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Talfryn Thomas

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Talfryn Thomas
Thomas as Mr Cheeseman in Dad's Army
Born
John Talfryn Thomas

(1922-10-31)31 October 1922
Swansea, Wales
Died4 November 1982(1982-11-04) (aged 60)
Cardiff, Wales
OccupationActor

John Talfryn Thomas (31 October 1922 – 4 November 1982) was a Welsh character actor, best known for supporting roles on television in the 1970s, including those of Private Cheeseman in Dad's Army (1973–1974) and Tom Price in Survivors (1975), while Thomas also appeared with Jon Pertwee in two Doctor Who serials.

Biography

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John Talfryn Thomas was born in Swansea on 31 October 1922. He trained as an instrument mechanic but joined the local amateur dramatic society. During World War II, he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF), and was a rear gunner on a Lancaster bomber, flying on multiple raids into Germany. After surviving a crash in which all the other crew members were killed, he took up acting partly as therapy to cope with the trauma, before training as an actor in the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).[1]

For some time Thomas acted in provincial theatres. In the late 1950s, he began making television appearances,[1] and in the 1960s appeared in two episodes of The Avengers - "A Surfeit of H2O" (1965) and "Look Stop Me" (1968) alongside stars Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg and Linda Thorson - as well as appearing with Roger Moore in The Saint (1968), an uncredited rôle in The Champions in the episode "The Body Snatchers" (1969), and in The Persuaders! (as The Poacher in the episode "A Home Of One's Own", 1971).[2] In 1973, Thomas appeared in the Seven of One episode "I'll Fly You for a Quid", appearing alongside Ronnie Barker in a community of Welsh gamblers.[3] Thomas also appeared with Jon Pertwee in the Doctor Who serials, Spearhead from Space (1970) and The Green Death (1973), and in the Worzel Gummidge episode "The Scarecrow Wedding" (1980).[4][5] Thomas excelled at playing quirky and sometimes seedy Welshmen. His distinctive appearance was enhanced by his protruding front teeth, which earned him the nickname 'Talf The Teef'.[6] Thomas is perhaps best remembered for his role as Mr. Cheeseman in one series of the television comedy Dad's Army (1973-1974).[7]

In 1975, Thomas appeared as Tom Price in seven episodes of the first series of the BBC TV series, Survivors, acting alongside main stars Carolyn Seymour, Ian McCulloch and Lucy Fleming, before the character of Tom was killed off in the tenth episode of the first series.[8] In 1979, Thomas appeared on The Ken Dodd Laughter Show with Rita Webb and Pat Ashton (and he was a regular on Ken Dodd's BBC radio comedy show).[9][10]

Talfryn Thomas' few films included Sky West and Crooked (1965) starring Hayley Mills, and Andrew Sinclair's adaptation of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood (1972), with Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Peter O'Toole.[11][12] Like Burton, Talfryn Thomas had been in the BBC radio play.[13] He was also seen in Come Play with Me (1977) and the cult film, Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (1980) from Vivian Stanshall.[9]

Thomas died of a heart attack on 4 November 1982, four days after his 60th birthday.

Selected television roles

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Year Title Role Notes
1960 The Citadel Chenkin's Henchman / Miner 3 episodes
1964 to 1974 Z Cars McCall / Greenough / Jake Morris 7 episodes
1965 The Avengers Eli Barker Episode: "A Surfeit of H2O"
1966 The Saint Owen Thomas Episode: "The House on Dragon's Rock"
1967 St. Ives Clausel 4 episodes
The Flower of Gloster Evans 3 episodes
1968 The Ronnie Barker Playhouse Lecher Lewis Episode: "Tennyson"
The Avengers Fiery Frederick Episode: "Look Stop Me"
1970 Doctor Who – Spearhead from Space Mullins 1 episode
Tales of Unease Official Episode: "The Black Goddess"
1971 The Persuaders! The Poacher Episode: "A Home of One's Own"
Play For Today Tramp Episode: "Edna, the Inebriate Woman"
1971 to 1972 Coronation Street Dirty Dick 6 episodes
Tottering Towers Prayer-book Perce 13 episodes
1972 The Onedin Line Thomas Episode: "Survivor"
1973 Doctor Who – The Green Death Davis 3 episodes
Seven of One Mr Pugh Episode: "I'll Fly You for a Quid"
1973 to 1974 Dad's Army Private Cheeseman 6 episodes
1975 Survivors Tom Price 7 episodes
Get Some In! Corporal White Episode: "Call Up"
1977 Treasure Island Tom Morgan 4 episodes
King of the Castle Vine / Vein 7 episodes
1979 The Ken Dodd Laughter Show Various 6 episodes
1980 Worzel Gummidge – Soggy Boggart Episode: "The Scarecrow Wedding"
Cowboys Demolition Foreman Episode: "Remember Honky Stubbs"
1981 The Incredible Mr Tanner Cledwyn Episode: "The Wallet"
1982 Hi-de-Hi! Gareth Davies Episode: "Stripes"

Films

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Other Characters". The Dad's Army Appreciation Society. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  2. ^ "Talfryn Thomas". www.aveleyman.com.
  3. ^ "I'll Fly You for a Quid (1973)". BFI. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019.
  4. ^ "BBC - Doctor Who Classic Series Episode Guide - Cast and crew". www.bbc.co.uk.
  5. ^ "Worzel Gummidge: The Scarecrow Wedding/Fire Drill (1980)on Pickwick (United Kingdom VHS videotape)". www.videocollector.co.uk.
  6. ^ "The Avengers Forever: Talfryn Thomas". theavengers.tv.
  7. ^ Perry, Jimmy (2 October 2011). "Dad's Army: behind the lines of a comedy classic" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  8. ^ "BFI Screenonline: Survivors (1975-77) Credits". www.screenonline.org.uk.
  9. ^ a b "Talfryn Thomas". BFI. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017.
  10. ^ "BBC Radio 4 Extra - The Ken Dodd Show, From 07/09/1975". BBC.
  11. ^ "Sky West and Crooked". www.aveleyman.com.
  12. ^ "Under Milk Wood (1971) - Andrew Sinclair - Cast and Crew". AllMovie.
  13. ^ "Under Milk Wood". 3 October 1963. p. 61 – via BBC Genome.
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