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Don Estelle is a Actor British born on 22 may 1933 at Crumpsall (United-kingdom)
Don Estelle (22 May 1933 – 2 August 2003) was a British actor and singer best known as 'Lofty' in It Ain't Half Hot Mum.
Born Ronald Edwards in Crumpsall, Manchester, he was brought up in a house on Russell Street, Crumpsall. During World War II, at the age of eight, he was evacuated to Darwen, Lancashire, twenty miles away from his home, to escape the German bombing of the city. It was there he found his voice as a treble at the local Holy Trinity Parish Church (now called St Peter's), and on returning home after the war, he continued singing at St Mary's Church, Crumpsall. He later joined a charity group, the Manchester Kentucky Minstrels, and performed with them the Mario Lanza hit "Granada" in the talent show What Makes a Star? in 1954 at BBC Radio's northern studios in Manchester.
Estelle gained experience by singing one song 12 times a week in the show The Backyard Kids at the Hulme Hippodrome in Manchester. He later toured the northern club circuit, where he met the comedy actor Windsor Davies whom he teamed with and toured for four years. In the 1960s, Estelle had cameo roles in Coronation Street and Dad's Army (in the latter he played a Pickfords man in one episode (1969), and an ARP Warden called Gerald in three more (1970)). He eventually landed the role of Gunner "Lofty" Sugden in the 1970s British sitcom, It Ain't Half Hot Mum. The character was given the ironic nickname of "Lofty" because of Estelle's stature (4 ft 9in). He had a powerful tenor voice and as a spin-off from the series, he and co-star Windsor Davies had a Number 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1975 with a semi-comic version of "Whispering Grass". Estelle also acted in the films Not Now, Comrade (1976), A Private Function (1984) and Santa Claus: The Movie (1984). Estelle and Windsor also released a 14-track LP album called 'Sing Lofty' in 1979.
In the first series of The League of Gentlemen, he made brief appearances in two episodes as Little Don, the keeper of the Roundabout Zoo (a zoo on the island of a roundabout).
In 2001, he appeared in an episode of Linda Smith's A Brief History of Timewasting as "Little Don" of the "East End Art Mafia".
In his autobiography Sing Lofty: Thoughts Of A Gemini, Estelle was extremely bitter about modern-day entertainment, attacking those who refused to rerun It Ain't Half Hot Mum as "tight-crutched, white-trousered morons". According to his obituary in The Independent, "in recent years Estelle cut a slightly sorry figure, dressed in his "Lofty" outfit, setting out a stall of his tapes and singing to passers-by in shopping centres. He played a dirty old man in the promotional video for The Sun Page Three Girl Jo Hicks's single "Yakety Sax" (2001) (The Benny Hill Show theme). One of the stalls he performed at for a time was in the Boston, Lincolnshire branch of Woolworths. He could also be seen performing in Cwmbran town centre in South Wales.
Estelle's last years were in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he spent countless hours working with the founder of 10-piece blues band, Blutopia. Says Malcolm Bishop, "Lofty was looking for someone to believe in and bless in their own career and he picked me! He was extremely generous with time and resources." Bishop recalls sitting with Estelle until 4am the night before he returned to the UK, as Estelle gave him invaluable advice.
Estelle returned to the UK weeks before his death. He died in Rochdale Infirmary, on 2 August 2003 and was buried in Rochdale, with the oversized pith helmet he wore as Gunner "Lofty" Sugden. He was survived by his second wife Elizabeth.
Source : Wikidata
Don Estelle
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Birth name Ronald Edwards
Nationality United-kingdom
Birth 22 may 1933 at Crumpsall (United-kingdom)
Death 2 august 2003 (at 70 years) at Rochdale (United-kingdom)
Nationality United-kingdom
Birth 22 may 1933 at Crumpsall (United-kingdom)
Death 2 august 2003 (at 70 years) at Rochdale (United-kingdom)
Born Ronald Edwards in Crumpsall, Manchester, he was brought up in a house on Russell Street, Crumpsall. During World War II, at the age of eight, he was evacuated to Darwen, Lancashire, twenty miles away from his home, to escape the German bombing of the city. It was there he found his voice as a treble at the local Holy Trinity Parish Church (now called St Peter's), and on returning home after the war, he continued singing at St Mary's Church, Crumpsall. He later joined a charity group, the Manchester Kentucky Minstrels, and performed with them the Mario Lanza hit "Granada" in the talent show What Makes a Star? in 1954 at BBC Radio's northern studios in Manchester.
Estelle gained experience by singing one song 12 times a week in the show The Backyard Kids at the Hulme Hippodrome in Manchester. He later toured the northern club circuit, where he met the comedy actor Windsor Davies whom he teamed with and toured for four years. In the 1960s, Estelle had cameo roles in Coronation Street and Dad's Army (in the latter he played a Pickfords man in one episode (1969), and an ARP Warden called Gerald in three more (1970)). He eventually landed the role of Gunner "Lofty" Sugden in the 1970s British sitcom, It Ain't Half Hot Mum. The character was given the ironic nickname of "Lofty" because of Estelle's stature (4 ft 9in). He had a powerful tenor voice and as a spin-off from the series, he and co-star Windsor Davies had a Number 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1975 with a semi-comic version of "Whispering Grass". Estelle also acted in the films Not Now, Comrade (1976), A Private Function (1984) and Santa Claus: The Movie (1984). Estelle and Windsor also released a 14-track LP album called 'Sing Lofty' in 1979.
In the first series of The League of Gentlemen, he made brief appearances in two episodes as Little Don, the keeper of the Roundabout Zoo (a zoo on the island of a roundabout).
In 2001, he appeared in an episode of Linda Smith's A Brief History of Timewasting as "Little Don" of the "East End Art Mafia".
In his autobiography Sing Lofty: Thoughts Of A Gemini, Estelle was extremely bitter about modern-day entertainment, attacking those who refused to rerun It Ain't Half Hot Mum as "tight-crutched, white-trousered morons". According to his obituary in The Independent, "in recent years Estelle cut a slightly sorry figure, dressed in his "Lofty" outfit, setting out a stall of his tapes and singing to passers-by in shopping centres. He played a dirty old man in the promotional video for The Sun Page Three Girl Jo Hicks's single "Yakety Sax" (2001) (The Benny Hill Show theme). One of the stalls he performed at for a time was in the Boston, Lincolnshire branch of Woolworths. He could also be seen performing in Cwmbran town centre in South Wales.
Estelle's last years were in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he spent countless hours working with the founder of 10-piece blues band, Blutopia. Says Malcolm Bishop, "Lofty was looking for someone to believe in and bless in their own career and he picked me! He was extremely generous with time and resources." Bishop recalls sitting with Estelle until 4am the night before he returned to the UK, as Estelle gave him invaluable advice.
Estelle returned to the UK weeks before his death. He died in Rochdale Infirmary, on 2 August 2003 and was buried in Rochdale, with the oversized pith helmet he wore as Gunner "Lofty" Sugden. He was survived by his second wife Elizabeth.
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Filmography of Don Estelle (2 films)
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Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)
, 1h48Directed by Jeannot Szwarc
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure
Themes Christmas films, Children's films, Santa Claus in film
Actors Dudley Moore, John Lithgow, David Huddleston, Judy Cornwell, Burgess Meredith, Jeffrey Kramer
Roles Groot, the elves' Senior Chef.
Rating62%
Somewhere in the 14th century, Claus is a peasant woodcutter in his mid-50s who, with his wife Anya, delivers his gifts to the children of a certain village. One night, Claus, Anya and their two reindeer, Donner and Blitzen, are rescued from certain death in a blizzard, only to be transported to the vast "ice mountains, way up at the top of the world." Their expected arrival is heralded with the appearance of several elves, or as Claus's people call them in their legends, the Vendegums, led by the venerable and wise elf named Dooley. Inside the elves' home, Claus and Anya also meet inventive elf Patch, and the more down-to-earth Puffy. Dooley tells Claus it is his destiny to deliver toys to the children of the world every Christmas Eve, which the elves will make in their large workshops. Donner and Blitzen are joined by six other reindeer and fed magic food that allows them to fly. When Christmas Eve comes, Claus is approached by the oldest of elves, the Ancient One, who renames him as "Santa Claus".
Not Now, Comrade (1976)
, 1h29Directed by Harold Snoad
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Actors Leslie Phillips, Windsor Davies, Carol Hawkins, Michele Dotrice, Don Estelle, Lewis Fiander
Roles Bobby Hargreaves
Rating49%
Russian ballet dancer Rudi Petrovyan wants to defect. Unable to reach the British embassy, and pursued by the KGB, he hides out with, and falls for, stripper Barbara Wilcox. But Rudi's escape route in the boot of a Triumph backfires when he accidentally climbs into the wrong car, and ends up in the country home of unsuspecting naval Commander Rimmington (Leslie Phillips).