Lance Percival
Encyclopedia
Lance Percival is an English
actor
, comedian
and after-dinner speaker.
, Percival first became well known for performing topical calypsos
on television
satire
shows such as That Was The Week That Was
. He appeared in the Carry On
film
, Carry On Cruising
(1962). He also provided the voice
of central character "Old Fred" in The Beatles
' animated film Yellow Submarine, and the 'voice' of both Paul McCartney
and Ringo Starr
in the 1965 cartoon
series based on The Beatles, simply entitled The Beatles. In 1963 Percival had a cameo role in the film The V.I.P.s
. 1964 saw Peter Tinniswood
collaborate with long-term writing partner David Nobbs
on the BBC TV comedy Lance At Large, starring Percival.
He is also the author
of books of verse, Well-Versed Cats and Well-Versed Dogs which are both illustrated by Lalla Ward
. In 1970
he starred alongside Julie Andrews
, Rock Hudson
and Jeremy Kemp
in the musical film, Darling Lili
.
He also has one UK Singles Chart
hit
, reaching number 37 in October 1965 with his cover version
of a calypso-style song entitled "Shame and Scandal in the Family
".
Between 1972 and 1978 the Thames Television
game show
, Whodunnit!
was written by Percival and Jeremy Lloyd
.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
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...
, comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and after-dinner speaker.
Biography
Educated at Sherborne SchoolSherborne School
Sherborne School is a British independent school for boys, located in the town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset, England. It is one of the original member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference....
, Percival first became well known for performing topical calypsos
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
shows such as That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme that was shown on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost...
. He appeared in the Carry On
Carry On films
The Carry On films are a series of low-budget British comedy films, directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers. They are an energetic mix of parody, farce, slapstick and double entendres....
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, Carry On Cruising
Carry On Cruising
Carry On Cruising is the sixth Carry On film and was released in 1962. It was the first in the Carry On series to be filmed in colour and was based on an original story by Eric Barker. P&O - Orient Lines were thanked in the credits. Regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams and Kenneth Connor appear in...
(1962). He also provided the voice
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
of central character "Old Fred" in The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' animated film Yellow Submarine, and the 'voice' of both Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
in the 1965 cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
series based on The Beatles, simply entitled The Beatles. In 1963 Percival had a cameo role in the film The V.I.P.s
The V.I.P.s
The V.I.P.s, also known as Hotel International, is a 1963 British drama film. It was directed by Anthony Asquith, produced by Anatole de Grunwald and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
. 1964 saw Peter Tinniswood
Peter Tinniswood
Peter Tinniswood was an English radio and TV comedy scriptwriter, and author of a series of popular cricketing novels...
collaborate with long-term writing partner David Nobbs
David Nobbs
David Gordon Nobbs is an English comedy writer.Following an education at Marlborough College and Cambridge University, Nobbs wrote for many of Britain's comedy performers over the years, including Kenneth Williams, Frankie Howerd, Les Dawson and The Two Ronnies...
on the BBC TV comedy Lance At Large, starring Percival.
He is also the 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:...
of books of verse, Well-Versed Cats and Well-Versed Dogs which are both illustrated by Lalla Ward
Lalla Ward
Sarah Ward known as Lalla Ward, is an English actor, author and illustrator. As an actor, she is known for playing the part of Romana in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is married to evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.-Early career:Ward's stage name, "Lalla", comes...
. In 1970
1970 in music
- Events :*January 3**Davy Jones announces he is leaving the Monkees**Former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett releases his first solo album The Madcap Laughs....
he starred alongside Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
, Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
and Jeremy Kemp
Jeremy Kemp
Jeremy Kemp is an English actor. He is known for his roles in the miniseries The Winds of War, The Blue Max and Z-Cars....
in the musical film, Darling Lili
Darling Lili
Darling Lili is a 1970 American musical film. The screenplay was written by William Peter Blatty and Blake Edwards, who also directed. The cast included Julie Andrews, Rock Hudson, and Jeremy Kemp.-Plot:...
.
He also has one UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, reaching number 37 in October 1965 with his cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of a calypso-style song entitled "Shame and Scandal in the Family
Shame & Scandal
"Shame & Scandal" is a song originally performed by calypso singer Sir Lancelot. The song is a reggae classic, and was written for the movie "I Walked with a Zombie" in 1943. The song was originally titled "Fort Holland Calypso Song". Trinidadian calypsonian Lord Melody used the song as the basis...
".
Between 1972 and 1978 the Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
, Whodunnit!
Whodunnit!
Whodunnit? is a British television game show, broadcast between 1972 and 1978 for ITV by Thames Television.It was written by Lance Percival and Jeremy Lloyd, and hosted first by Edward Woodward, then by Jon Pertwee...
was written by Percival and Jeremy Lloyd
Jeremy Lloyd
Jeremy Lloyd is an English writer, screenwriter, author and actor, best known as co-author and writer of several successful British sitcoms.-Career:...
.
Film
- Carry On CruisingCarry On CruisingCarry On Cruising is the sixth Carry On film and was released in 1962. It was the first in the Carry On series to be filmed in colour and was based on an original story by Eric Barker. P&O - Orient Lines were thanked in the credits. Regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams and Kenneth Connor appear in...
(1960) - On the FiddleOn the FiddleOn the Fiddle is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Sean Connery, Alfred Lynch, Cecil Parker, Stanley Holloway, Eric Barker, Mike Sarne, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Kathleen Harrison, Victor Maddern and John Le Mesurier....
(1961) - In the DoghouseIn the Doghouse"In the Doghouse" is a short story by Orson Scott Card and Jay A. Parry. It appears in his short story collection Maps in a Mirror. Card originally published this story in the December 1978 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact.-Plot summary:...
(1961) - Das Geheimnis der gelben Narzissen (1961)
- Raising the WindRaising 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) - What a WhopperWhat a WhopperWhat a Whopper is a 1961 British comedy film, written by Terry Nation.It treats the subject of the Loch Ness Monster in a rather tongue in cheek fashion...
(1961) - Postman's KnockPostman's Knock (film)Postman's Knock is a 1962 British comedy film directed by Robert Lynn and starring Spike Milligan, Barbara Shelley, John Wood and Warren Mitchell. A country postman is transferred to London, where he manages to foil a major robbery.-Cast:...
(1961) - Twice Round the DaffodilsTwice Round the DaffodilsTwice Round the Daffodils is a 1962 British comedy drama film directed by Gerald Thomas and starring Juliet Mills, Donald Sinden, Donald Houston, Kenneth Williams, Ronald Lewis, Andrew Ray, Joan Sims and Jill Ireland. A new group of patients arrive at a hospital to be treated for tuberculosis where...
(1962) - Carry on CruisingCarry On CruisingCarry On Cruising is the sixth Carry On film and was released in 1962. It was the first in the Carry On series to be filmed in colour and was based on an original story by Eric Barker. P&O - Orient Lines were thanked in the credits. Regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams and Kenneth Connor appear in...
(1962) - The V.I.P.sThe V.I.P.sThe V.I.P.s, also known as Hotel International, is a 1963 British drama film. It was directed by Anthony Asquith, produced by Anatole de Grunwald and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
(1963) - It's All Over Town (1963)
- Hide and Seek (1964)
- The Yellow Rolls-RoyceThe Yellow Rolls-Royce-External links:, a promotional short subject for the film...
(1964) - Joey BoyJoey Boy (film)Joey Boy is a 1965 British comedy war film directed by Frank Launder and starring Harry H. Corbett, Stanley Baxter, Bill Fraser, Percy Herbert, Lance Percival, Reg Varney and Thorley Walters.-Synopsis:...
(1965) - The Big JobThe Big Job (film)The Big Job is a British comedy film that was first released in 1965. It stars Sid James, Dick Emery, Joan Sims, Sylvia Syms, Jim Dale and Lance Percival....
(1965) - Yellow Submarine (1968)
- Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely DaughterMrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter (film)Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter is a 1968 British comedy film starring Peter Noone. The film showcases the British rock band, Herman's Hermits.-Cast:*Peter Noone – Herman Tulley*Keith Hopwood – Keith*Derek Leckenby – Derek*Karl Green – Karl...
(1968) - Too Late the HeroToo Late the HeroToo Late the Hero is a 1970 Anglo-American war film directed by Robert Aldrich, and starring Michael Caine, Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Ken Takakura, Denholm Elliott, Ian Bannen, Lance Percival, Ronald Fraser, Harry Andrews and Percy Herbert.-Plot:...
(1970) - Darling LiliDarling LiliDarling Lili is a 1970 American musical film. The screenplay was written by William Peter Blatty and Blake Edwards, who also directed. The cast included Julie Andrews, Rock Hudson, and Jeremy Kemp.-Plot:...
(1970) - Concerto per pistola solista (1970)
- There's a Girl in My SoupThere's a Girl in My Soup There's a Girl in My Soup is a 1970 British comedy film, directed by Roy Boulting and starring Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn. Sellers appears as Robert Danvers, a vain, womanizing and wealthy host of a high-profile cooking show...
(1970) - Up the CreekUp the CreekUp the Creek is a 1984 comedy film, directed by Robert Butler. Although the film itself was not as popular as other "college romp" films, the four lead parts all came to the film with experience in popular comedies, most notably Animal House and Porky's.-Plot summary:Bob McGraw, Max, Gonzer, and...
(1971) - Up PompeiiUp Pompeii (film)Up Pompeii is a 1971 British comedy film directed by Bob Kellett and starring Frankie Howerd and Michael Hordern. The film was shot at Elstree Film Studios, Borehamwood, England...
(1971) - Up the Chastity BeltUp the Chastity BeltUp the Chastity Belt is a 1971 British film, a spin-off from the TV series Up Pompeii! that starred Frankie Howerd and was directed by Bob Kellett.-Synopsis:...
(1971) - Up the FrontUp the FrontUp the Front is a 1972 British comedy film. It is the third film spin-off from the TV series Up Pompeii! , directed by Bob Kellett, it stars Frankie Howerd as Lurk , a coward who is hypnotised into...
(1972) - Our Miss Fred (1972)
- Confessions from a Holiday CampConfessions from a Holiday CampConfessions from a Holiday Camp is a 1977 British comedy film. It is the last film in the series which began with Confessions of a Window Cleaner.-Plot:...
(1977) - The Water BabiesThe Water Babies (film)The Water Babies is a 1978 animated feature film based on the book The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley.-Plot:When a 12-year-old chimney sweep is wrongfully blamed for being a thief, he makes a run for it, he jumps into a violent river. There he encounters a wondrous civilization of anthropomorphic...
(1978) - Rosie Dixon - Night NurseRosie Dixon - Night NurseRosie Dixon - Night Nurse is a 1978 British comedy film directed by Justin Cartwright and starring Debbie Ash, Carolyne Argyle, Beryl Reid and John Le Mesurier. It was based on a novel by Christopher Wood. A new student nurse arrives at a hospital, attracting interest from the staff with comedic...
(1978)
Television
- Citizen JamesCitizen JamesCitizen James was a BBC sitcom that ran for three series between 24 November 1960 and 1962. The show featured comedian and actor Sid James , Bill Kerr, Liz Fraser and Sydney Tafler...
- Chico the Rainmaker aka The Boy with Two HeadsChico the RainmakerChico the Rainmaker was an English TV show made by Eyeline Films and the Children's Film Foundation.It was shown in 1974 on PBS in the USA, and broadcast in many UK cinemas in the 1970s and 1980s as part of their "Saturday Matinees"....
- Who Do You Do?
- You Must Be Joking?
- Operation Snafu
- Shoestring
- The Beatles (TV series)
- Jason King (TV series)Jason King (TV series)Jason King was a British television series produced from 1971 to 1972. Each episode was one hour in duration , and the series had a run of one season of 26 episodes. As well as its native UK, the series was also screened in countries as far afield as Australia, Norway, Argentina and Peru...