Very sad to hear that Andrew Sachs died last month, at the age of 86. It was a thrill to get to know Andrew through the official BBC celebration ‘Fawlty Towers: Fully Booked’, and later work with him more informally on the 2003 ‘Monkey’ dubbing sessions, and the outrageous comedy lunches for the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund. His comedy masterwork is, of course, Manuel; with four pop singles, public appearances and knowing resurrections of the role – notably as the hotel manager in the ‘Are You Being Served?’ film – keeping the joy flowing beyond those six perfect hours of television situation comedy. As an actor his work ranged from Brian Rix’s Whitehall farces and the Pink Panther series to an understated Doctor Watson on BBC radio; while his immigrant childhood gave an added weigh to his astonishing performance in Silent Witness: ‘The World Cruise’. His autobiography ‘I Know Nothing’ is an immensely readable record of an extraordinary, long and prolific life and talent to amuse. A talent that will keep him at the top table of actors for a long time to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Very sad to hear that Andrew Sachs died last month, at the age of 86. It was a thrill to get to know Andrew through the official BBC celebration ‘Fawlty Towers: Fully Booked’, and later work with him more informally on the 2003 ‘Monkey’ dubbing sessions, and the outrageous comedy lunches for the Cinema and … Continue reading 2nd December 2016<\/span>