This Is Your Life: Warren Mitchell

Warren MITCHELL (1926-2015)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Warren Mitchell, actor, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews while playing the saxophone at the City Literary Institute in London.

Warren, who was born in Stoke Newington, London, had been interested in acting from a young age but chose to study physical chemistry at University College, Oxford. Whilst there, he met the actor Richard Burton, and together they joined the Royal Air Force in 1944. After the war, Warren studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art while performing at London's Unity Theatre in the evenings.

After establishing himself as a versatile actor in both straight and comedy roles on stage, radio, film and television, Warren rose to prominence in the 1960s when he was cast as the bigoted cockney Alf Garnett in the BBC television sitcom Till Death Us Do Part - a role which made him a household name and won him the BAFTA award for Best Television Actor in 1967.

"Oh dear dear dear! Cor! Well, you rotten lot! It'll be the greatest night of my father's life!"

programme details...

Edition No: 338
Subject No: 339
Broadcast date: Wed 6 Dec 1972
Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
Recorded: Wed 25 Oct 1972
Venue: Euston Road Studios
Series: 13
Edition: 4

on the guest list...

Connie - wife
Daniel - son
Rebecca - daughter
Anna - daughter
Betty - sister
Monty - father
Celia - stepmother
Ernest Maxin
Norman Shires
Teddy Waltham
Richard Burton - live link
Arnold Diamond
David Young
Cyril Saxon
Alan Tilvern
Albert 'Ginger' Marriott
Alfie Bass
Johnny Speight - in audience
Dennis Main Wilson - in audience
Gaylord Cavallaro

production team...

Researcher: David McFarlane
Writer: Jack Crawshaw
Director: Margery Baker
Producer: Malcolm Morris

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

The Good Life

the sitcom stars

Secrets of Aspel's Success...

The Mirror previews the new series

Alfie Bass

Johnny Speight

Screenshots of Warren Mitchell This Is Your Life

Scriptwriter Roy Bottomley recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, This Is Your Life: The Story of Television's Famous Big Red Book...

Did we get a surprise when actor Warren Mitchell went into his Alf Garnett character on seeing his old friend Richard Burton on our live link to Germany!

Our line on the link went down on us - for more than an hour. We got urgent calls from Germany to tell us that Richard was whiling away the time by making inroads into a case of vodka.

When the technical problems were sorted out that famous face appeared on our big screen to greet the 'Til Death Us Do Part' star.

But by now that smooth, rich voice had been well lubricated.

'Hello, my old friend,' slurred he.

Warren Mitchell scrutinised him carefully and summed up in finest Alf Garnett tones: 'You're pissed.'

Producer Malcolm Morris recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, This Is My Life...

Mothers are very important to This Is Your Life. When the Red Book was shown to Warren Mitchell, Warren, who is not shy, said in character, 'Bloody hell, I would tell you to sod off but I know my mother will love it.' [Bigredbook.info editor: What he actually said was: 'It'll be the greatest night of my father's life'.]

That wasn't the only problem with Warren's programme.

As luck would have it, we had a major technical breakdown which delayed the recording of the programme by an hour and a half. Booked live onto a special line from Munich was Richard Burton, a great pal of Warren's. When the time arrived, we went over to Munich and the waiting Richard Burton.

Warren was surprised and then looked more closely at the incoming television feed. 'You're pissed,' he said to Richard.

'So would you be, you old fart, if you had been stuck for an hour and a half waiting for this damned show.'

So much for the dialogue of the luvvies.

Mark Ward recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, A Family At War: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Till Death Us Do Part...

Amidst all this, Mitchell, like Speight before him, was elevated to the dizzy heights of This Is Your Life. The surprise was sprung on him on the evening of 25 October - the same day he and Speight had met Mary Whitehouse - as he played the clarinet in his local jazz group. He did not look at all pleased at the intrusion, and reportedly said, in true Garnet style, 'Bloody hell, I would tell you to sod off, but I know my mother will love it' - an exclamation that was not surprisingly edited out on transmission. [Bigredbook.info editor: What he actually said was: 'It'll be the greatest night of my father's life'.] He seemed uncomfortable throughout the programme as presenter Eamonn Andrews paraded such old associates as his superior from his old job as a Euston porter, colleagues from his National Service days and showbiz friends such as Arnold Diamond. At one point, Mitchell commented, Garnet-like, that there seemed to be more Jews on the stage than Christians. None of the other Till Death Us Do Part cast members turned up, and although Speight and Wilson were present, they were only in the audience, not on stage. To cap it all, there was a one-and-a-half-hour breakdown in a live transmission link with Munich, where Mitchell's old Oxford acquaintance Richard Burton was filming a programme for HTV and wanted to pay tribute to his friend 'Mick'. During the delay, Burton became increasingly tired and emotional. The producer later recalled, 'Warren was surprised, and then looked more closely at the incoming television feed. "You're pissed", he said to Richard. [Burton replied,] "So would you be, you old fart, if you had been stuck for an hour-and-a-half waiting for this damned show"'. His speech slurred and clutching his pet Shih Tzu, Burton gave a tribute that was different, to say the least. As the credits rolled, Mitchell got up and left the stage, visibly fed up with the spotlight.

Series 13 subjects