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
22 Interesting Facts About John Le Mesurier
- #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.
- #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.
- #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.
- #027
John Le Mesurier was a highly prolific English character actor, noted for his slight resemblance to his fellow townsman Boris Karloff.
- #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.
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