|
An actor, Inman was best known as "Mr. Humphries" on the Brit sitcom Are You Being Served? (1972-1985), set in a London department store. Originally, Humphries was a side character in a cheap suit who only had five lines of dialogue in the pilot episode. But producer David Croft asked Inman to "camp it up" -- and Inman pushed it to the hilt, calling out "I'm free!" and mincing over when a customer stopped in. Gay rights groups protested the stereotypical swishiness, but the character was well loved by the public, including in the U.S. where it ran on PBS. The show was thrust to the top of the British charts and ran for 13 years. Comedy seemed to be in Inman's blood: his first job was as a window dresser at, yes, a London department store. During his off times, he'd stand still in the window himself with a sign around his neck reading: "Available in Other Colours". In 1976 he won the BBC's Personality of the Year and TV Times's Funniest Man On Television award. In recent years Inman suffered chronic ill health, including hepatitis. He died March 8 at 71.
From This is True for 4 March 2007
Suggestions for further reading:
Are You Being Served?: The Inside Story of Britain's Funniest--And Public Tel...
by Adrian Rigelsford, Anthony Brown, Geoff Tibballs
Amazon Price:
Customer Review: Great book about a great show. The pictures of the cast both from the show and behind the scenes are worth the price of the book alone.
Are You Being Served?: A Celebration of Twenty-Five Years
by Richard Webber, David Croft, Jeremy Lloyd
Amazon Price:
Customer Review: This is a Book, that all you fans of "Are You Being Served?" should own. I had read the review here, and it is true to it's word, the book is great! For those who want to know about the beloved cast, this is for you! Although it is sad to see our ...
The Are You Being Served? Stories: 'Camping In' and Other Fiascoes
by Jeremy Lloyd
Amazon Price:
Customer Review: I'm a big fan of Are you Being Served, the long running British sit com set in a London Department store, so when I saw this title "Camping in and Other Fiascos" by the show's long time producer, I Thought it would be a behind the scenes peek at a sh...
Are You Being Served?: Camping In
Amazon Price: $18.96
Are You Being Served?: New Tools for Measuring Service Delivery
by Samia Amin, Jishnu Das, Markus Goldstein
Amazon Price: $40.00
Newsfeed display by CaRP |
About the HUs
About This is True
Prev: Propagandist Lothar-Guenther Buchheim
Next: The Smoke-Free Peter VanVechten Hamill
Complete Name List
|
