John Francis Junkin (29 January 1930 â€" 7 March 2006) was an English radio, television and film actor and scriptwriter.
In 1960 Junkin joined Joan Littlewood's Stratford East Theatre Workshop, and played the lead in the original production of Sparrers Can't Sing. A few years later he joined the Royal Court Theatre company and was the foil to Tony Hancock in some of Hancock's last work for British television. He played a diverse range of roles on the small screen; however he is best remembered for his comedy roles, and his appearances as a television quiz master. Worldwide filmgoers will remember him best for playing "Shake", the assistant to Norman Rossington, in the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night. In comedy roles, Junkin was rarely short of work, on account of his outstanding ability to play the stony-faced symbol of low level, petty-minded and unquestioning authority, whether the army sergeant, police constable or site foreman.
One of his rare leading roles was in the BBC series The Rough with the Smooth, in which he and Tim Brooke-Taylor played comedy writers (with both actors contributing scripts to the series as well). He also hosted his own afternoon television series in the mid-1970s. Entitled simply Junkin, it was produced by Southern Television for the ITV network.
Junkin has an entry in the Guinness Book of Records as the voice of "Mr Shifter", one of the chimps in the PG Tips tea advertisement, the longest-running series of commercials on television.
Junkin lived in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, where he was a popular regular at the Red Lion pub. He married Jenny Claybourn in 1977 and had one daughter. He died on 7 March 2006 in the Florence Nightingale House, Stoke Mandeville, several miles from his home. He had been suffering from lung cancer, emphysema and asthma. His life and work were honoured at the British Academy Television Awards in 2006.
Acting credits
- Cinema:
- The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963)
- Hot Enough for June (1964)
- A Hard Day's Night (1964)
- The Wrong Box (1966)
- The Sandwich Man (1966)
- Kaleidoscope (1967)
- How I Won the War (1967)
- The Plank (1967)
- Simon, Simon (1970)
- Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976)
- Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977)
- Wombling Free (1977)
- Brass Target (1978)
- Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse (1978)
- Licensed to Love and Kill (1979)
- That Summer! (1979)
- A Handful of Dust (1988)
- Chicago Joe and the Showgirl (1990)
- Girl from Rio (2001)
- The Football Factory (2004)
- Radio:
- Radio Caroline first voice of the test transmissions in March 1964
- Hello, Cheeky! with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Barry Cryer
- Just a Minute as an occasional guest
- I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
- Television:
- The Plane Makers, drama series set in an aircraft factory, 1962â€"65
- Marty, a comedy television series with Marty Feldman, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Roland MacLeod.
- The Blackpool Show a 1966 series with Tony Hancock.
- The Goodies
- The Sweeney
- The Professionals (series 5 episode 8 as Mr Hollis)
- Out
- Inspector Morse
- The Avengers
- Crosswits (quiz panelist)
- Odd One Out (voiceover)
- Mr Bean
- Ask No Questions
- Lord Peter Wimsey: "Five Red Herrings" (1975)
- Picking Up The Pieces
- The Thing About Vince
- The Sins
- Macready and Daughter
- Coronation Street (as a short-lived boyfriend of Elsie Tanner)
- EastEnders (2001â€"02) as Ernie Johnson
References
External links
- John Junkin at the Internet Movie Database
- John Junkin: reminiscences of making A Hard Days' Night
