Carry on star great escape actor

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We have more newsletters. Lt Butterworth took advantage of prisoners being allowed to write letters home to loved ones and managed to pass vital coded messages to British intelligence. Funnyman Pete died in January, Daily Star has just the thing for you! As an airman with the Fleet Air Arm, Butterworth was shot down at the beginning of the conflict and ended up spending the remainder of it as a prisoner of war. In scenes reminiscent of a Hollywood film, Butterworth staged an elaborate escape through tunnels and managed to get out for three days before being spotted by a member of the Hitler Youth. He had suffered a suspected heart attack.

Carry on star great escape actor

Delivering the news from Henley on Thames and South Oxfordshire for over years. But his small stature and ready smile hid a daring wartime story of a naval pilot shot down and taken as a prisoner of war. A lot of it centres around their showbusiness careers as actors. Janet and Peter met in after the war. She had been a troops entertainer and the first woman to go over to France after D-Day, so she already had a background in the forces and entertainment. He was there for five years and it was this that led to his subsequent acting career and meeting Janet. I think, in a way, it was their form of figurative escape. Janet had set herself on the performance road from an early age and by the time war came she was part of a troupe of entertainers equivalent to the Entertainments National Service Association. After she met Peter, she continued as an actress and impressionist until her big break on The Mike Yarwood Show , where she came up with the definitive impression of Margaret Thatcher. Her career soared as a result and she even received a letter from the new Prime Minister herself upon reaching Number 10, which Tyler produces in the show. He adds that A Bit of a Carry On will be entertaining — how could it not be?

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An actor famous for playing bumbling comic characters in the legendary Carry-On films hid an extraordinary past that saw him take part in the iconic Great Escape prison camp breaks during World War 2. Peter Butterworth was best known by TV and cinema audiences for his quirky portrayal of different roles in 16 films from the long-running comedy film franchise. But as a young man hailing from Cheshire, Peter had joined the RAF to fight the Nazis and rose to the rank of lieutenant in the RAF before being captured after his aircraft was shot down in On March 24, , Peter was part of an incredible feat that saw 76 of those brave RAF men escape from the camp using a network of tunnels they had dug themselves. But despite his acting credentials, Peter himself was rejected for a part in another film covering the prison escape called the Wooden Horse. However, Peter, who died in , went on to become a household name in Carry On films sharing the screen with the likes of Barbara Windsor and Sid James.

By Chris Brooke. He was a household name playing bumbling buffoons in the Carry On films. But behind Peter Butterworth was an extraordinary wartime backstory that can now be revealed in full for the first time. As a prisoner of war, not only was Lieutenant Butterworth closely involved in organising the famous Great Escape from Stalag Luft III, but he also played a vital role in passing coded messages back to British intelligence in apparently innocent letters to home. He was supposed to have been the last man in the tunnel, but ended up staying behind when 76 airmen famously escaped the Nazi POW camp on March 24, Researchers who uncovered new details of his Second World War exploits in the National Archives believe he may have remained in the camp to carry on his vital coding work. Peter Butterworth was a household name playing bumbling buffoons in the Carry On films.

Carry on star great escape actor

Peter Butterworth and his son, Tyler, who knew nothing about his father's war history when he was younger. The Great Escape and The Wooden Horse are two classic British World War II escape films, but what is perhaps less well known is that one of the team involved in both of the escapes that inspired them would go on to become a star of the Carry On movies. Now, 80 years on, Peter Butterworth's recently discovered German prison identity card is going on display as part of an exhibition telling the story of his life as a prisoner of war. Butterworth served in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm during the war but was shot down in , spending the rest of it as a prisoner of war. Butterworth, who appeared in 16 Carry On films, helped hide the sand for the escape tunnels featured in the Great Escape and was on the organising committee for the tunnels featured in The Wooden Horse, but it has taken decades for the full story to emerge. It was his wartime role - working alongside Carry On screenwriter Talbot Rothwell whose plane was also shot down - that helped birth the Carry On humour Butterworth later became famous for. A cache of prisoner of war documents recently released from a German archive is now going on display at the National Archives in London, which adds new detail to the gradually unfolding story. The documents arrived from Germany and have been catalogued by a team of volunteers. It's remarkable.

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Peter staged an escape through tunnels and managed to release himself from prison for six weeks but was unfortunately caught by a member of the Hitler Youth. The performance was followed by some comic repartee which, according to Butterworth's account, provoked enough boos and hisses to have the desired effect of drowning out the sounds of an escape tunnel being dug by other prisoners' escape party. Carry on Up the Khyber. Carry on Dick 5. Expand below. His code was so good researchers only cracked it 70 years later. Photos 6. Louis Theroux pays tribute to US porn star Kagney Linn Karter after she took own life aged 36 Pyromaniac, 30, who spent all day drinking neat vodka and smoking cannabis before starting wardrobe fire Out of the actors who were considered to be the Carry On team , he was the sixth most prolific performer in the series, making sixteen film appearances, two Christmas specials, the television series in and the west end theatre productions which also toured the country, alongside Sid James , Barbara Windsor and Kenneth Connor. Tyler Butterworth. For his son Tyler Butterworth, it has been a revelation.

Carry On star Peter Butterworth has been revealed as a World War Two hero after helping to free 76 airmen from a Polish prison by secretly passing messages to British Intelligence.

Butterworth died suddenly in , as he was waiting in the wings to go onstage in a pantomime show. What's Up Nurse! Carry on Screaming! Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. World War 2 Poland Germany Real life stories. For his son Tyler Butterworth, it has been a revelation. Upload your demo reel. Add to list. Grange Hill cast now - quitting acting, prison stint and heartbreaking deaths. But it seems life wasn't one big ball of fun for Peter. US Edition.