Warrren Mitchell obit

Warren Mitchell, Alf Garnett actor, dies aged 89

The Till Death Us Do Part star had been 'in poor health for some time'

 

 He was not on the list.

Warren Mitchell, the Olivier award-winning star of Till Death Us Do Part, died in the early hours of Saturday morning. He was 89.


His spokeswoman confirmed Mitchell's death with a statement from the family, saying: "Sadly we can confirm Warren Mitchell died in the early hours of Saturday 14th November surrounded by his family.


"He has been in poor health for some time but was cracking jokes to the last."


Mitchell was best known for playing the role of Alf Garnett, the East End bigot who was loved by the British public, despite his staunch anti-Irish, anti-Catholic, racist, misogynistic and anti-Semitic views. Mitchell, a Jew of Russian descent, was offered the part after it was turned down by Peter Sellers, Leo McKern and Lionel Jeffries.


Garnett was a character Mitchell played for more than three decades from 1965. After Till Death Us Do Part finished in 1975, ITV reprised the sitcom as Till Death ... in 1981, and BBC sequel In Sickness and in Health between 1985 and 1992.


Mitchell also starred in two Alf Garnett films, Till Death Us Do Part, in 1969, and The Alf Garnett Saga three years later.


The actor went on to star in the comedy chat show, The Thoughts of Chairman Alf, until 1998.


Fans and members of the showbiz industry shared their condolences and memories of Mitchell online. Ricky Gervais, known for writing sitcom The Office and playing its main character, David Brent, called Alf Garnet "one of the most influential and important characters and performances in comedy history."

But Mitchell was also appreciated on stage and in more serious roles for TV programmes such as Waking the Dead and Kavanagh QC, in which he played a concentration camp survivor, Gormenghast and The Merchant of Venice, in which he took on the role of Shylock.


He balanced his Alf Garnett years with critically acclaimed performances on stage, as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman and as The Caretaker, in a National Theatre production of Harold Pinter's play of the same name. In 2004 he appeared in Arthur Miller's The Price, despite suffering a stroke a week before – he won his second Olivier Awa

rd for his performance, after winning the first as Willy Loman.


Born in Stoke Newington, North London, in 1926, Mitchell was a lifelong Tottenham Hotspur fan. He married his wife Connie, an actress, in 1951, with whom he had three children. He is survived by all of them.

Filmography 

Five Days (1954) as Laughing Man in Bar (uncredited) 

Passing Stranger (1954) (uncredited) 

Manuela (1957) as Moss 

Barnacle Bill (1957) as Artie White 

Girls at Sea (1958) as Arthur 

The Trollenberg Terror (1958) as Prof. Crevett 

Three Crooked Men (1959) as Walter Prinn 

The Stranglers of Bombay (1959) as Merchant (uncredited) 

Tommy the Toreador (1959) as Waiter 

Two-Way Stretch (1960) as Tailor 

Hell Is a City (1960) as Commercial Traveller 

Doctor in Love (1960) as Haystack Club Manager (uncredited) 

The Boy Who Stole a Million (1960) as Pedro 

Surprise Package (1960) as Klimatis 

The Pure Hell of St Trinian's (1960) as Tailor 

The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) as Pepe Valiente 

Don't Bother to Knock (1961) as Waiter 

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) as Giorgio 

The Silent Invasion (1962) as Robert 

Postman's Knock (1962) as Rupert 

Operation Snatch (1962) as Contact Man 

Village of Daughters (1962) as Puccelli (A Father) 

The Main Attraction (1962) as Cafe Proprietor (uncredited) 

We Joined the Navy (1962) as 'Honest' Marcel 

Incident at Midnight (1963) as Chemist 

The Small World of Sammy Lee (1963) as Lou Leeman 

Unearthly Stranger (1963) as Prof. Geoffrey D. Munro 

The Sicilians (1963) as O'Leary 

Calculated Risk (1963) as Simmie 

Seventy Deadly Pills (1964) as Lofty 

Carry On Cleo (1964) as Spencius 

Danger Man (television series; 'The Colonel's Daughter') (1964) as Chopra 

Where Has Poor Mickey Gone? (1964) as Emilio Dinelli, the Magician 

The Intelligence Men (1965) as Prozoroff 

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) as Mr. Zanfrello 

San Ferry Ann (1965) as Maitre d'Hotel 

Help! (1965) as Abdul 

Promise Her Anything (1965) as Frank Focus / Panel Moderator 

Night Caller from Outer Space (1965) as Reg Lilburn 

The Sandwich Man (1966) as Gypsy Sid 

Drop Dead Darling (1966) as Conte de Rienz / Maximillian 

The Jokers (1967) as Lennie 

Diamonds for Breakfast (1968) as Popov 

Till Death Us Do Part (1969) as Alf Garnett 

The Assassination Bureau (1969) as Herr Weiss 

The Best House in London (1969) as Count Pandolfo 

Moon Zero Two (1969) as Hubbard 

All the Way Up (1970) as Fred Midway 

Innocent Bystanders (1972) as Omar 

The Alf Garnett Saga (1972) as Alf Garnett 

The Sweeney (1975, TV Series) as William Wardle 

What Changed Charley Farthing? (1976) as MacGregor 

Jabberwocky (1977) as Mr. Fishfinger 

Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977) as Morris Morris 

Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979) as Gurdjieff's Father 

Norman Loves Rose (1982) as Morris 

The Plague Dogs (1982) as Tyson / Wag (voice) 

The Last Bastion (1984) as Franklin D Roosevelt 

Waterfront (1984) as Les 

The Chain (1984) as Bamber 

Man of Letters (1984) as Sir Dorton Serry 

The Dunera Boys (1985) as Mr. Baum 

Foreign Body (1986) as I.Q. Patel 

Knights and Emeralds (1986) as Mr. Kirkpatrick 

Kokoda Crescent (1988) as Stan 

Crackers (1998) as Albert Hall 

Waking the Dead (2002) as Edgar Truelove in Death Watch (2 episodes)