Erik Chitty was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 film and television actor.

Early life

Chitty was the son of a flour miller. He attended Dover College

Dover College

Dover College is a co-educational independent school in Dover in southeast England. It was founded in 1871, and takes both day pupils and boarders....

 and Jesus College, Cambridge

Jesus College, Cambridge

Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...

 where he was one of the founders of the Cambridge University Mummers, before training at RADA

Rada

Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....

 and becoming a professional actor. He then ran his own repertory

Repertory

Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...

 company in Frinton-on-Sea

Frinton-on-Sea

Frinton-on-Sea is a small seaside town in the Tendring District of Essex, England. It is part of the Parish of Frinton and Walton.-History:...

.

Career

His television credits included a major role as "Mr. Smith" in Please Sir!

Please Sir!

Please Sir! was a London Weekend Television produced situation comedy, created by writers John Esmonde and Bob Larbey and featured the actors John Alderton, Deryck Guyler, Joan Sanderson, Noel Howlett, Erik Chitty and Richard Davies...

, and multiple appearances in Dad's Army

Dad's Army

Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...

, Raffles, Doctor Who

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

, Danger Man

Danger Man

Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...

, Maigret

Maigret

Jules Maigret, Maigret to most people, including his wife, is a fictional police detective, actually a commissaire or commissioner of the Paris "Brigade Criminelle" , created by writer Georges Simenon.Seventy-five novels and twenty-eight short stories about Maigret were published between 1931 and...

, Man About the House

Man About the House

Man About the House is a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox and Sally Thomsett that was broadcast for six seasons on ITV from 1973 to 1976. It was created and written by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke. The series was considered daring at the time due to its subject matter of...

and The Goodies

The Goodies (TV series)

The Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...

.

His film appearances included Chance of a Lifetime

Chance of a Lifetime (film)

Chance of a Lifetime is a 1950 British film starring, produced, part-written and directed by Bernard Miles. It was nominated for the 1951 BAFTA for Best British Film, to which it was beaten by The Blue Lamp.-Plot:...

(1950), John Wesley

John Wesley (film)

John Wesley is a 1954 British historical film directed by Norman Walker and starring Leonard Sachs, Neil Heayes and Keith Pyott. It depicts the life of the father of Methodism, John Wesley, and his life.-Cast:* Leonard Sachs ... John Wesley...

(1954), Raising the Wind

Raising the Wind (1961 film)

Raising the Wind is a 1961 British comedy film written by Bruce Montgomery and directed by Gerald Thomas. It starred James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips, Kenneth Williams, Liz Fraser, Eric Barker and Sid James...

(1961), First Men in the Moon (1964), and Doctor Zhivago (1965).

Personal life

Chitty was married to the former actress Hester Bevan and had two daughters and one son. He was also a keen genealogist

Genealogy

Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...

.

External links

• Erik Chitty - BBC Guide to Comedy
• Erik Chitty - Movies.com website