21-600: Stanley James Carroll Beck (21 February 1929 – 6 August 1973) was an English television actor. He appeared in a number of programmes, but is best known for the role of Private Walker , a cockney spiv , in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army from the show's beginning in 1968 until his sudden death in 1973. Beck was born on 21 February 1929 in Islington , North London , and attended Popham Road Primary School. After attending Saint Martin's School of Art and doing his national service as
42-657: A physical training instructor in the British Army , Beck became an actor. In 1949, Beck made his career acting debut in Little Lambs Eat Ivy at the Granville Theatre, Ramsgate . and followed in Peace Comes to Peckham and Miranda , at the same venue later that year. In 1954, he starred in A Murder Has Been Arranged at Bridgwater Town Hall , He joined 'Unicorn Players', and performed in seven different plays at
63-417: A pilot for an uncommissioned series called Bunclarke With an E (1973), which was to be based on scripts originally written for Hancock's Half Hour and in which Arthur Lowe was also to appear. By 1973, Beck had recorded five series of Dad's Army and had nearly finished working on the sixth, besides working on the radio series of the show. All of the location filming and studio recording for five of
84-406: Is a valuable asset to the platoon. This is owing to his many black market "business" connections and his ability to mysteriously conjure up almost anything that, due to the war , has become rationed or is no longer available in the shops. Possessing keen improvisational skills and cunning, Walker is usually responsible for getting the platoon out of the many scrapes they find themselves in. He
105-498: Is allergic to corned beef , which is why he has not been called up for the regular army, although it is generally assumed that he has found a way to dodge the rules. This allergy was revealed in the episode " The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker ", in which he was conscripted, only to be discharged when it was found that corned beef fritters were the only rations left for the soldiers to eat. Walker's final appearance
126-411: Is constantly on the lookout for opportunities to make a few bob , often attempting to sell black market supplies to his platoon comrades, and various influential people, often at high prices and from dubious sources. A ladies' man, Walker is seen with several girlfriends across the series; the most prominent of these is Shirley/Edith (played by Wendy Richard ), who is seen in several episodes. Walker
147-474: The Palace Theatre, Paignton between 1955-1957. From 1958 to 1967, he was a regular performer in many different plays at York Theatre Royal . He concentrated on television and his early broadcast roles included Charlie Bell in an episode of Dr Finlay's Casebook (Series 1 episode 4, "Conduct Unbecoming", 1962), and was cast as a policeman in a 1965 episode of Coronation Street , in a storyline concerning
168-535: The British television sitcom Dad's Army . Appearing in the first six series, Walker was one of the seven primary characters in Dad's Army . Scriptwriter Jimmy Perry originally intended to play the part of Private Walker himself, but was advised against it by his co-writer David Croft . The character was based on a spiv character created and performed by British comedian and actor Arthur English . A cockney , Walker
189-480: The brilliance of the earlier episodes, perhaps indicating how integral Beck's dodgy spiv character was to the mix." The Recruit (Dad%27s Army) " The Recruit " is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British television sitcom Dad's Army . It was originally transmitted on 12 December 1973. Captain Mainwaring is indisposed due to an ingrowing toenail , so Sergeant Wilson takes charge temporarily of
210-537: The collapse of a house and in a 1967 episode in a storyline concerning a train crash. He also appeared, uncredited, as a policeman in Gideon's Way (1965), and was often seen in TV drama, with one-off roles in series such as The Troubleshooters (1965, 1967, 1970) and in 1968, with Peter Cushing in the episode "The Blue Carbuncle", the BBC's Sherlock Holmes . In 1968, he was offered
231-405: The official papers for the vicar and verger have already been sent to GHQ. Mainwaring states that he will not go easy on the two of them. On their first night on watch, the vicar and the verger have a run-in with a young boy who gives them nothing but trouble. The boy mocks them by answering "Adolf" when challenged by "Halt! Who goes there?" Unable to handle the situation, they call for the rest of
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#1732868688537252-483: The planned seven episodes of Series Six had been completed when Beck suddenly fell ill while opening a school fête in aid of Guide Dogs for the Blind . He returned home and within an hour was taken to Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton suffering from pancreatitis . He died three weeks later, due to a combination of heart failure, renal failure and pancreatitis, aged 44. The last time Beck's Dad's Army co-stars saw him alive
273-403: The platoon. When, however, he allows the vicar and the verger to join the ranks, the rest of the men are far from happy. With Captain Mainwaring absent from the platoon, Sergeant Wilson signs on two new recruits into the platoon, the vicar and the verger. When Mainwaring returns from hospital, he learns of the changes that Wilson has made and does not approve. However he can do nothing about it as
294-455: The role of Private Walker in Dad's Army , originally written by Jimmy Perry for himself. Perry approved of the casting of Beck: "He had the right mix of cheekiness and charm. He gave the role a bit of oomph." Always in demand, he continued to work on TV programmes including A Family at War (1970) and Romany Jones (1972–73), in which he played the lead character of Bert Jones. He also recorded
315-504: The section, who identify the boy as a local troublemaker. Mainwaring arrives and asserts his authority on the boy and tells him to clear off. The boy states that he is going to "tell his Uncle Willie", who turns out to be the Chief Warden, Hodges. Hodges confronts Mainwaring and his platoon about the way they treated his nephew. After a war of words breaks out between Hodges and the platoon, his nephew states that "they are almost as funny as
336-460: The war, as he is seen attending the launch of Mainwaring's " I'm Backing Britain " campaign in a scene set in 1968 in the first episode. Following Beck's death, war reporter Private Cheeseman , played by Talfryn Thomas , was brought into the series. He had previously made a cameo appearance in the episode " My British Buddy ". In the radio series of Dad's Army , Graham Stark took over the role of Walker following Beck's death until Larry Martyn
357-545: Was born in 1906, and raised in Plainstow , East London . He is the second-youngest member of the platoon, the youngest being Private Pike . A pleasant and amiable, if slightly shifty, personality, Walker is nevertheless a constant thorn in Captain Mainwaring 's side, for he does not share Mainwaring's idealism . However, despite this, he is a good-natured man, who is loyal to his commanding officer and platoon comrades and
378-521: Was cast to portray Walker for the remaining radio series. John Bardon played Walker in the stage production from 1975–76. Daniel Mays played Walker in the 2016 feature film , while Mathew Horne portrayed Walker in Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes in 2019. Co-writer Jimmy Perry approved of the casting of Beck: "He had the right mix of cheekiness and charm. He gave the role a bit of oomph." Historian Mark Lewisohn wrote that, following Beck's death in 1973, "The subsequent series failed to match
399-451: Was in the episode " Things That Go Bump in the Night ". Beck had only completed the location filming for this episode, filmed some time before the studio recordings, when he fell ill and died on 6 August 1973. His character was last mentioned in the following episode, " The Recruit ", in which it was explained that Walker had "gone up to the smoke " to "do a deal". However, the character survived
420-593: Was on Friday 13 July 1973 at the Playhouse Theatre in London where he recorded two radio episodes of Dad's Army (which ran alongside the TV series). The following afternoon Beck suddenly became ill. His death was a great shock to his fellow cast members, as well as to Jimmy Perry and David Croft . Perry has said that heavy drinking was common in show business at the time, and that he paid little attention to Beck's habit until "I saw Jimmy’s legs and they were purple. It
441-502: Was the last episode he appeared in before he died". In the episode, " The Recruit " (the series 6 finale), Mainwaring reads a note written by Walker apologising for his absence, as he has gone "up to the Smoke" (to London) to conduct one of his deals. Private Walker Private Joe Walker is a fictional black market spiv (or "wholesales supplier", as he describes it) and Home Guard platoon member, first portrayed by James Beck in
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