ACTOR · BORN 1912 · DIED 1983
John Le Mesurier
- Born
- 5 April 1912, Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, UK
- Died
- 15 November 1983
- Known for
- Ben-Hur (1959), The Pink Panther (1963), The Italian Job (1969), Casino Royale (1967)
33 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
All facts (33)
- #001
His wife Joan placed the following death announcement in The Times at his request: "John Le Mesurier wishes it to be known that he conked out on November 15. He sadly misses his family and friends."
- #002
He was reported to have said "It's all been rather lovely" before falling into his final coma.
- #003
He separated from his wife Joan Le Mesurier in the mid-1960s because of her relationship with their mutual friend Tony Hancock. John was understanding, and after Hancock's death in 1968 the couple began living together again.
- #004
He had two sons with the actress Hattie Jacques: Robin Le Mesurier (born 22 March 1953) and Kim Le Mesurier (born 12 October 1956). Kim died of an accidental drug overdose on 6 October 1991, exactly 11 years after his mother's death.
- #005
A few months after their marriage, John's third wife Joan left him for his closest friend, Tony Hancock. A year later, having realised that Hancock was an alcoholic, violent and impossible to live with, Joan returned to John. Hancock killed himself in Australia in 1968. John was very forgiving towards Joan and defended her for the rest of his days.
- #006
His surname was pronounced like "measurer"; the "i" was silent.
- #007
In her book "Dear John", Joan Le Mesurier gives her husband's date of death as 16 November 1983.
- #008
A memorial service was held for him on 16 February 1984 at St Paul's Church in Covent Garden.
- #009
His autobiography "A Jobbing Actor" was published posthumously in 1984.
- #010
He was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver in 1977 but recovered and lived another six years before dying at Ramsgate Hospital.
- #011
He made a series of commercials advertising British Airways for Australian television.
- #012
Off screen he was known to be the same as he was on screen: gentle and self-effacing.
- #013
He grew up in Bury St Edmunds, where at his father's wish he studied law for a time and worked in a solicitor's office, but his love was acting and he eventually joined an agency.
- #014
He was called up into the army in 1940 and married June Melville before being posted to India, but she was an alcoholic and the marriage eventually collapsed.
- #015
Because of his BAFTA win (for the role of Adrian Harris in Dennis Potter's acclaimed Traitor (1971)), he would ruefully deflect congratulations by pointing out that the wording he was carrying read, not very flatteringly, "John Le Mesurier - Traitor".
- #016
He is best known for his role in Dad's Army (1968). He also played Bilbo Baggins alongside Ian Holm and Bill Nighy in the BBC Radio production of The Lord of the Rings. Holm played Bilbo in Peter Jackson's films, while Nighy appeared in Dad's Army (2016).
- #017
He was a talented cricketer and played in Suffolk; had he been a little better he might have reached first-class county status. His other passions were classical and jazz music.
- #018
John Le Mesurier's 1967 film Mösyö Lecoq was left unfinished and abandoned.
- #019
John Le Mesurier's funeral was held at Saint George's Church in Ramsgate.
- #020
John Le Mesurier loved jazz and played the piano.
- #021
John Le Mesurier could play the piano and loved jazz. In his autobiography he said: "If you walk into a cocktail bar and see an elderly, grey-haired gentleman in a white jacket playing rather bad piano, look again; it could be me."
- #022
John Le Mesurier should not be confused with John le Measurier, a carpet salesman who was one of the other defendants in MP Jeremy Thorpe's attempted murder charge (although Le Mesurier's name was sometimes spelled the same way). The New Yorker advised potential American viewers of A Very English Scandal (2018) about the Thorpe case: "Imagine that one of the Watergate burglars had been named Alan Alda."
- #023
John Le Mesurier loved jazz and went to Ronnie Scott's famous jazz club in London.
- #024
John Le Mesurier grew up in Bury St Edmunds.
- #025
John Le Mesurier was the son of Charles Elton (1881-1964) and Amy Michelle Halliley (née Le Mesurier) (1878-1968).
- #026
John Le Mesurier was called up for military service in 1940.
- #027
John Le Mesurier was a highly prolific English character actor, noted for his slight resemblance to his fellow townsman Boris Karloff.
- #028
John Le Mesurier's stepson was David Malin.
- #029
John Le Mesurier was George Orwell's second cousin; his paternal grandfather was the younger brother of Orwell's maternal grandmother.
- #030
John Le Mesurier's father wanted him to go into law.
- #031
John Le Mesurier wanted to be Captain Mannering in Dad's Army.
- #032
Until he was called up and assigned to the army during the war, John Le Mesurier was an ARP warden in London.
- #033
It was a poorly kept secret that John Le Mesurier liked to sit in London's jazz clubs with a glass of brandy and relax by smoking marijuana.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work