Leslie Phillips obituary: The comedy Casanova who made it to Hogwarts

Leslie Phillips, who has died aged 98, will forever be remembered for playing a lecherous old rake.

But his comic gifts masked the range of his acting ability. He received equal acclaim for his roles in Chekhov and Shakespeare.

In fact, Phillips was not particularly proud of his Carry On films, primarily because he saw himself as a serious actor.

But for many, he will forever be the man who oozed faux-suave male lust; the older man hopelessly chatting up attractive women with a “Hell-ay-o!” and “Ding Dong!”

Cockney youth

Leslie Samuel Phillips was born in Tottenham, north London on 20 April 1924. For a man known as a toff, his roots were thoroughly working-class.

His father, Frederick, worked in a factory making cookers, where filthy conditions led to his death at the age of 44. Young Leslie was just seven years old.

This left his mother, Cecilia, to bring up three children on her own. Sensing Leslie had talent as an actor, she sent him to the Italia Conti theatre school to have his broad cockney accent transformed.

The move paid off earlier than expected. By Christmas 1937, Phillips had landed himself a role in Peter Pan at the London Palladium and was able to supplement the family’s meagre income.

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Leslie Phillips became renowned for acting roles where he was surrounded by glamorous women

Despite his later success, he always remembered how poor they had been. He found it difficult to turn down work for fear that he would end up back in poverty.

A year later, he made his first film appearance, in Lassie from Lancashire. He left school at 14, absorbing the experiences and mannerisms of the show-business folk he now mixed with, in lieu of a formal education.

Army officer

As war broke out Phillips was playing juvenile leads in London’s West End, where performances were frequently interrupted by the Luftwaffe.

He also worked in the box office and as an aide for stars such as Vivien Leigh. “She was sweet,” he recalled. “She used to kiss me when she came into the theatre.”

In 1942, when he was old enough to join up, his new posh accent helped him be selected for officer training with the Royal Artillery, before he transferred to the Durham Light Infantry.

Image source, Rex Features Image caption,

Penelope Bartley was the first of Phillips’ three wives, with whom he had four children

But he was discharged just weeks before D-Day. Training alongside thunderous artillery had left his nervous system in ribbons.

“I was in a terrible mess,” he said. “I was not terribly well and literally at a crossroads of my life. I didn’t want to be an actor. I thought I ought to get a proper job.”

But an old contact offered him a part on stage, and slowly he was drawn back.

In the 1950s, he began making significant progress in the film industry – starring in Brothers in Law and The Smallest Show on Earth.

He also became known for his a character in the hit BBC radio show, The Navy Lark – a clueless officer, who featured alongside Jon Pertwee and Ronnie Barker.

Image source, Getty Images Image caption,

Leslie Phillips and Jon Pertwee starred in The Navy Lark

His catchphrase, “left hand down a bit”, usually heralded a resounding crash as HMS Troutbridge ploughed into the nearest jetty.

In 1956, he went to Hollywood – to work with Gene Kelly in Les Girls. But he missed England too much to stay.

Ding Dong!

Three years later, he was paid a “measly 500 quid” to appear as Jack Bell, a patient suffering from terrible bunions, in the second Carry On film, Carry On Nurse.

It was just five weeks’ work, but one scene came forever to define his public image.

Image source, Studiocanal/REX/Shutterstock Image caption,

Ding Dong! Leslie Phillips played the libidinous patient Jack Bell in Carry On Nurse

A sexy nurse, played by future Bond girl Shirley Eaton, politely greets him with the inquiry: “Mr Bell?”

Phillips’ reply, “Ding dong! You’re not wrong”, became the catchphrase that would pursue him for years. To his irritation, he was always asked to repeat it for strangers on the tube.

He never regarded himself as one of the core Carry On cast – although he did appear in both Carry On Teacher and Carry On Constable.

He found the filming a riot. Kenneth Williams once held up traffic in Ealing wearing a police uniform, before taking a pee in the street – to the helpless amusement of his fellow actors. But Phillips never quite understood why the films held such an enduring appeal.

Image source, Rex Features Image caption,

Phillips played opposite Shirley Eaton in Carry On Constable.

“In the old days most of the Carry On films would have died a natural death after doing the rounds at the cinemas,” he said. “But then television came along, and they were absolutely flogged to death.”

Hell-ay-o!

In 1960, Phillips appeared in another classic British comedy series and acquired a second catchphrase.

In Doctor In Love, he played Dr Tony Burke, who greeted attractive women with a suggestive drawl: “Hell-ay-o!” The character was probably based on acting colleague – and fellow portrayer of cads – Terry-Thomas.

In later life, Phillips grew tired of playing libidinous, cravat-wearing libertines and took the brave decision to shelve light comedy, and have a go at serious stuff.

Image source, Rex Features Image caption,

Hell-ay-o! Leslie Phillips made a conscious decision in later life to break away from playing lecherous older men

“I felt I was in a bit of a rut,” he recalled. “It wasn’t necessarily a bad rut, and some people might actually want to be in that particular rut, but I wanted to get out.”

For him, his career high came as Falstaff, in The Merry Wives of Windsor, on stage in Stratford. “That was very exciting,” he recalled. “It thrilled me to pieces.”

He appeared in a series of well received films – including Out of Africa and Empire of the Sun. Television work included dramas such as Chancer and Summer’s Lease.

That famous voice was heard by a new generation, as the Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter series. He made a similar contribution to the Lara Croft movie, Tomb Raider.

The legendary on-screen seducer was married three times, first to fellow-actor Penelope Bartley in the 1940s and then to former Bond girl Angela Scoular.

When Bartley died in a fire in 1981, Phillips decided to stay on tour in Australia and not to attend the funeral. He admitted in his autobiography that his family found that hard to take.

Angela Scoular took her own life in 2011 – having lived with cancer and bipolar disorder. In December 2013, at the age of 89, Phillips married his third wife, Zara Carr.

Image source, Ronald Grant Archive Image caption,

Leslie Phillips appeared in Empire of the Sun in 1987, with Christian Bale

Leslie Phillips will be remembered for his impeccable comic timing and that silky, suggestive voice.

He was a natural comedian – a peerless echo of the type of man who used to twirl his moustache and drive an open-top MG.

But he worked hard in the twilight of his career to prove himself a serious actor.

He starred with Peter O’Toole in the popular comedy, Venus, for which he received a Bafta nomination in 2007. A year later, he was made a CBE.

It was testament to his determination that he tried to break away from playing comedy Casanovas – and a measure of his talent that he succeeded.

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