George Layton
Encyclopedia
George Layton is an English
actor
, director, screenwriter
and author
. He was educated at Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School
in Bradford and later studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts where he won the Emile Littler award. He went on to leading parts at Coventry
and Nottingham
and appeared on Broadway in Chips with Everything
. He also appeared in an Australian production called Funny Peculiar.
He is best known for two television roles: that of Junior Dr Paul Collier in the comedy series Doctor in the House
and its first two sequels Doctor at Large and Doctor in Charge, and that of Bombardier 'Solly' Solomons in the first two series of It Ain't Half Hot Mum
.
, West Riding of Yorkshire
, England
. His early television work includes Swizzlewick
, Enter Solly Gold, United!, Thirty-Minute Theatre, Detective, What's In It For Me? and Lay Down Your Arms. He also made guest appearances in many classic British series, including The Likely Lads
, Z-Cars
, The Liver Birds
, The Sweeney
, and played the lead in Len and the River Mob
. In 1969 he played a small role in the Doctor Who
story The Space Pirates
.
Later that year he made his debut as boisterous medical student Paul Collier in Doctor in the House
. As well as continuing to star in the series and its sequels, in 1971 he began to co-write episodes with former co-star Jonathan Lynn
, the first under the pseudonym Oliver Fry to conceal the new writer's identity from his fellow cast members.
At the end of the Doctor In Charge series in 1973 he left the show (although he stayed on as a writer), and the following year he appeared in the first two series of It Ain't Half Hot Mum
as Bombardier 'Solly' Solomons. He then joined forces with Jonathan Lynn once again to co-write and co-star in another sitcom My Brother's Keeper. He also appeared in Carry On Behind
in 1975 playing a hospital doctor.
Layton was also one of the main presenters on the original series of That's Life!
, hosted by Esther Rantzen
.
His other television writing credits with Jonathan Lynn include episodes of On the Buses
, Nearest and Dearest
, Romany Jones
and My Name Is Harry Worth
.
In the mid-1970s he and Lynn began to write separately, and Layton became a regular writer of Robin's Nest
, in which he also played a guest character. Following this, he created and wrote the sitcoms Don't Wait Up
starring Nigel Havers
and Tony Britton
and Executive Stress
with Geoffrey Palmer
and Penelope Keith
. In 1990, Don't Wait Up won the Television and Radio Industries Club's ‘Best Comedy Series’ award
.
Throughout the 1980s, as well as playing a recurring character in the hit comedy-drama Minder
, he provided voices for the children's cartoons Pigeon Street
and Joshua Jones, and was the voice behind Sydney, a character in a tremendously popular and long-running advertising campaign for Tetley
tea.
After a brief return to the role of Paul Collier in 1991's Doctor At The Top, he starred in the hit comedy-drama series Sunburn
(1999–2000), playing Alan Brooks, area manager of Janus Holidays in Cyprus. His most recent acting appearances have been in Doctors and Holby City
. In 2006, he made five appearances in Dictionary Corner on the game show Countdown
and made a guest appearance in an episode of Heartbeat.
On 18 January 1999 George Layton was the subject of This is Your Life
.
George's less well-known voiceover work includes TV commercials for various financial products, and narration of promotional videos for property speculators Inside Track
.
George is an avid Bradford City fan.
As director:
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...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, director, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. He was educated at Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School
Belle Vue Boys' School
Belle Vue Boys' School is a secondary school in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.-Admissions:The school motto, , means "Ask not what you can do for yourself but what you can do for the world". It is situated near the Hallmark Cards factory, not far from Bingley Road . It has a sixth form, like...
in Bradford and later studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts where he won the Emile Littler award. He went on to leading parts at Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
and Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
and appeared on Broadway in Chips with Everything
Chips with Everything
Chips with Everything is a 1962 play by Arnold Wesker. The play shows class attitudes at the time by examining the life of a corporal.In 1963, the play opened in the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway. British actor Alan Dobie made his Broadway debut as Corporal Hill....
. He also appeared in an Australian production called Funny Peculiar.
He is best known for two television roles: that of Junior Dr Paul Collier in the comedy series Doctor in the House
Doctor in the House (TV series)
Doctor in the House is the syndicated title given, by the United States, to a British television comedy series , based on a set of books and a movie of the same name by Richard Gordon about the misadventures of a group of medical students — and their later misadventures as doctors.The first...
and its first two sequels Doctor at Large and Doctor in Charge, and that of Bombardier 'Solly' Solomons in the first two series of It Ain't Half Hot Mum
It Ain't Half Hot Mum
It Ain't Half Hot Mum was a British sitcom about the adventures of a Royal Artillery Concert Party, broadcast on the BBC between 1974 and 1981, and written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army...
.
Life and career
Layton was born in BradfordBradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
, West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
, England
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...
. His early television work includes Swizzlewick
Swizzlewick
Swizzlewick was a twice weekly 1964 BBC comedy drama series about the day-to-day events of a local council in a fictional Midlands town. The writers included David Turner who created the series....
, Enter Solly Gold, United!, Thirty-Minute Theatre, Detective, What's In It For Me? and Lay Down Your Arms. He also made guest appearances in many classic British series, including The Likely Lads
The Likely Lads
The Likely Lads was a black-and-white British sitcom created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and produced by Dick Clement. Twenty episodes were broadcast by the BBC, in three series, between 16 December 1964 and 23 July 1966...
, Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
, The Liver Birds
The Liver Birds
The Liver Birds is a British situation comedy, set in Liverpool, Merseyside, North-West of England, which aired on BBC1 from 1969 to 1978, and again in 1996. It was created by Carla Lane and Myra Taylor. The two Liverpool housewives had met at a local writers club and decided to pool their talents...
, The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
, and played the lead in Len and the River Mob
Len and the River Mob
Len and the River Mob was a ten part 1968 Look and Read serial produced by the BBC and which was written by Roy Brown.-Story:Len Tanner has moved to London with his friend Pat and her mum, Mrs Green; he gets a job at the docks working for Mr Moon, which involves lifting boxes, crates and sacks from...
. In 1969 he played a small role in the 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...
story The Space Pirates
The Space Pirates
The Space Pirates is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1969.-Plot:...
.
Later that year he made his debut as boisterous medical student Paul Collier in Doctor in the House
Doctor in the House (TV series)
Doctor in the House is the syndicated title given, by the United States, to a British television comedy series , based on a set of books and a movie of the same name by Richard Gordon about the misadventures of a group of medical students — and their later misadventures as doctors.The first...
. As well as continuing to star in the series and its sequels, in 1971 he began to co-write episodes with former co-star Jonathan Lynn
Jonathan Lynn
Jonathan Lynn is an English actor, comedy writer and director. He is best known for being the co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.-Personal life:...
, the first under the pseudonym Oliver Fry to conceal the new writer's identity from his fellow cast members.
At the end of the Doctor In Charge series in 1973 he left the show (although he stayed on as a writer), and the following year he appeared in the first two series of It Ain't Half Hot Mum
It Ain't Half Hot Mum
It Ain't Half Hot Mum was a British sitcom about the adventures of a Royal Artillery Concert Party, broadcast on the BBC between 1974 and 1981, and written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army...
as Bombardier 'Solly' Solomons. He then joined forces with Jonathan Lynn once again to co-write and co-star in another sitcom My Brother's Keeper. He also appeared in Carry On Behind
Carry On Behind
Carry On Behind is the twenty-seventh Carry On film and was released in 1975. The film was the first not to feature Sid James since Follow That Camel seven years previously. It was also the first not to be scripted by Talbot Rothwell since Carry On Cruising 13 years previously. James was busy...
in 1975 playing a hospital doctor.
Layton was also one of the main presenters on the original series of That's Life!
That's Life!
That's Life! was a magazine-style television series on BBC1 between 26 May 1973 and 19 June 1994, presented by Esther Rantzen throughout the entire run, with various changes of co-presenters. The show was generally recorded about an hour prior to transmission, which was originally on Saturday...
, hosted by Esther Rantzen
Esther Rantzen
Esther Louise Rantzen CBE is an English journalist and television presenter who is best known for presenting the BBC television series That's Life!, and for her work in various charitable causes. She is founder of the child protection charity ChildLine, and also advocates the work of the Burma...
.
His other television writing credits with Jonathan Lynn include episodes of On the Buses
On The Buses
On the Buses was a British situation comedy created by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney which was broadcast in the UK from 1969 to 1973. The writers' previous successes with The Rag Trade and Meet the Wife were for the BBC, but the Corporation rejected On the Buses, not seeing much comedy potential...
, Nearest and Dearest
Nearest and Dearest
Nearest and Dearest is a British television sitcom that ran from 1968 to 1973. A total of 46 episodes were made, 18 in monochrome and 28 in colour...
, Romany Jones
Romany Jones
Romany Jones is a British sitcom made by LWT, It starred Arthur Mullard and Queenie Watts as Wally and Lily Briggs and was broadcast between 1973 and 1975, The show was originally designed as a vehicle for James Beck , involving the comic misadventures of two layabout families living on a caravan...
and My Name Is Harry Worth
Harry Worth
Harry Worth was an English comedy actor and comedian...
.
In the mid-1970s he and Lynn began to write separately, and Layton became a regular writer of Robin's Nest
Robin's Nest
Robin's Nest is a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan as Robin Tripp, one of the lead characters in the sitcom Man About the House, which had ended in 1976. Robin's Nest aired for six series from 1977 to 1981, and co-starred Tessa Wyatt as Robin's girlfriend and later wife and Tony Britton...
, in which he also played a guest character. Following this, he created and wrote the sitcoms Don't Wait Up
Don't Wait Up
Don't Wait Up is a British sitcom that aired for six series from 1983 to 1990 on BBC1. It starred Nigel Havers, Tony Britton and Dinah Sheridan, and was written by George Layton...
starring Nigel Havers
Nigel Havers
Nigel Allan Havers is an English actor. He is probably best known for his BAFTA-nominated role as Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film Chariots of Fire, and for his role as Dr. Tom Latimer in the British TV comedy series Don't Wait Up...
and Tony Britton
Tony Britton
Anthony Edward Lowry "Tony" Britton is an English actor. He is the father of presenter Fern Britton, scriptwriter Cherry Britton and actor Jasper Britton.-Life and career:...
and Executive Stress
Executive Stress
Executive Stress is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1986 to 1988. Produced by Thames Television, it first aired on 20 October 1986. After three series, the last episode aired on 27 December 1988....
with Geoffrey Palmer
Geoffrey Palmer (actor)
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE is an English actor, best known for his roles in sitcoms such as Butterflies and As Time Goes By.-Career:...
and Penelope Keith
Penelope Keith
Penelope Anne Constance Keith, CBE, DL is an English actress.Having started her television career in the 1950s, Penelope Keith became a household name in the United Kingdom in the 1970s when she played Margo Leadbetter in the sitcom The Good Life...
. In 1990, Don't Wait Up won the Television and Radio Industries Club's ‘Best Comedy Series’ award
Award
An award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...
.
Throughout the 1980s, as well as playing a recurring character in the hit comedy-drama Minder
Minder (TV series)
Minder is a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV...
, he provided voices for the children's cartoons Pigeon Street
Pigeon Street
Pigeon Street was an animated children's television series originally shown on the BBC in 1981 as part of its 'See-saw' strand for pre-schoolers. There were two series with eight and five episodes respectively, each programme lasting fifteen minutes...
and Joshua Jones, and was the voice behind Sydney, a character in a tremendously popular and long-running advertising campaign for Tetley
Tetley
Tetley, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Global Beverages , is the world's second largest manufacturer and distributor of tea. Owned by India's Tata Group, Tetley's manufacturing and distribution business is spread across 40 countries and sells over 60 branded tea bags...
tea.
After a brief return to the role of Paul Collier in 1991's Doctor At The Top, he starred in the hit comedy-drama series Sunburn
Sunburn (TV series)
Sunburn is a British television series that followed the lives of a group of British holiday reps. It was broadcast on BBC One between 16 January 1999 and 1 May 2000, running for two series of six and eight episodes respectively. The first was set and filmed in Cyprus and the second in Algarve...
(1999–2000), playing Alan Brooks, area manager of Janus Holidays in Cyprus. His most recent acting appearances have been in Doctors and Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
. In 2006, he made five appearances in Dictionary Corner on the game show Countdown
Countdown (game show)
Countdown is a British game show involving word and number puzzles. It is produced by ITV Studios and broadcast on Channel 4. It is presented by Jeff Stelling, assisted by Rachel Riley, with regular lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be aired on Channel 4, and over sixty-five...
and made a guest appearance in an episode of Heartbeat.
On 18 January 1999 George Layton was the subject of This is Your Life
This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience including friends and family.Edwards...
.
George's less well-known voiceover work includes TV commercials for various financial products, and narration of promotional videos for property speculators Inside Track
Inside Track
Inside Track was a British property investment information company that went into administration in April 2008 following a downturn in the UK property market...
.
George is an avid Bradford City fan.
Television roles
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1969–73, 1991 | Doctor in the House Doctor in the House (TV series) Doctor in the House is the syndicated title given, by the United States, to a British television comedy series , based on a set of books and a movie of the same name by Richard Gordon about the misadventures of a group of medical students — and their later misadventures as doctors.The first... Doctor at Large Doctor in Charge Doctor in Charge Doctor in Charge is a British television comedy series based on a set of books by Richard Gordon about the misadventures of a group of Doctors... Doctor at the Top Doctor at the Top Doctor at the Top is a British television comedy series based on a set of books by Richard Gordon about the misadventures of a group of doctors... |
Junior Dr Paul Collier |
| 1974–75 | It Ain't Half Hot Mum It Ain't Half Hot Mum It Ain't Half Hot Mum was a British sitcom about the adventures of a Royal Artillery Concert Party, broadcast on the BBC between 1974 and 1981, and written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army... |
Bombardier 'Solly' Solomons |
| 1975 | The Sweeney The Sweeney The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London... |
Ray Stackpole |
| 1975–76 | My Brother's Keeper | Brian Booth |
| 1981 | Pigeon Street Pigeon Street Pigeon Street was an animated children's television series originally shown on the BBC in 1981 as part of its 'See-saw' strand for pre-schoolers. There were two series with eight and five episodes respectively, each programme lasting fifteen minutes... |
Narrator |
| 1991–92 | Joshua Jones Joshua Jones (TV series) Joshua Jones was a Welsh stop-motion children's television series made by Bumper Films . It was originally shown on S4C in the Welsh language in 1991, then it was translated into English and sold to the BBC in 1992.... |
Narrator & Male Voices |
| 2011 | EastEnders EastEnders EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End... |
Regular role as Norman Simmonds |
Filmography
- Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush (1967)
- Mosquito SquadronMosquito Squadron#Mosquito Squadron is a 1969 British war film made by Oakmont Productions, directed by Boris Sagal and starring David McCallum, with a memorable music score , which was composed and conducted by Frank Cordell.-Plot:During a Second World War Royal Air Force attack against German V-1...
(1969) - Carry On BehindCarry On BehindCarry On Behind is the twenty-seventh Carry On film and was released in 1975. The film was the first not to feature Sid James since Follow That Camel seven years previously. It was also the first not to be scripted by Talbot Rothwell since Carry On Cruising 13 years previously. James was busy...
(1975) - Confessions of a Driving InstructorConfessions of a Driving InstructorConfessions of a Driving Instructor is a 1976 British sex-farce film. This was the third instalment of the Confessions sequence on the erotic adventures of Timothy Lea, based on the novels published under the name by Christopher Wood.-Premise:...
(1976) - Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977)
- Don't Go Breaking My Heart (1999)
Selected theatre
As actor:- Billy LiarBilly LiarBilly Liar is a 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse, which was later adapted into a play, a film, a musical and a TV series. The work has inspired and featured in a number of popular songs....
as Geoffrey Fisher (The King's HeadThe King's Head TheatreThe King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an Off-West End venue in London. It was the first pub theatre in the UK. Adam Spreadbury-Maher became Artistic Director in March 2010 .-Background:...
, Islington) - The Caucasian Chalk CircleThe Caucasian Chalk CircleThe Caucasian Chalk Circle is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a better mother than its natural parents....
as Lavrenti (Belgrade TheatreBelgrade TheatreThe Belgrade Theatre is a live performance venue seating 858 and situated in Coventry, England. It was the first civic theatre to be built after the Second World War in Britain and as such was more than a place of entertainment...
, CoventryCoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
) - Chicago as Amos Hart (Adelphi TheatreAdelphi TheatreThe Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) - Chips With Everything as First Corporal (Royal Court and BroadwayBroadway theatreBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
) - How To Succeed In Business Without Really TryingHow to Succeed in Business Without Really TryingHow to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name....
as Ponty (New Theatre, Bromley) - More Lies About JerzyMore Lies About JerzyMore Lies About Jerzy is a play written by Davey Holmes, inspired by the last days of the Polish-American novelist, Jerzy Kosiński.It was first produced Off-Broadway in 2001, at the Vineyard Theatre in New York City. It premiered in London at the New End Theatre and in Los Angeles at the Hayworth...
as Jerzy KosinskiJerzy KosinskiJerzy Kosiński , born Józef Lewinkopf, was an award-winning Polish American novelist, and two-time President of the American Chapter of P.E.N.He was known for various novels, among them The Painted Bird and Being There...
(New End TheatreNew End TheatreThe New End Theatre, Hampstead, was a 80-seat fringe theatre venue in London, England, located in the London Borough of Camden which operated from 1974 until 2011. It was listed widely on the internet, including with the New York Times....
, Hampstead) - The Odd Couple as Felix (Theatre Royal, Windsor)
- Oliver!Oliver!Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
as Fagin (London PalladiumLondon PalladiumThe London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
) - Twelfth Night as Feste (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry)
As director:
- Barefoot in the ParkBarefoot in the ParkThis article is about the Broadway production. For the film adaptation see Barefoot in the Park .Barefoot in the Park is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The original Broadway production, directed by Mike Nichols, opened October 23, 1963, with the four lead roles taken by actors Elizabeth Ashley ,...
(Cambridge Theatre Company) - Dangerous Corner (Cambridge Theatre Company)
- Aladdin (Theatre Royal, BathTheatre Royal, BathThe Theatre Royal in Bath, England, is over 200 years old. It is one of the more important theatres in the United Kingdom outside London, with capacity for an audience of around 900....
) - Dick Whittington (Shaw Theatre)