Another little piece of childhood ebbs away...
Windsor Davies - the archetypal Welshman, always called upon to play bombastic authoritarian figures in such prime-time favourite telly comedies as It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Never The Twain, who was actually born in Canning Town in London's East End - is dead.
A real-life veteran of National Service, he was ideally placed to play the overbearing Battery Sergeant-Major Williams in It Ain't Half Hot Mum, whose entire premise was the misadventures of a troupe of conscripted soldiers-turned-entertainers in the British peace-keeping mission in the jungles of Malaya in the 50s. Contrary to his "big-bad-bully" image however, just about everyone who worked with him praised his gentle and generous nature.
His comedic talents were second-to-none - not least when someone discovered the fact that the show's diminutive character "Lofty" aka Don Estelle had, in fact, the most beautiful singing voice and he and Mr Davies were teamed up (in character) to produce this memorable duet; which was a million-selling Number 1 hit in our charts in 1975!
RIP, Windsor Davies (28th August 1930 – 17th January 2019)
