John Clegg

John Walter Laurence Clegg (9 July 1934 – 2 August 2024) was an English actor, best known for playing the part of 'La Di Da' Gunner Graham in the BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum.

Early life Clegg was born on 9 July 1934 in Murree, British India (present-day Pakistan) to English parents, John and Barbara (née Bell) Clegg. His father was in the army, a Lieutenant Colonel in Royal Hampshire Regiment who fought in the Second World War, and his mother was a teacher. He had two sisters, Anne and Mary, one older and one younger who both died before him. Clegg's mother wrote pantomime plays for a local drama group, and sometimes cast Clegg to play small roles, starting at age four. Clegg later became a student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) for two years; Clegg attended RADA at the same time as Peter O'Toole, Albert Finney and Richard Briers.

Career After leaving RADA, Clegg joined the Watford Palace Theatre Company, where he met Jimmy Perry, who would go on to cast Clegg in the role for which he is best known. It was there that he also met many of his future co-stars, including Michael Knowles, Donald Hewlett and Mavis Pugh (whom he married in 1959).

In 1973 he was cast in the BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum as Gunner Graham, the concert party's pianist. The show ran for eight series and Clegg appeared in all 56 episodes. Despite playing the pianist in the concert party of the show, John could not actually play piano In 1982, Clegg made a return to the theatre, co-producing with his wife a one-man show about Rudyard Kipling which achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, winning a Fringe Award. His last role was in the 2006 film Tommy the Kid, as a police officer but in 2009 appeared in the Dad's Army podcast.

Personal life Clegg met Mavis Pugh in the mid 1950s and married her in 1959. Pugh appeared in Croft and Perry sitcoms including Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Hi-de-Hi!, but she is best known for playing Lady Lavender Southwick in You Rang, M'Lord?. Due to the twenty year age gap between Clegg and Pugh many were sceptical as to whether the marriage would last, apart from Jimmy Perry and his wife Gillian. After the wedding there was a whip-round at the theatre which collected enough money to buy what Clegg described in an interview as 'lots of practical things, like sponges and cloths—the most practical things you could imagine.' They had no children. A private funeral was held on 29 August.

Acting credits

Film

Bless This House|Waiter Thirty Minutes Worth|Umbrella Salesmen 1974 My Name Is Harry Worth|Shop assistant 1974—1975 Are You Being Served?|Customer Two episodes 1974—1981 It Ain't Half Hot Mum|Gunner Graham Fifty-six episodes

The Tommy Cooper Hour

Comedy Playhouse|Gerald Hogg's Back|Policeman Three episodes

Whodunnit?|Brother Paul One episode This Is Your Life Himself One episode / edition for Windsor Davies 1978 Crossroads|Clifford Howes Seven episodes 1979 Spooner's Patch|Vicar Two episodes 1979 Measure for Measure|Froth

Keep It in the Family|Vicar One episode Family Fortunes|Himself One episode 1982 Summer Festival|Rudyard Kipling One-man show 1987 Three Up, Two Down|Max

1989 The Nineteenth Hole|Sam 1990 You Rang, M'Lord?|Mr. Franklyn Two episodes 1991 Doctor at the Top|Dinner guest

1993 Demob|Camera 1994 Mr. Bean|Calligrapher

Coogan's Run|Alf This Is Your Life|Himself One episode / edition for David Croft 2003 Death in Holy Orders|Father John Betterton Two episodes 2009 The Dad's Army Podcast''HimselfOne episode