Web Page  No 2430

11th December 2017

First Picture: Terry Scott

Second Picture: Terry and June

Third Picture: My Brother

Forth Picture: Blue Plaque in Bushey

Terry Scott

Owen John "Terry" Scott was born on 4th May 1927 and died on 26th July 1994 in his long career he appeared in seven Carry On films but was best remembered for the BBC1's popular domestic sitcom Terry and June with June Whitfield.

He was born and brought up in Watford and educated at Watford Field Junior School and Watford Grammar School for Boys. He was the youngest of three children and the only surviving son after his brother Aubrey died when he was six. After National Service in the Navy at the end of World War II, he briefly studied accounting then he used his demobilisation gratuity to enter show-business as a manager of seaside shows around Britain.. Spells on the radio on shows like Workers Playtime were followed by appearances on TV and he got an opportunity in farce when he joined the Whitehall Theatre Company of Brian Rix. With Bill Maynard he appeared at Butlin's Holiday Camp in Skegness and partnered him in the TV series Great Scott, It's Maynard!. During the early 1960s, he became well known to television audiences for his role alongside Hugh Lloyd in Hugh and I and they both appeared as Ugly Sisters in pantomime at The London Palladium and Terry Scott reappeared in that same role with Julian Orchard in later years. Later appeared with Hugh Lloyd as gnomes in the 1969 sitcom The Gnomes of Dulwich.

His novelty record "My Brother" (written by Mitch Murray, released 1962 on Parlophone) was based on a schoolboy character (he dressed in the uniform to sing it on TV) and it received regular airplay on BBC Radio (in particular Ed Stewart's Saturday and Sunday morning programme Junior Choice) for many years. In the 1970s, he had a memorable role in TV commercials for a chocolate coated caramel bar called Curly Wurly, in which he again appeared dressed as a schoolboy, complete with short trousers and cap. This performance he also repeated more than once on BBC TVs long running variety show The Good Old Days. He had played a small role in the very first of the Carry On films series of films, Carry On Sergeant in 1958 but in 1968 he returned to the series with a role in Carry On Up the Khyber and went on to play main roles in six of the later films.

He is best remembered for starring alongside June Whitfield in several series of the comedy Happy Ever After and its successor, Terry and June. They had first worked together making a series of the sketch show Scott On (1968). They also featured in supporting roles together in the film version of Bless This House. From 1981 to 1992, he was the voice of Penfold the hamster in the series Danger Mouse.

In 1974 he narrowly escaped death when he was driving from a stage performance in Billingham to a radio interview in Middlesbrough nearby. His route took him onto the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge which consists of a "gondola", carrying passengers and cars, suspended from rails on an overhead structure. He mistook this for a conventional toll bridge and accidentally drove his car through the safety gate on the approach road and off the riverbank, landing in the safety netting below.

He underwent surgery for a brain tumour in 1979 and in the late 1980s suffered a nervous breakdown and cancer of the bladder.

He suffered from ill health for many years. In 1979, he had a life-saving operation after a haemorrhage. He also suffered from creeping paralysis and had to wear a neck brace, even on television. When Terry and June ended in 1987, he suffered a nervous breakdown. The attack was in part brought on by his public confession that he had had a series of affairs since his marriage to dancer Margaret Peden in 1957. The couple had four daughters: Sarah, Nicola, Lindsay and Sally. He was also diagnosed with cancer in 1987and died at the family home in Witley near Godalming, aged 67 from the cancer he had suffered for seven years he was surrounded by his wife Maggie and their four daughters. His doctors had sent him home when nothing more could be done to treat the disease.

He said of his last illness: "I know it would be better to give up the booze, fags and birds, but life would be so boring, wouldn't it?".

Keep in touch

Yours

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

Martin Writes:

6 5 Special and R S G that does go back and you are right about Cathy McGowanshe came off like a real twerp.

In reference to Fred Hellyer and Hilary Road I not sure where Hilary Road is but if you mean Hilary Avenue. we lived there, number 44 right opposite the school from 1956 until I moved to London in 1968 so I knew  most of the families. Hilary Avenue was on my paper boy route so that helped me meet most of the Hilary Avenue residents..But I do not recall a Fred Hellyer. If I had met him, as he was a Scout leader I would remember him as  I was a member of the 70th Drayton Troop

Looking forward to book number eight

Steve Writes: I believe that Jonathon got it wrong regards Mrs Magee's dog "Bosun" it was more a Dachshund than a Corgi!!

News and Views:

On this day 11^th December 1960-1965

On 11/12/1960 the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Armchair Theatre (ABC) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

11/12/1961 the number one single was Tower of Strength - Frankie Vaughan The top rated TV show was "Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmatians. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Sunday Night at the London Palladium.

11/12/1962 the number one single was Lovesick Blues - Frank Ifield and the number one album was On Stage with the Black & White Minstrels - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

11/12/1963 the number one single was She Loves You - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

11/12/1964 the number one single was Little Red Rooster - Rolling Stones and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Poet Edith Sitwell dies

11/12/1965 the number one single was The Carnival is Over - Seekers and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.