Jack Smethurst
{{Short description|English actor (1932–2022)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jack Smethurst
| image =
| imagesize = 150px
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1932|4|9}}
| birth_place = Collyhurst, Manchester, Lancashire, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2022|02|16|1932|4|9}}
| death_place = Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, England
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1958–2022
| spouse = {{marriage|Julie Nicholls|1957}}
| children = 4; including Adam
| relatives = Rakie Ayola
(daughter-in-law)
}}
John Smethurst (9 April 1932 – 16 February 2022) was an English television and film comic actor.{{Cite web|date=2022-02-22|title=Jack Smethurst obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/feb/22/jack-smethurst-obituary|access-date=2022-02-22|website=The Guardian|language=en}} He was best known for his role as Eddie Booth in the British television sitcom Love Thy Neighbour.
Early life
Smethurst was born on 9 April 1932 in Collyhurst, Manchester.{{Cite web|url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/obituaries/1567913/jack-Smethurst-love-thy-neighbour-Obituary|title=Actor Jack Smethurst, 1932-2022 – Obituary|first=Paul|last=Donnelley|date=19 February 2022|website=Express.co.uk|access-date=22 July 2022|archive-date=22 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722224025/https://www.express.co.uk/news/obituaries/1567913/jack-Smethurst-love-thy-neighbour-Obituary|url-status=live}} He performed national service in the Royal Air Force and trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Career
Smethurst made his film debut in 1958's Carry On Sergeant.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/jack-smethurst-p66314|title=Jack Smethurst | Movies and Filmography|publisher=AllMovie|access-date=26 May 2021|archive-date=26 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526213511/https://www.allmovie.com/artist/jack-smethurst-p66314|url-status=live}} This was followed by parts in the films Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), A Kind of Loving (1962),{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/440000/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Kind of Loving, A (1962)|publisher=www.screenonline.org.uk|access-date=19 October 2006|archive-date=31 January 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040131151247/http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/440000/index.html|url-status=live}} Run with the Wind (1966), Night After Night After Night (1970), the big-screen version of Please Sir! (1971) and the ITV sitcom For the Love of Ada (1970–71) amongst others, before he landed the role for which he is best known—that of bigoted socialist and union leader, 'brother' Eddie Booth in Love Thy Neighbour.{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/love_thy_neighbour/|title=Love Thy Neighbour—ITV Sitcom|publisher=British Comedy Guide|access-date=26 July 2017|archive-date=19 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160719192936/https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/love_thy_neighbour/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2016/09/19/25810/work_dried_up_after_love_thy_neighbour|title='Work dried up after Love Thy Neighbour' : News 2016 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide|first=Steve|last=Bennett|publisher=www.chortle.co.uk|access-date=26 May 2021|archive-date=20 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920125648/http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2016/09/19/25810/work_dried_up_after_love_thy_neighbour|url-status=live}} The programme ran for eight series between 1972 and 1976.{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/501026/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Love Thy Neighbour (1972–76)|publisher=www.screenonline.org.uk|access-date=26 July 2017|archive-date=3 October 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061003235046/http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/501026/index.html|url-status=live}} During this run he also appeared in the 1974 film version of the sitcom Man About the House.{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6afac5af|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728231341/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6afac5af|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 July 2017|title=Man about the House (1974)|publisher=BFI}} He reprised his role as Eddie Booth for the 1979 sequel Love Thy Neighbour in Australia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishclassiccomedy.co.uk/love-thy-neighbour-goes-down-under|title=Love Thy Neighbour Goes Down Under|date=19 January 2020|access-date=26 May 2021|archive-date=20 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920100419/https://www.britishclassiccomedy.co.uk/love-thy-neighbour-goes-down-under|url-status=live}}
After Love Thy Neighbour ended, Smethurst's film appearances were rare, but included Chariots of Fire (1981), the John Goodman vehicle King Ralph (1991; which re-united him with his Love Thy Neighbour co-star Rudolph Walker) and 1996's La Passione.{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f75508f|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728221831/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f75508f|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 July 2017|title=Jack Smethurst|publisher=BFI}}
Smethurst made a guest appearance as Davenport in Britain's longest-running television sitcom Last of the Summer Wine in 1997.{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b80567d79|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124152404/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b80567d79|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 January 2019|title=Deviations with Davenport (1997)|publisher=BFI}}
Smethurst played four different characters in Coronation Street: a brewery drayman in 1961, and in January 1967 Percy Bridge, who tried to con Elsie Tanner. Between 1980 and 1983, he occasionally appeared as Johnny Webb, one of the men on Eddie Yeats' bin round. In 2001, he returned for several months as Stan Wagstaff, a friend of Jimmy Kelly, who left his allotment to Jack Duckworth. Together with his brother Ernie, Stan let Jack in on Jimmy's big secret—he used his allotment shed to brew poteen.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/02/18/jack-smethurst-actor-best-known-playing-racist-shop-steward/|title=Jack Smethurst, actor best known for playing a racist shop steward in the controversial but popular sitcom Love Thy Neighbour – obituary|author=Telegraph Obituaries|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=18 February 2022|archive-date=18 February 2022|access-date=18 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218184957/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/02/18/jack-smethurst-actor-best-known-playing-racist-shop-steward/|url-status=live}}
Smethurst also starred in Vince Powell’s seven-part BBC Radio 2 slice-of-life sitcom A Proper Charlie in 1984, as factory worker Charlie Garside. Madge Hindle played his wife with Jane Hazlegrove and Jason Littler as their daughter and son.{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/ea18eed680054995b866101a50e95dc2|title=A Proper Charlie|date=10 July 1984|issue=3165|pages=46|publisher=BBC Genome|access-date=26 May 2021|archive-date=26 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526213518/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/ea18eed680054995b866101a50e95dc2|url-status=live}} A second series of eight episodes followed at the end of 1985.{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/3e8f92bfc6d442e9be442e245d407fed|title=A Proper Charlie|date=10 November 1985|issue=3234|pages=46|publisher=BBC Genome|access-date=26 May 2021|archive-date=26 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526213516/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/3e8f92bfc6d442e9be442e245d407fed|url-status=live}}
Smethurst worked on stage in Australia when he appeared in the play Run for Your Wife during 1987 and 1988, and the production toured the country. Other members of the cast were David McCallum, Eric Sykes and Katy Manning. Smethurst appeared in a production of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None in 1999.{{cite web |title=And Then There Were None |url=https://www.chesterfieldtheatrefriends.co.uk/archive/1990s/1999/and-then-there-were-none/ |publisher=Chesterfield Theatre Friends |accessdate=24 May 2020 |archive-date=16 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216151434/https://www.chesterfieldtheatrefriends.co.uk/archive/1990s/1999/and-then-there-were-none/ |url-status=dead }}
Smethurst played the "Man in Phone Box" in S5/E8 (1995) of the British sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/keeping-up-appearances/cast/1030036164/|title=Keeping Up Appearances|website=TV Guide}} In the episode, Hyacinth Bucket tries to get Smethurst's character to relinquish a public telephone booth, which leads her husband, Richard, to yell at her forcefully for the only time in the entire series.{{Cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/keeping_up_appearances/episodes/5/8/|title=Keeping Up Appearances Series 5, Episode 8|publisher=British Comedy Guide|access-date=18 February 2022|archive-date=18 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218185525/https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/keeping_up_appearances/episodes/5/8/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg8qCkUh2t0|title=Richard Raises His Voice At Hyacinth | Keeping Up Appearances|via=YouTube|access-date=18 February 2022|archive-date=18 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218185523/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg8qCkUh2t0|url-status=live}}
Personal life and death
Smethurst married actress Julie Nicholls in 1957.{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/02/18/jack-smethurst-actor-best-known-playing-racist-shop-steward/ |title=Jack Smethurst, actor best known for playing a racist shop steward in the controversial but popular sitcom Love Thy Neighbour – obituary |author=Telegraph Obituaries |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=18 February 2022 |access-date=20 February 2022 |url-access=subscription}} The couple had four children including Adam Smethurst, who also became an actor.
Smethurst died at his home in Chorleywood on 16 February 2022, aged 89.{{Cite web|date=16 February 2022|title=Great Comedy Actor Jack Smethurst Passed Away at 89|url=https://usdaynews.com/celebrities/celebrity-death/jack-smethurst-passed-away/|access-date=16 February 2022|website=US day News|language=en-CA|archive-date=16 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216171244/https://usdaynews.com/celebrities/celebrity-death/jack-smethurst-passed-away/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/jack-smethurst-star-hit-70s-23122573|title=Jack Smethurst, star of hit 70s sitcom Love Thy Neighbour, dies aged 89|first=Ramazani|last=Mwamba|date=16 February 2022|website=Manchester Evening News|access-date=16 February 2022|archive-date=16 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216192126/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/jack-smethurst-star-hit-70s-23122573|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Louis |first=Nathan |date=18 February 2022 |title=Love Thy Neighbour's Jack Smethurst, who lived locally, dies aged 89 |url=https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/19931694.love-thy-neighbour-chorleywoods-jack-smethurst-dies-aged-89/ |access-date=27 June 2022 |website=Watford Observer |language=en |archive-date=27 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627075956/https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/19931694.love-thy-neighbour-chorleywoods-jack-smethurst-dies-aged-89/ |url-status=live }}
Selected filmography
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0806856|Jack Smethurst}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smethurst, Jack}}
Category:20th-century English male actors
Category:21st-century English male actors
Category:20th-century Royal Air Force personnel
Category:Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Category:English male stage actors
Category:English male television actors
Category:Male actors from Manchester