Jon Pertwee

Jon Pertwee was born John (after the apostle and disciple) Devon (after the county) Roland (after his father) Pertwee (an Anglicised version of the true family name, Perthuis de Laillevault) on 7 July 1919 in the Chelsea area of London. He was the second son of famous playwright, painter and actor Roland Pertwee, and his actress wife Avice - his writer brother Michael Pertwee being three years his senior. The Pertwee family had a long connection with show business and the performing arts, and it was at Wellington House preparatory school in Westgate-On-Sea in Kent that Jon, as a small and rebellious child, was encouraged in that direction. Later, at Frensham Heights co-educational school, Jon had his first taste of "real" theatre with real women in the school stage productions of "Twelfth Night" and "Lady Princess Stream".

In 1936 he auditioned for, and was accepted by, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He was later kicked out for refusing to play the part of the wind in a play.

He appeared in three films co-written by his elder brother Michael Pertwee: Trouble in the Air (1948), Ladies Who Do (1963) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966).

He was a founder member, along with his brother Michael Pertwee, of The Waistcoat Club (of which he had a large collection, some dating back 300 years) which was set up in 1953 to counter the drabness of men's dress. Peter Cushing, who would play the film version of the Doctor in Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965), was a fellow member.

He was told several times when he was young that he would never become a successful actor, due to such problems as a partial lisp and a close resemblance to the American actor Danny Kaye - whom he would actually double in the London location work for Knock on Wood (1954).

He was originally meant to star in The Baby and the Battleship (1956) with George Cole but was replaced when Cole walked out.

He was a friend of the osteopath Stephen Ward, a key figure in the John Profumo political scandal in the UK in the early 1960s. Although Ward's reputation was destroyed by the scandal and he committed suicide, Pertwee defended his friend's reputation until his dying day. Ward was the subject of the film Scandal (1989) and a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Jon Pertwee is best known for his portrayal of the Third Doctor on the BBC's science-fiction television series Doctor Who (1963) from 1970 to 1974. He was also the first to play the role following the transition of BBC One from black and white to colour. His 60-year entertainment career included work in radio, films and cabaret. This was despite the inauspicious beginning of having been thrown out of drama school as a young man and told he had no future as an actor.

He appeared in two comedy film set in ancient Rome: Carry On Cleo (1964) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966).

He played Lycus in the original stage production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966). The film role was given to the American Phil Silvers since he had greater name-recognition internationally.

Pertwee was considered for the role of Captain Mainwaring in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army (1968), which eventually went to Arthur Lowe. He claimed that he refused it as he was working on Broadway at the time, and didn't know what he was being offered back home. In We're Doomed! The Dad's Army Story (2015), Pertwee turns down the role because he's not being offered enough money.

He was the oldest living Doctor from the death of William Hartnell on April 23, 1975 and the earliest living Doctor from the death of Patrick Troughton on March 28, 1987 until his own death on May 20, 1996. With his death, Tom Baker became both the oldest and earliest living Doctor. He is the second longest-lived actor to have played the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963). He was surpassed in this regard by his immediate successor, Tom Baker, on December 5, 2010, who became the first Doctor to reach the age of 77 on January 20, 2011.

He was the original choice for the role of Elliot Hoover in Audrey Rose (1977).

He worked hard to bring the character of Worzel Gummidge (1979) to the television screen and counted it as his favourite role. He had been offered the part in the mid-70s for a film version which was never made and persuaded the writers Willis Hall and Keith Waterhouse to pen a TV pilot instead. Pertwee was very disappointed that the series ended when Southern Television lost its franchise and no other company picked it up. He also hoped that it would become big in America, which it never did.

The 60 year old actor added pop star to his repertoire in 1980 when 'Worzel's Song' reached the top 33 in the UK and stayed in the chart for seven weeks.

He was considered for the roles of Dr. Hans Fallada, Dr. Armstrong and Sir Percy Heseltine in Lifeforce (1985).

He was a very good friend of Spike Milligan, but later on in his life the two would have arguments over who was the bigger Aladdin (1992) fan. He also considered Milligan's Goon colleague, Peter Sellers, a friend.