Ronnie Stevens; Independent obit (Character actor)
Hyfler/Rosner
Comedy character actor
The Independent
12 December 2006
Gavin Gaughan
The comic actor Ronnie Stevens was singularly unlucky in
that his success on stage, in "intimate" revues that bridged
the gap between stand-up and character comedy, did not
translate into wider stardom. Instead, he became the kind of
face, in supporting roles where he was perfectly cast as
enthusiastic but ineffectual characters, that audiences
recognised and welcomed, but would have struggled to put a
name to.
Although sometimes cast as an establishment type, Stevens
was from Peckham and his father had been a bus driver.
Following wartime service in the RAF, he trained at Rada. He
first came to notice in such revues as High Spirits (1953),
Intimacy at 8.30 (1954) and For Amusement Only (1956), at a
succession of West End venues.
Rendered obsolete by Beyond the Fringe and the eventual
proliferation of sketch comedy on television, these shows,
once described by Alan Bennett as "the sort where people
came on dressed as garden gnomes", and loaded with
theatrical in-jokes, were nevertheless highly popular with
their chosen audience, who took them to represent
sophistication. One sketch featured Stevens impersonating
Liberace, singing of his fan letters, "At least one or two
are from girls." When called as a witness in the pianist's
infamous 1959 libel case against the Daily Mirror for
suggesting he was gay, Stevens denied the number had any
deeper implications.
His first television series as a regular was Dick and the
Duchess (1957-58), a comedy thriller made in Britain but for
the CBS network, in which he conformed to American notions
of Englishness. Only three episodes exist today. He was
better suited to New Look (1958-59), an ATV sketch show
created as a showcase for new talent, whose other regulars
included Bruce Forsyth, Joyce Blair and Roy Castle.
For a while, Stevens was one of the ever-present army of
character players in British comedy movies, but attempts to
promote him from cameos to co- starring roles were not
successful. He and Bob Monkhouse (another witness in the
Liberace case) played mischievous dental students with
larcenous leanings, in Dentist in the Chair (1960), intended
as the start of a series to rival the Carry Ons. However,
the second of these, Dentist on the Job (1961), was also the
last. Stevens did not acquit himself well, in the
comic-relief role of a virginal, incompetent British
Intelligence man, in Some Girls Do (1969), an attempt to
revive Bulldog Drummond (Richard Johnson) in the manner of
James Bond.
Consistently cast as waiters, hairdressers and harassed
hotel employees, Stevens supported in three in the same
series, Doctor at Large (1957), Doctor in Love (1960) and
Doctor in Distress (1963). He gave an overly eager tour of a
sweet factory in I'm All Right Jack (1959). In Raising the
Wind (1961), from the Carry On stable, he crossed verbal
swords with his fellow revue star Kenneth Williams; in his
diaries, Williams wrote of "Ronnie Stevens whom I abhor . .
. rather colourless & suburban but harmless . . . [Stevens's
scene] failed completely. Not an ounce of humour left in
it." The occasion was on the set of Carry On Cruising
(1962), Stevens's only Carry On appearance.
Like Williams, however, he made records of children's
stories, and lent his voice to similar television
programmes, such as Oliver Postgate's much-loved The Saga of
Noggin the Nog (1963) for the BBC, returning for a 1982
revival in colour. Space Patrol (1963) was an ITV puppet
series, often mistakenly assumed to have been a Gerry
Anderson production. Stevens provided the voices for an
eccentric professor, a puny Venusian and a rugged Martian.
In Australia in the late 1960s, Stevens was a regular on The
Mavis Bramston Show, best described as a would-be Antipodean
That Was the Week That Was.
Two ambitious BBC projects, 20 years apart, provided him
with more dramatic opportunities than usual. He was a poetic
butterfly in Capek's allegory The Insect Play (1960), under
the Twentieth Century Theatre banner, and was well cast as
Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night (1980), part of the BBC's
Shakespeare marathon. Surprisingly, perhaps, he helped form
the egalitarian, classically inclined stage troupe the
Actors' Company in the 1970s, with Sir Ian McKellen and
Edward Petherbridge.
Stevens's television guest appearances included a maudlin
window dresser in The Avengers (1965), a judge in Rumpole of
the Bailey (1991) and a government minister in The Goodies
(1971). He supported in Arthur Lowe's final sitcom, A.J.
Wentworth, BA (1982), not shown until after Lowe's death and
generally felt not to have been in the Dad's Army class.
Later appearances came in such gentle fare as May to
December (1989-94) and As Time Goes By (2002).
Along with many of his peers, he was unable to escape the
"British sex comedy" genre of the 1970s; fortunately for the
cast of All I Want is You . . . And You . . . And You
(1974), which also included Koo Stark, no copies are known
to exist.
Arguably, Morons from Outer Space (1985) was no better, but
Stevens did have one notable late credit, as one of the
judges in the climactic concert in Brassed Off (1996).
Ronald George Stevens, actor: born London 2 September 1925;
married 1963 Ann Bristow (deceased; one son, and one son
deceased); died Northwood, Middlesex 11 November 2006.
Brad Ferguson
<rel...@rcn.com> wrote:
> Ronnie Stevens
> Comedy character actor
>
> The Independent
> 12 December 2006
> Gavin Gaughan
> Rendered obsolete by Beyond the Fringe and the eventual
> proliferation of sketch comedy on television, these shows,
> once described by Alan Bennett as "the sort where people
> came on dressed as garden gnomes", and loaded with
> theatrical in-jokes, were nevertheless highly popular with
> their chosen audience, who took them to represent
> sophistication. One sketch featured Stevens impersonating
> Liberace, singing of his fan letters, "At least one or two
> are from girls." When called as a witness in the pianist's
> infamous 1959 libel case against the Daily Mirror for
> suggesting he was gay, Stevens denied the number had any
> deeper implications.
A Mirror columnist named Cassandra had called Liberace a "marshmallow"
and used the adjective "fruit-flavored" to describe him. British laws
being what they were (and are), Liberace brought and won a libel suit,
collecting IIRC £10,000, which he donated to charity. I don't know if
the Mirror ever asked for the money back.
> His first television series as a regular was Dick and the
> Duchess (1957-58), a comedy thriller made in Britain but for
> the CBS network, in which he conformed to American notions
> of Englishness. Only three episodes exist today.
This lasted one season, as stated, but Ronnie Stevens was 'way down the
cast list. The show stared Patrick O'Neal as an American insurance
investigator living in London. His wife Jane would involve herself in
his investigations, screwing them up, although I presume everything
worked out in the end.
Jane was played by Hazel Court, who did a lot of guest shots on
American TV after this thing. She married Don Taylor (the groom in the
original Father of the Bride movies, later a director) in 1964 and is
still off-topic at 80.
> Like Williams, however, he made records of children's
> stories, and lent his voice to similar television
> programmes, such as Oliver Postgate's much-loved The Saga of
> Noggin the Nog (1963) for the BBC, returning for a 1982
> revival in colour. Space Patrol (1963) was an ITV puppet
> series, often mistakenly assumed to have been a Gerry
> Anderson production. Stevens provided the voices for an
> eccentric professor, a puny Venusian and a rugged Martian.
"Space Patrol" ran in syndication in the U.S. as "Planet Patrol" (on
WPIX in NYC, among many other places) because there'd been another,
live-action show called Space Patrol a few years before.
> Arguably, Morons from Outer Space (1985) was no better, but
> Stevens did have one notable late credit, as one of the
> judges in the climactic concert in Brassed Off (1996).
This obit unaccountably leaves out Stevens' appearance in the 1998
remake of "The Parent Trap," in which he played the mother's father.
It was a nice bit, and certainly "notable."
Brian Watson
"Hyfler/Rosner" <rel...@rcn.com> wrote in message
news:eLqdnaBYht1wr-PY...@rcn.net...
> Ronnie Stevens
> Comedy character actor
>
> The Independent
> 12 December 2006
> Gavin Gaughan
>
>
> The comic actor Ronnie Stevens was singularly unlucky in that his success
> on stage, in "intimate" revues that bridged the gap between stand-up and
> character comedy, did not translate into wider stardom. Instead, he became
> the kind of face, in supporting roles where he was perfectly cast as
> enthusiastic but ineffectual characters, that audiences recognised and
> welcomed, but would have struggled to put a name to.
http://www.musical-theatre.net/html/stoutheartedmen/ronniestevens.html
has a picture from (I think) the late 50s or early 60s.
--
Brian
"Fight like the Devil, die like a gentleman."
guy.s...@btinternet.com
about his subject.
For a more rounded and accurate look at Ronnie Stevens' career please
see the following obituaries:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2453221,00.html
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/obituary/0,,1949009,00.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/15/db1502.xml
http://news.scotsman.com/obituaries.cfm?id=1727672006
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/liverpooldailypost/ourview/obituary/tm_headline=ronnie-stevens&method=full&objectid=18113726&siteid=50061-name_page.html
Though even these miss-out some of his other achievements and roles:
Frank Doel in 84 Charing Cross Road at the Ambassadors, Hysterium in
the revival of A Funny Thing Happened.... with Frankie Howerd. A highly
appraised Trinculo in The Tempest at Wyndhams Theatre with paul
Scofield (when classics could still fill the houses in the West End
instead of 3rd rate musicals for the masses!) A brilliant Dauphin to
Eileeen Atkins' St. Joan. A founding member and long-standing director
of Actors Centre......I could rattle-off plenty but I doubt anyone's
particularly interested. I just had to add to this group seeing as the
idiot that wrote the Independent obituary has a poisoned pen and a
complete disregard for the truth and the feelings of his only remaining
son....which is myself......and once proliferated onto the web it is my
duty to step-in and save his reputation from the pathetic tripe written
by this insipid person and posted not only on the Independent website
but here also.
Hopefully, after reading the other obits above, everyone who perchances
upon this page, will agree with me!
Stacia
>particularly interested. I just had to add to this group seeing as the
>idiot that wrote the Independent obituary has a poisoned pen and a
>complete disregard for the truth and the feelings of his only remaining
>son....which is myself...
Completely understandable. I'm sorry to hear about your loss.
I just saw your father on an episode of "As Time Goes By", and I have
seen him in several movies and shows over the years. He was a great
character actor, someone I definitely recognized when I saw him.
Stacia
Hyfler/Rosner
<guy.s...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:1166179120....@f1g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> This obituary was written by a jealous old minnie who
> hasn't got a clue
> about his subject.
>
> For a more rounded and accurate look at Ronnie Stevens'
> career please
> see the following obituaries:
>
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2453221,00.html
> http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/obituary/0,,1949009,00.html
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/15/db1502.xml
> http://news.scotsman.com/obituaries.cfm?id=1727672006
> http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/liverpooldailypost/ourview/obituary/tm_headline=ronnie-stevens&method=full&objectid=18113726&siteid=50061-name_page.html
I would have posted all the obituaries published in the UK.
But I was ill. The Independent was published much later, so
I posted it. I think it's very important to see how a
variety of obituarists sum up a life. My condolences to
you.
Brad Ferguson
<guy.s...@btinternet.com> wrote:
I'm glad you posted, Guy. And I'd have loved to have seen your father
as Frank Doel.
Brian Watson
> particularly interested. I just had to add to this group seeing as the
> idiot that wrote the Independent obituary has a poisoned pen and a
> complete disregard for the truth and the feelings of his only remaining
> son....which is myself......and once proliferated onto the web it is my
> duty to step-in and save his reputation from the pathetic tripe written
> by this insipid person and posted not only on the Independent website
> but here also.
Quite right too, well said.
He was his usual excellent self in a Doctor film with Leslie Phillips
earlier this week on UK TV.
--
Brian