Graham William Stark (20 January 1922 – 29 October 2013) was an English comedian, actor, writer and director, known for his close friendship with actor Peter Sellers and appearances in several films by director Blake Edwards, including several of The Pink Panther films and Victor/Victoria.Obituary: Graham Stark, telegraph.co.uk, 31 October 2013
Early life The son of a purser on transatlantic liners, Stark was born, on 20 January 1922, in New BrightonRobert Sellers "Graham Stark: Actor, author and director who graduated from music hall to the big screen", The Independent, 31 October 2013 (part of Wallasey) in Wirral, Cheshire, England. He attended Wallasey Grammar School and made his professional stage debut aged 13 in pantomime at the Lyceum Theatre in London.
During the Second World War he served in the RAF entertaining troops in North Africa, Burma, Italy and Germany.Michael Coveney "Graham Stark obituary", The Guardian, 31 October 2013 While there he first met Dick Emery, Tony Hancock and Peter Sellers, the latter two as fellow members of Ralph Reader's Gang Shows. Sellers would become a long-lasting close friend. With the Gang Shows, Stark toured the locations where military personnel were seeing active service. After the war he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art,Cheryl Mullin Graham Stark Obituary, Reading Post, 30 October 2013 and joined the regulars at Grafton's, a pub in Victoria run by Jimmy Grafton, a venue at which soon-to-be-prominent entertainers of the next few decades regularly gathered.
Career Stark began to work on BBC Radio in the postwar years, helped by Tony Hancock's connections, making his debut in Happy Go Lucky and going on to Ray's a Laugh, thanks to the intervention of Sellers. For a time, Stark was a regular in Educating Archie, and substituted for Spike Milligan on The Goon Show (a)pp. 159–160, (c)pp. 203–204 when the comedian was ill. Stark was a regular supporting player on TV with Sellers in A Show Called Fred and Son of Fred, and with Benny Hill. Stark's profile was sufficient for him to gain his own, albeit short-lived, sketch series, The Graham Stark Show (BBC 1964). Now entirely lost,"Missing or incomplete episodes for programme The Graham Stark Show", lostshows.com it was scripted by Johnny Speight with each episode featuring a different group of supporting actors, including Deryck Guyler, Arthur Mullard, Derek Nimmo, Patricia Hayes and Warren Mitchell. An episode of Till Death Us Do Part, called "In Sickness and in Health", 1967, where Stark plays decrepit Dr. Kelly, survives. In 1970 Stark was given his own radio sketch show, entitled Stark Raving. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 and consisted of a single series of six episodes.
Adept at comic French accents, Stark stole scenes as a hapless gendarme in Hammer's 1961 comedy A Weekend with Lulu. He became a regular performer in the Pink Panther film series. His first role in the series was as Hercule Lajoy, Inspector Clouseau's stonefaced assistant, in A Shot in the Dark (1964). Along with Herbert Lom and Burt Kwouk, he appeared in more Pink Panther films than any other actor, playing a variety of characters, including reprising Lajoy in Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) and twice playing Dr Auguste Balls (in Revenge of the Pink Panther, 1978; and Son of the Pink Panther, 1993). He was cast as the hotel clerk in the "Does your dog bite" scene in The Pink Panther Strikes Again. Stark, as well as Lom and Kwouk, each appeared in seven titles from the series.
In the film Alfie (1966), Stark was Humphrey, a timid bus conductor who takes on a woman (Julia Foster) and her child when the title character (played by Michael Caine) refuses commitment. He also played the role of Lord Fortnum's physician, Captain Pontius Kak, in the original stage play of The Bedsitting Room, which opened at the Mermaid Theatre on 31 January 1963.Milligan, Spike, & Antrobus, John (1973) The Bedsitting Room. Tandem: London. First published in Great Britain by Margaret & Jack Hobbs, 1970. Published by Universal-Tandem, 1972. p. 158. McCann cites the physician's name as Captain Martin. This is possible. There appears to have been variation in names used, certainly between the play and the film, and possibly during the life of the play. Following the sudden death of James Beck in 1973, Stark took over the role of Private Joe Walker for the remainder of episodes in the first series of the radio adaptation of Dad's Army.
In 1982, Stark appeared in a cameo role as a butler, alongside Dandy Nichols, in the music video for Adam Ant's UK No. 1 hit "Goody Two Shoes". He played the character of Mr Nadget in the 1994 BBC adaptation of Martin Chuzzlewit.
Personal life In 1959 he married Audrey Nicholson, who survived him with their two sons and a daughter. Peter Sellers was their godfather. Christiane Kubrick is their godmother."Peter Sellers at godfather christening of Julia Amanda". Shutterstock. https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/actor-peter-sellers-godfather-christening-julia-amanda-1974211a. Stark was also an accomplished stills photographer. He was the last known performer to have appeared on The Goon Show during its original run. In 2003 he published an autobiography, Stark Naked. He associated with people such as Blake Edwards, Julie Andrews, Yul Brynner, Julie Christie, Stanley Kubrick, Sidney Poitier, Jack Palance, Kim Basinger, Sean Connery, Tony Curtis, and Ringo Starr.
He died in London on 29 October 2013 at age 91, after suffering a stroke..
Filmography as actor
The Spy in Black (1939) as Bell Boy (uncredited) Ça c'est du cinéma (1951) (voice, uncredited) Emergency Call (1952) as Posh Charlie Down Among the Z Men (1952) as Spider Behind the Headlines (1953 film) as crook (uncredited) Forces' Sweetheart (1953) as Simmonds Flannelfoot (1953) as Ginger The Super Secret Service (1953) as Carstairs Johnny on the Spot (1954) as Stevie The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954) as Corporal (uncredited) One Good Turn (1955) as Boxing Competitor (uncredited) They Never Learn (1956) as Plum The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1959) (uncredited) Inn for Trouble (1960) as Charlie (Driver) Sink the Bismarck! (1960) as Petty Officer Williams (uncredited) The Millionairess (1960) as Butler A Weekend with Lulu (1961) as Chiron Double Bunk (1961) as Flowerman Dentist on the Job (1961) as Sourfaced Man Watch It, Sailor! (1961) as Carnoustie Bligh On the Fiddle (1961) as Sgt. Ellis Only Two Can Play (1962) as Hyman Operation Snatch (1962) as Soldier A Pair of Briefs (1962) as Police Witness Village of Daughters (1962) as Postman She'll Have to Go (1962) as Arnold The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963) as Sid Cooper The Mouse on the Moon (1963) as Standard Bearer Lancelot and Guinevere (1963) as Rian Strictly for the Birds (1963) as Hartley Ladies Who Do (1963) as Foreman Becket (1964) as Pope's Secretary (uncredited) A Shot in the Dark (1964) as Hercule Lajoy Guns at Batasi (1964) as Sgt. 'Dodger' Brown Go Kart Go (1964) as Policeman Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) as Fireman San Ferry Ann (1965) as Gendarme You Must Be Joking! (1965) as McGregor's friend Runaway Railway (1965) as Grample Alfie (1966) as Humphrey The Wrong Box (1966) as Ian Scott Fife Finders Keepers (1966) as Burke Casino Royale (1967) as Cashier Rocket to the Moon (1967) as Grundle The Plank (1967) as Amorous Van Driver (Harry Nichols) A Ghost of a Chance (1967) as Thomas Dogood Salt and Pepper (1968) as Sgt. Walters The Picasso Summer (1969) as Postman The Magic Christian (1969) as Waiter Rhubarb (1969) as Golf Pro. Rhubarb Start the Revolution Without Me (1970) as Andre Coupe Doctor in Trouble (1970) as Satterjee Scramble (1970) (uncredited) Simon, Simon (1970) as 1st Workman The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971) as Guest Appearance (segment "Sloth") (uncredited) Hide and Seek (1972) as Milkman A Day at the Beach (1972) as Pipi Not Now, Darling (1973) as Painter (uncredited) Secrets of a Door-to-Door Salesman (1973) as Charlie Vincent Where's Johnny? (1974) as Professor Graham The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) as Pepi I'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight (1976) as Hotel M.C. Pure as a Lily (1976) as Detective Mike The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) as Hotel Clerk Gulliver's Travels (1977) (voice) Hardcore (1977) as Inspector Flaubert The Prince and the Pauper (1977) as Jester Let's Get Laid (1978) as Inspector Nugent What's Up Nurse! (1978) as Carthew Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978) as Professor Auguste Balls The Prisoner of Zenda (1979) as Erik Le Pétomane (1979) as Defence Counsel There Goes the Bride (1980) as Bernardo Rossi, Headwaiter The Sea Wolves (1980) as Manners Hawk the Slayer (1980) as Sparrow Victor/Victoria (1982) as Waiter Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) as Hercule Lajoy Superman III (1983) as Blind Man Curse of the Pink Panther (1983) as Bored Waiter Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984) as Blind Man Blind Date (1987) as Jordan the Butler Jane and the Lost City (1987) as Tombs Son of the Pink Panther (1993) as Professor Auguste Balls The Incredible Adventures of Marco Polo (1998) as Old King
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Article by Roger Lewis