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David Croft (TV producer)

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Major
David Croft
OBE
Croft in May 2011
Born
David John Andrew Sharland

(1922-09-07)7 September 1922
Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset, England
Died27 September 2011(2011-09-27) (aged 89)
Tavira, Portugal
Other namesDavid John Croft
Occupations
  • Writer
  • producer
  • director
  • actor
Years active1939–2011
Spouse
Ann Callender
​
​
(m. 1952)​
Children7
Parent(s)Reginald Sharland
Annie Croft
RelativesSimon Cadell (son-in-law)
AwardsBritish Comedy Awards
2003 Lifetime Achievement Award
Writers' Guild of Great Britain
1969 Best Comedy Script Dad's Army
1970 Best Comedy Script Dad's Army
1971 Best Comedy Script Dad's Army
Desmond Davies award (1981)
Websitewww.davidcroft.co.uk

Major David John Croft (born David John Andrew Sharland; 7 September 1922 – 27 September 2011) was an English television comedy screenwriter, producer and director. He produced and wrote a string of BBC sitcoms with partners Jimmy Perry and Jeremy Lloyd, including Dad's Army, Are You Being Served?, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi! and 'Allo 'Allo!

Early life

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Croft was born into a show business family: his father, Reginald Sharland (1886–1944), had a successful career as a radio actor in Hollywood, and his mother, Annie Croft (1896–1959), was a famous stage actress who had starred in the 1927 silent film On With The Dance, she was also the first woman to own a West End theatre company. His first public appearance was at the age of seven, when he was seen in a commercial which aired in cinemas.[1] After that, his acting career in films "began and ended"[2] with his uncredited appearance as Perkins in the film Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939).

The family lived in Poole, Dorset. Nearby is St Aldhelm's Church, Poole and Croft later gave that name to the church in Dad's Army. He was educated at two [independent] schools: at St John's Wood prep school in North London, followed by Rugby School in Warwickshire.[3]

Military service

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He enlisted in the Royal Artillery in 1942. He served during the Second World War in North Africa, India and Singapore. After contracting rheumatic fever in North Africa, was sent home to convalesce and then underwent officer training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Croft was posted to India, arriving as the war in Europe ended, and was assigned to the Essex Regiment, rising to the rank of Major. When his military service ended he began working in the entertainment industry, as an actor, singer and writer.[4]

Career

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Croft met Freddie Carpenter, who produced many pantomimes for Howard & Wyndham across the UK, resulting in Croft writing scripts such as Aladdin, Cinderella and Babes in the Wood. Through his lifelong friend, composer/conductor Cyril Ornadel, Croft met the producer Fiona Bentley, who had obtained rights to adapt and musicalise a number of Beatrix Potter stories.[5] Croft wrote the scripts and lyrics for a series released on His Master's Voice Junior Record Club, narrated by Vivien Leigh and starring several singer-actors and actresses including Barbara Brown, Graham Stark and Cicely Courtneidge.[6] David Croft himself played a number of roles, including Timmy Willie in Johnny Town-Mouse,[7] Kep in Jemima Puddle-Duck,[8] and Old Brown in Squirrel Nutkin.[9]

Croft relocated to the Northeast of England to work at Tyne Tees Television, where he produced many editions of the variety show The One O'Clock Show. For Tyne Tees, Croft also directed and produced the admags Ned's Shed and Mary Goes to Market, as well as producing his first sitcom, Under New Management, set in a derelict pub in the North of England.[10]

After leaving Tyne Tees Television to work at the BBC in the mid-1960s, he produced several of the Corporation's sitcoms such as Beggar My Neighbour, A World of His Own, Further Up Pompeii! and Hugh and I. It was while producing Hugh and I that he was introduced to actor Jimmy Perry, who handed him an unsolicited script for a pilot called The Fighting Tigers about the British Home Guard during the Second World War. Croft liked the idea. The two men co-wrote nine series of the show, which was retitled Dad's Army, as well as a feature film and a stage show based on it.[11]

While Dad's Army was still running, Croft began to co-write Are You Being Served? with Jeremy Lloyd. He was to continue both writing partnerships for the rest of his career in several hit series including It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi! and You Rang, M'Lord? (with Perry) and 'Allo 'Allo! (with Lloyd). His last full series Oh, Doctor Beeching!, broadcast from 1995 to 1997, was co-written with Richard Spendlove. He created a television pilot in 2007, entitled Here Comes The Queen, with Jeremy Lloyd. This starred Wendy Richard and Les Dennis, but the show was not continued as a series.[12] Of these, It Ain't Half Hot Mum "was David’s and my favourite", Jimmy Perry told journalist Neil Clark for a Daily Telegraph article in 2013.[13]

As a producer, Croft's regular practice was to signal the end of an episode with the caption "You have been watching ...", followed by shots of the main cast.

Personal life

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Croft married theatrical agent Ann Callender on 2 June 1952; the couple had seven children and sixteen grandchildren.[14][15] In 1986, one daughter, Rebecca, married Simon Cadell, a star of Croft's comedy Hi-de-Hi!.[16]

Croft was the subject of This Is Your Life on 20 December 1995, when he was surprised by Michael Aspel outside BBC Television Centre.[17]

David Croft died in his sleep at his home in Portugal on 27 September 2011. He was 89 years old.[18] His widow Ann died on 11 June 2016.[14]

Awards and honours

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Croft became an Officer of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire with Jimmy Perry in 1978 for services to television. He also received the 1981 Desmond Davis award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, for his outstanding contributions to the industry.[19]

Croft's awards include:

Production and writing career

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In addition to writing most of the episodes for these television series, Croft also worked as producer, director and, later, executive producer.

Written with Jimmy Perry

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Written with Jeremy Lloyd

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Written with Richard Spendlove

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Written by himself

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Sitcom timeline

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Sitcom 1960's 1970'S 1980'S 1990'S
68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97
Dad's Army checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY –
Are You Being Served? – checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY – checkY – checkY – checkY –
It Ain't Half Hot Mum – checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY – checkY checkY –
Come Back Mrs. Noah – checkY checkY –
Hi-de-Hi! – checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY –
Oh Happy Band! – checkY –
'Allo 'Allo! – checkY – checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY – checkY checkY –
You Rang, M'Lord? – checkY – checkY checkY – checkY –
Grace & Favour – checkY checkY –
Which Way to the War – checkY –
Oh, Doctor Beeching! – checkY checkY checkY

References

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  1. ^ Shown in Comedy Connections 'Allo 'Allo! and It Ain't Half Hot Mum
  2. ^ according to his website
  3. ^ Barker, Dennis (27 September 2011). "David Croft obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  4. ^ Simon Morgan-Russell (January 2015). "Croft, David (1922–2011)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/104114. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. ^ "David Croft Biography". Davidcroft.co.uk. 7 September 1922. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  6. ^ "minigroove - His Masters Voice / Junior Record Club - singles 7". Minigroove.nl. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  7. ^ "Vivien Leigh And Full Cast - Beatrix Potter-The Tale Of Johnny Town-Mouse - HMV Junior Record Club - UK". 45cat. 3 December 2012. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  8. ^ "Vivien Leigh And Cicely Courtneidge - Beatrix Potter - The Tale Of Jemima Puddle-Duck - HMV Junior Record Club - UK". 45cat. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Graham Stark - Beatrix Potter - The Tale Of Squirrel Nutkin - HMV Junior Record Club - UK". 45cat. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  10. ^ Morgan-Russell 2004, p. 11
  11. ^ official website/Biography
  12. ^ "Here Comes the Queen". David Croft. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  13. ^ Clark, Neil (20 September 2013). "Jimmy Perry turns 90: a tribute to the genius behind Dad's Army". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  14. ^ a b "CROFT - Deaths Announcements - Telegraph Announcements". announcements.telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  15. ^ Nicholas Croft, Penelope Croft, Jane Croft, Rebecca Croft, John Croft, Richard Croft and Timothy Croft. They had sixteen grandchildren.
  16. ^ Younger, Alexandra (8 March 1996). "Obituary: Simon Cadell". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  17. ^ Pertwee, Bill (2009). Dad's Army: The Making of a Television Legend. London: Conway Publishing. p. 184. ISBN 9781844861057.
  18. ^ BBC News (27 September 2011). "Comedy creator David Croft dies aged 89". BBC Online. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  19. ^ "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Archived from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2019.

Bibliography

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  • Morgan-Russell, Simon (2004). Jimmy Perry and David Croft. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-6556-9.
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