first job after school was helping at a car parts company. He then became a clerk there. In 1936, he started working at the Fairey Aviation aircraft factory. He described his job as a "progress chaser." This meant he made sure workers were doing their tasks and that plane parts were in the right place.
Serving in the War
In February 1939, Arthur Lowe joined the Territorial Army. This meant he was one of the first men called to serve in the Second World War a few months later. He served with the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry. At first, his unit trained with horses, but soon they became a unit with machines, part of the Royal Artillery. Because of his poor eyesight, Arthur was moved to a different role. After training in radio and radar, he joined the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. He worked on searchlights in England. In 1942, he was sent to Egypt. There, he moved to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He was good with horses and learned to speak Arabic.
Arthur soon found ways to use his talents for entertainment. He was known for doing impressions of officers and singers. When radio equipment was stolen, he would read the BBC News over his camp's speaker system. In January 1943, he started an amateur acting group called the REME No. 1 Welfare Club Dramatic Society. He said it was "sheer boredom" that made him do it, and after that, he was "hooked." He first appeared on stage on February 8, 1943. He continued to act in and organize plays, as well as a Christmas show. His efforts led him to a new role with the No. 2 Field Entertainment Unit, where he was promoted to sergeant major. In this job, he helped other army units put on their own shows.
After the war ended, Arthur Lowe returned to Britain in November 1945. He officially left the army in March 1946.
Arthur Lowe's Acting Career
Starting Out as an Actor
In 1945, Arthur's father helped him get an audition with a theatre company. Arthur was immediately offered a role in a comedy play called Bedtime Story. He made his first professional acting appearance on December 17, 1945, at the Manchester Repertory Theatre. He was paid £5 a week for performing twice a night. In eight months, he appeared in 33 plays and gave 396 performances.
During this time, Arthur started a relationship with Joan Cooper (1922–1989), who was also an actress in the company. Arthur and Joan got engaged in June 1946 and lived together from August. They got married on January 10, 1948. Joan had a son from her first marriage, David. Arthur and Joan then had a son together, Stephen, born on January 23, 1953. They stayed together until Arthur's death.
Arthur Lowe worked with different acting companies around the country. After a year in Hereford, he moved to London in 1948. For the next three years, he mostly worked in theatres in South London. He had a small, early film role as a reporter in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949). His first role in London's famous West End came in 1950. He played Wilson the butler in a play called Larger Than Life. Arthur became known for playing interesting characters. In 1952, he had a big role as Senator Brockbank in the musical Call Me Madam. He also appeared in other musicals, including Pal Joey in 1954. He spent eighteen months as a salesman in the first West End production of The Pajama Game (1955–1957). In 1957, his name appeared in lights for the first time at the Piccadilly Theatre. This was for his role in the play A Dead Secret.
Arthur Lowe first appeared on television in 1951 in a BBC show called I Made News. He continued to work in television every year until he passed away. In the 1950s, he had many small parts in dramas. He played a gunsmith in Leave It to Todhunter (1958) and appeared in the comedy series Time Out for Peggy. His first regular TV role was as ship steward Sydney Barker in the series All Aboard (1958-1959).
In 1960, Arthur Lowe took on a regular role as Leonard Swindley in the northern soap opera Coronation Street. He appeared in this show until 1965. He arranged his contract so he only had to work six months a year. During the months he wasn't playing Swindley, he stayed busy on stage or made guest appearances in other TV shows. These included Z-Cars (1962) and The Avengers (1967). Some of his most praised stage roles during this time included Michael Oglethorpe in Stop It, Whoever You Are (1961).
Arthur Lowe didn't really enjoy working on Coronation Street and was happy to leave it. However, viewers loved his character. This led him to play Swindley again in spin-off series. These were Pardon the Expression (1966) and its follow-up Turn Out the Lights (1967).
Becoming a Star
In 1968, Arthur Lowe was chosen for his most famous role. He played Home Guard platoon leader Captain Mainwaring in the BBC comedy Dad's Army (1968–1977). Some people who worked on the show said the role was a bit like him: a bit proud and clumsy. However, actor Frank Williams said this wasn't fair. He said Arthur "certainly didn't suffer fools gladly" but could also laugh at himself. David Croft, the show's producer, said Arthur had strong ideas about what he would do. He never took his script home, which sometimes made his lines uncertain.
Arthur Lowe had conservative political views. His co-star Clive Dunn had left-wing politics views, and they sometimes disagreed. Despite some small disagreements, the show's writer Jimmy Perry said the cast was a "marvellous bunch of pros" and there was no real bad feeling between them.
Arthur Lowe also played Captain Mainwaring in a radio version of Dad's Army. He also starred in a stage play and a feature-length film based on the show, released in 1971. He even played Mainwaring's drunken brother, Barry Mainwaring, in a 1975 Christmas episode.
When Dad's Army wasn't being filmed, Arthur Lowe continued to work on stage. In 1968, famous actor Laurence Olivier invited him to join the National Theatre. He returned to the company in 1974 to play Stephano in a play called The Tempest. He also appeared in other plays.
Arthur Lowe also had important roles in several films directed by Lindsay Anderson. These included if.... (1968) and O Lucky Man! (1973). For O Lucky Man!, he won a BAFTA award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He also appeared in other films like The Bed Sitting Room (1969), where he turned into a parrot! He played a butler in The Ruling Class (1972) and a theatre critic in the horror film Theatre of Blood (1973).
On television, Arthur Lowe appeared twice on The Morecambe and Wise Show. He also starred with Richard Briers in a series of comedies for the BBC. He played the proud Dr Maxwell in the ITV comedy Doctor at Large (1971). Between 1971 and 1973, Arthur joined his Dad's Army colleague Ian Lavender in the BBC radio comedy Parsley Sidings. He also played Mr Micawber in a BBC TV show of David Copperfield (1974). He used many different voices as the narrator for the BBC animated TV series Mr. Men (1974).
In 1972, Arthur Lowe also recorded two fun songs called "How I Won The War" and "My Little Girl, My Little Boy."
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When touring with his wife, Arthur Lowe used his old steam yacht, Amazon, as a floating home. He bought Amazon in 1968 as a houseboat. But he soon realized it could sail again and took it back to sea in 1971. This boat is still used in the Mediterranean Sea today. The ship had a special bar. Arthur and his wife would host parties on board.
Clive Dunn, another actor from Dad's Army, once described Arthur sitting at the bar on his yacht. He would drink something Arthur called 'Amazon'. Clive said it was "gin and ginger ale, with a single slice of cucumber".
Arthur Lowe didn't often talk about politics in public. However, his face appeared on posters supporting the "Voting Yes" campaign for the 1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum.
Later Career and Health Challenges
By the mid-1970s, Arthur Lowe had narcolepsy. This is a condition that made him fall asleep suddenly. It could happen during rehearsals, performances, or at other unexpected times, sometimes even in the middle of a sentence. Arthur was also not very fit and was getting heavier. In 1979, he had a minor stroke. Even with his health getting worse, he kept a very busy professional life. Derek Benfield, a writer, said Arthur was a "workaholic."
When Dad's Army finished in 1977, Arthur Lowe was still in demand. He took starring roles in TV comedies like Bless Me, Father (1978–1981). In this show, he played a funny Catholic priest named Father Charles Clement Duddleswell. He also starred in Potter (1979–80) as a busybody named Redvers Potter. In 1980, he toured Australia and New Zealand with a play. Around this time, Arthur was in many TV commercials, doing 19 of them in 1981 alone.
His later stage career mostly involved touring England with his wife. He often only took on a play if it also had a role for Joan. This meant he missed out on some opportunities. Arthur's agent said this affected the last ten years of his theatre career. However, Frank Williams said Arthur and Joan had a great love story. If this arrangement held Arthur back, it was because he chose it.
In 1981, Arthur Lowe played Captain Mainwaring again for the first episode of It Sticks Out Half a Mile. This was a radio show that continued the story of Dad's Army. At Christmas that year, he and Joan appeared in a pantomime in London. In January 1982, famous actor Richard Burton had his private plane fly Arthur to Venice. This was so Arthur could film a small role in the TV miniseries Wagner.
His Passing and Last Works
On April 14, 1982, Arthur Lowe gave a live TV interview. Later that day, just after 6 p.m., he collapsed in his dressing room at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham. He was about to perform in a play called Home at Seven with his wife, Joan. He was taken to Birmingham General Hospital, where he passed away early the next morning, at the age of 66.
Arthur Lowe was cremated. His ashes were scattered at Sutton Coldfield Crematorium. His funeral was small, with fewer than a dozen people attending. Joan did not go because she refused to miss a performance of Home at Seven and was acting in Belfast at the time. According to a friend, Arthur and Joan had agreed that neither would go to the other's funeral. His son Stephen said his parents were not very emotional or religious. Joan's way of coping was to believe "the show must go on." A memorial service was held later in London, attended by his family, former colleagues, and many friends.
Arthur Lowe's last film and TV performances were shown after he died. His last feature film was Britannia Hospital (1982). In his final TV comedy, A.J. Wentworth, B.A. (1982), he starred as a teacher at a boys' preparatory school. Wagner was his very last screen role, released in December 1983.
How Arthur Lowe Was Seen
Tom Cole wrote that Arthur Lowe was one of the few actors who could charm both young and old viewers easily. He also said Arthur could bring classic book characters to life. Graham Lord, who wrote a book about Arthur in 2002, said that "almost every actor who worked with Arthur considered him to be outstanding."
In 2002, Paul Scofield called Arthur Lowe a rare and "seriously brilliant actor." He said Arthur's sense of timing was what made him special. Jimmy Perry, the writer of Dad's Army, agreed about his timing. He said, "It was faultless. He could get huge laughs with such simple lines as 'Just a moment,' 'how dare you,' and 'you stupid boy'" – which were all famous phrases from Dad's Army. Perry also said Arthur was a kind man who helped other actors who were not as lucky as him.
His Acting Style
In the 1970s, Arthur Lowe said he "simply wanted to be the best character actor going." He said that only television made him a star. He claimed he treated every funny role as if it were a serious one. He said, "The more seriously you play the part, the funnier it is. You see, people are only funny to other people, never to themselves."
Books About Arthur Lowe
Two books have been written about Arthur Lowe. One is called Arthur Lowe – Dad's Memory by his son Stephen, published in 1997. The other is Arthur Lowe by Graham Lord, published in 2002. In 2000, a TV show called The Unforgettable Arthur Lowe was made. It was part of a series about famous comedy performers.
Memorials to Arthur Lowe
In December 2007, plans were announced for a statue of Arthur Lowe. It was to be put up in Thetford, Norfolk, where the outdoor scenes for Dad's Army were filmed. The show's co-writer David Croft revealed the statue on June 19, 2010. It shows Arthur Lowe as Captain Mainwaring, sitting on a bench in his Home Guard uniform.
Arthur Lowe has also had two special blue plaques put up. One is in Maida Vale and the other is at his birthplace in Hayfield, Derbyshire.
Actors Who Played Arthur Lowe
Robert Daws played Arthur Lowe in a BBC Radio 4 play called Dear Arthur, Love John in 2012. This play was about the friendship between Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier. John Sessions played him in the 2015 TV movie We're Doomed! The Dad's Army Story.
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See Also
In Spanish: Arthur Lowe para niños
