Friday, March 09, 2007

RIP Wilberforce Clayton Humphries

Sadly, today one of the most overlooked and underrated of British actors died at the age of 71. Best known as Wilberforce Clayton Humphries, John Inman in many ways was the heart and soul of " Are You Being Served." His portrayal often acted as the perfect counterpoint to such characters as Captain Peacock and Molly Suggins classic Mrs. Slocombe . Those of us who are lucky enough to see this show on PBS were often entranced by the sheer joy that these characters gave us. In the purest sense , the comedy was both slapstick and a very pointed view of the classic British class system and economy. Each character had a sense of their own backstory and yet they clearly conveyed the sense that they honestly cared for each other, in character or in real life.

You are finally free Mr . Humphries...FREE.........

Have a splendid weekend, we all deserve it.


Ciao,

Aunty Pol

1 comment:

CE said...

Both my little brother and I were upset over this. He was always our favorite character on "Are You Being Served?" From about the time I was ten til now, it just was not a proper Sunday night without watching all of the Britcoms on PBS, especially "Are You Being Served?". The rest of the week after school was spent quoting lines from the shows, most especially that one. My brother, before his voice broke, could do a pretty close imitation of "I'm free!" G'damn...another great one gone. *sighs*