John Fortune facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Fortune
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John C. Wood
30 June 1939 Bristol, England
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| Died | 31 December 2013 (aged 74) |
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| Children | 3 |
John Fortune (born John C. Wood; 30 June 1939 – 31 December 2013) was a talented English actor, writer, and satirist. He was most famous for his funny and clever work with John Bird and Rory Bremner. They worked together on the popular TV show Bremner, Bird and Fortune.
Contents
Growing Up
John Fortune was born John Wood in Bristol, England, in 1939. He went to Bristol Cathedral School and then to King's College, Cambridge, a famous university. At Cambridge, he met John Bird, and they became lifelong friends. He was also part of a special debating club called the Cambridge Apostles.
His Career in Comedy
John Fortune started his career in comedy and writing in the early 1960s.
Early Work and Collaborations
In 1962, he helped create material for Peter Cook's Establishment Club. He also became a regular on the BBC-TV satire show Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life. On these shows, he often worked with Eleanor Bron and his friend John Bird.
Fortune and Bird teamed up again for the TV show A Series of Birds in 1967. Fortune also wrote and performed sketches with Eleanor Bron for a TV series called Where Was Spring? in 1969. In 1971, he wrote a funny book called A Melon for Ecstasy with John Wells.
TV Shows and Movies
John Fortune appeared in many TV shows and films. In 1980, he was in a TV commercial for Barclays Bank with the famous actor Peter Sellers.
In 1982, he had a part in the BBC sitcom Yes Minister. He played an army officer who told the minister that British weapons were getting into the wrong hands. He also acted in the play Art in London's West End in 1999.
His film roles included Take A Girl Like You (1970) and the horror comedy Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984). He also appeared in England, My England (1995), Maybe Baby (2000), and Saving Grace (2000). He also had a guest role in the sitcom Joking Apart.
The Long Johns and Later Years
John Fortune's most famous work was with John Bird in their satirical sketches called The Long Johns. In these sketches, one of them would interview the other. They played characters like politicians, business leaders, or government advisors. These sketches were very popular and won several awards. They were even nominated for a BAFTA award and won the Television Light Entertainment Performance award in 1997.
In one memorable sketch from 2007, they cleverly predicted the financial crisis that happened a few years later.
In his later years, John Fortune continued to act. He was in the Radio 4 sitcom Ed Reardon's Week. He also played a theatrical agent in an episode of New Tricks in 2008.
John Fortune passed away peacefully on 31 December 2013, at the age of 74. His wife Emma and his dog Grizelle were with him.
See also
In Spanish: John Fortune para niños
