John Bluthal - Biography

John Bluthal (born 12 August 1929) is a Polish-born British film and television actor, mostly in comedy. He is best known for his work with Spike Milligan and for his roles in the television series Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width and The Vicar of Dibley.

Early life

Bluthal was born in Galicia, Poland, of Jewish descent. He emigrated to Australia with his family in 1938 at the age of nine. He studied drama at the University of Melbourne, and visited England, during which time he appeared in pantomime. He worked in repertory theatre in Melbourne and was also involved in broadcasting and schools broadcasting. He appeared in drama on ABC radio, and variety, including The Shell Hour and Gaslight Music Hall, which he devised, produced and starred in.

Career

In 1960 he came to England again and appeared in Citizen James for BBC television and also in the long-running UK TV series Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width where he played Manny Cohen, a Jewish tailor in business with an Irishman in London. Also in the early 1960s, he provided the voice for Commander Zero in the television puppet series Fireball XL5. He appeared in the role of Fagin in the musical Oliver! at New Theatre, London. He has made dozens of film and TV shows since he came to England in 1959.

Bluthal also worked with Spike Milligan over several years. He appeared as several characters in Milligan and John Antrobus' stage play The Bed-Sitting Room, which opened at the Mermaid Theatre on 31 January 1963. He also worked with Milligan on the television series Q and its radio counterpart The Milligan Show. Beyond The Bed-Sitting Room, he had previously worked with Milligan in the radio comedy series The Idiot Weekly and The Omar Khayyam Show. Bluthal is a man of many voices, like Milligan's former radio colleague Peter Sellers, and he was used somewhat like Sellers in Milligan's later work.

Some of his other television appearances include: The episode "Sykes and A Bath", broadcast on 25 January 1961, in series three of Sykes and A..., Allo 'Allo!, Hancock, Minder, The Avengers, Rumpole of the Bailey, Jonathan Creek, Lovejoy, Bergerac, and Inspector Morse, as well as appearing as "Major Cheeseburger", in The Goodies episode "Clown Virus". He also appeared on the Australian comedy/satire series The Mavis Bramston Show and as "Enzo Pacelli" in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation comedy television series Home Sweet Home.

In 1975, Bluthal took the part of Richard Armitage, described as "an Orthodox London Jew", in The Melting Pot. This was a sitcom written by Spike Milligan and Neil Shand, which was cancelled by the BBC after just one episode had been broadcast. Bluthal also appeared as "Chalky", a hospital patient, in the episode "I Gotta Horse" of the comedy television series Doctor Down Under (the Australian series of the British comedy television series Doctor in the House — which also starred Robin Nedwell as Dr. Duncan Waring and Geoffrey Davies as Dr. Dick Stuart-Clark).

His films appearances include: The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965), three Carry On films, two of the Doctor films, and also The Beatles' films A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965), dual roles in Casino Royale (1967), and appearing in two of the Pink Panther films. Bluthal also played several characters in The Great McGonagall (1974), by Spike Milligan and Joseph McGrath, based on the life of William McGonagall. He portrayed an Egyptologist in the year 1914 for the first part of the film The Fifth Element (1997) and Karl, using a wheelchair, in Dark City (1998). He also appeared in the comedy, Beware of Greeks Bearing Guns (2000).

His latest appearances have been in the sitcom The Vicar of Dibley as the fastidious minutes-taker Frank Pickle and the 2004 film Love's Brother.

Selected filmography

• The Mouse on the Moon (1963)
• This Is My Street (1964)
• Carry On Spying (1964), The Head Waiter
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)
• A Ghost of a Chance (1968)
• Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968)
• The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (1968)
• A Talent for Loving (1969)
• Doctor in Trouble (1970)
• Carry On Henry (1971), Royal Tailor
• Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World (1973)
• Just One More Time (1974)
• The Irishman (1978)
• Superman III (1983)
• Labyrinth (1986)
• The Fifth Element (1997)
• Dark City (1998)

External links

• John Bluthal – TV.com
• John Bluthal – BBC Comedy Guide