Charles Hawtrey (1914 - 1988)

"Oh, Hello!"

It's possibly the simplest catchphrase ever, but whenever Charles Hawtrey popped up in the Carry On films he made it his own.

He was born in Middlesex, the son of an engineer, and christened George Hartree. He got the acting bug from an early age and attended the Italia Conti stage school. He paid his way through the school by appearing in various stage shows and is allegedly in the background for a couple of silent films. He took his stage name from that of the famous actor who died in 1923, and for several years was happy to be known as Charles Hawtrey Jr.

He drifted into review and this lead to film appearances. He was not averse to padding-out his CV, so the filmography below errs on the side of caution when covering this period but he may have done bits in a further dozen or so films. His big success on stage was in Counterfeit in which he convincingly played a woman - a skill which would come in handy later in his film career.

With his comedy skills and unusual looks it was perhaps inevitable that he would end up as support to the leading film comics such as Will Hay and George Formby: he first joined Hay's gang of elderly schoolboys in Good Morning, Boys. When that brand of low comedy died at the end of the war, Hawtrey moved into light dramas, though generally in smaller roles.

It took the sitcom The Army Game to raise his profile, and the success of that lead to his being cast alongside his co-star William Hartnell in a similarly-themed low budget film comedy: Carry on Sergeant. He played a conscript who was totally ill-equipped for his role, but brimmed over with enthusiasm. This character would form the basis for his Carry On appearances over the next 15 years and 22 films.

His Carry On career ended in 1972 with a row over his billing in TV's Carry On Christmas, though his erratic behaviour and drunkenness were already a source of friction in the team. He moved to Deal and spent his last years misbehaving: it is said that there wasn't a pub in town he hadn't been banned from, or a taxi driver he hadn't importuned. His last "public appearance" was being rescued from a house fire, during which he tried to cop off with the firemen.

Without the Carry Ons, Charles Hawtrey would be a very minor figure in film history, but thanks to these films, Hawtrey's image is indelibly impressed onto British culture.

Filmography 

 Charles Hawtrey at Amazon UK

 Charles Hawtrey at Amazon US