| James Beck | |
| Birthname: | Stanley James Carroll Beck |
| Birth Date: | 21 February 1929 |
| Birth Place: | Islington, London, England[1] |
| Death Place: | Roehampton, London, England [2] |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Years Active: | 1961–1973 |
| Resting Place: | Putney Vale Cemetery, London, England |
Stanley James Carroll Beck (21 February 1929 – 6 August 1973) was an English television actor. He appeared in a number of programmes, but is best known for the role of Private Walker, a cockney spiv, in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army from the show's beginning in 1968 until his sudden death in 1973.
Beck was born on 21 February 1929 in Islington, North London,[3] and attended Popham Road Primary School.
After attending Saint Martin's School of Art and doing his national service as a physical training instructor in the British Army, Beck became an actor.[4]
In 1949, Beck made his career acting debut in Little Lambs Eat Ivy at the Granville Theatre, Ramsgate.[5] and followed in Peace Comes to Peckham and Miranda,[5] at the same venue later that year.[5] In 1954, he starred in A Murder Has Been Arranged at Bridgwater Town Hall,[5] He joined 'Unicorn Players', and performed in seven different plays at the Palace Theatre, Paignton between 1955-1957.[5] From 1958 to 1967, he was a regular performer in many different plays at York Theatre Royal.[5]
He concentrated on television and his early broadcast roles included Charlie Bell in an episode of Dr Finlay's Casebook (Series 1 episode 4, "Conduct Unbecoming", 1962), and was cast as a policeman in a 1965 episode of Coronation Street, in a storyline concerning the collapse of a house and in a 1967 episode in a storyline concerning a train crash. He also appeared, uncredited, as a policeman in Gideon's Way (1965), and was often seen in TV drama, with one-off roles in series such as The Troubleshooters (1965, 1967, 1970) and in 1968, with Peter Cushing in the episode "The Blue Carbuncle", the BBC's Sherlock Holmes.[6]
In 1968, he was offered the role of Private Walker in Dad's Army, originally written by Jimmy Perry for himself. Perry approved of the casting of Beck: "He had the right mix of cheekiness and charm. He gave the role a bit of oomph."[7]
Always in demand, he continued to work on TV programmes including A Family at War (1970) and Romany Jones (1972–73),[8] in which he played the lead character of Bert Jones.[7] He also recorded a pilot for an uncommissioned series called Bunclarke With an E (1973),[7] which was to be based on scripts originally written for Hancock's Half Hour and in which Arthur Lowe was also to appear.[7]
By 1973, Beck had recorded five series of Dad's Army and had nearly finished working on the sixth, besides working on the radio series of the show.[7] All of the location filming and studio recording for five of the planned seven episodes of Series Six had been completed when Beck suddenly fell ill while opening a school fête in aid of Guide Dogs for the Blind.[7] He returned home and within an hour was taken to Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton[9] suffering from pancreatitis. He died three weeks later, due to a combination of heart failure, renal failure and pancreatitis, aged 44.[7]
The last time Beck's Dad's Army co-stars saw him alive was on Friday 13 July 1973 at the Playhouse Theatre in London where he recorded two radio episodes of Dad's Army (which ran alongside the TV series).[7] The following afternoon Beck suddenly became ill.[7]
His death was a great shock to his fellow cast members, as well as to Jimmy Perry and David Croft. Perry has said that heavy drinking was common in show business at the time, and that he paid little attention to Beck's habit until "I saw Jimmy’s legs and they were purple.[7] It was the last episode he appeared in before he died".[7]
In the episode, "The Recruit" (the series 6 finale), Mainwaring reads a note written by Walker apologising for his absence, as he has gone "up to the Smoke" (to London) to conduct one of his deals.[10]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Star! | Drunken Soldier | Uncredited | |
| 1970 | Groupie Girl | Brian | Released as I Am a Groupie in the United States | |
| Carry On Loving | Mr Roxby | Scenes deleted from final film | ||
| 1971 | Dad's Army | Private Walker | ||
| A Couple of Beauties | Sidney | Short | ||
| 1973 | Love Thy Neighbour | Cyril |
| Year | Title | Role | Episode | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Dixon of Dock Green | Various | 6 episodes | ||
| Deadline Midnight | Ambulance man | 1 episode | |||
| 1962 | Dr. Finlay's Casebook | Charlie Bell | Conduct Unbecoming | ||
| Z Cars | Constable | The Five Whistles | |||
| Comedy Playhouse | The Conductor | 1964 | Taxi! | Len Gladwin | 5 episodes |
| 1964-67 | Coronation Street | Police Sergeant Bowden | 6 episodes | ||
| 1965 | Gideon's Way | Police Inspector | A Perfect Crime | ||
| 1966 | All Gas and Gaiters | Policeman | The Bishop Rides Again (pilot) | ||
| 1967 | Dave Candy | Some Days You Just Can't Win | |||
| 1968 | The Blue Carbuncle | James Ryder | |||
| Not in Front of the Children | Estate Agent | Home Chat | |||
| 1968–73 | Dad's Army | Private Walker | 59 episodes | ||
| 1969 | Two in Clover | Dr. Molineux | |||
| 1970 | Doctor in the House | Mr Wale | What Seems to Be the Trouble | ||
| 1972 | The Fenn Street Gang | Auctioneer | Horse of the Year | ||
| Scoop | Corker | 3 episodes | |||
| My Wife Next Door | Mr Fielding | Undesirable Residence | |||
| 1972–73 | Romany Jones | Bert Jones | 14 episodes |
| Year | Title | Role | Episode | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | The Events at Black Tor | Sergeant | 5 episodes | ||
| 1970, 1971 | Brothers in Law | Fred Tanner, Newman | 2 episodes | Beck played Fred Tanner in the first series (1970), and Newman in the second series (1971). | |
| 1971 | Hush, Hush, Here Comes the Bolshie Man | TBA | 1 episode | A pilot episode recorded for Comedy Parade 1971. | |
| 1971, 1972 | The Motorway Men | Steve | 8 episodes + pilot | This program's pilot episode featured alongside Hush, Hush, Here Comes the Bolshie Man on Comedy Parade 1971. | |
| 1973 | Dad's Army | Private Walker | 20 episodes |