John Junkin(1930-2006)
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Writer
An influential figure in the world of British television comedy during
the 1960s and 70s, actor and comedian John Junkin wrote scripts for
such shows as The Army Game, The World of Beachcomber, Queenie's
Castle, plus scripts for many comedians, including Ted Ray, Jim
Davidson, Bob Monkhouse and Mike Yarwood.
As an actor he became familiar to TV soap viewers when he starred in
East Enders (2001), playing Ernie, a mysterious stranger who suddenly
appears at the Queen Vic.
Junkin was born in Ealing, West London. Educated locally, he worked as
a teacher in the East End of London but said he hated the job. "I loved
the kids," he recalled. "But hated the adults and bores of the
Education Authority."
In 1960 he joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in Stratford East
and was in the original cast of Littlewood's production of Sparrers
Can't Sing with Barbara Windsor.
Throughout the sixties and seventies he was one of the busiest men on
television, both as a performer and scriptwriter. The comedian Marty
Feldman won the Golden Rose Award with a Junkin script in 1972 and with
Barry Cryer and others, Junkin contributed to many of the Morecambe and
Wise specials for the BBC. He also wrote, with Bill Tidy, The Fosdyke
Saga, and The Grumbleweeds for radio.
He had a prolific career in the cinema playing a variety of straight
and comic roles and described himself as easy to cast: "I look like the
bloke next door," he said. "I always seem to be wearing one of those
sheepskin coats."
In the latter part of his career, Junkin became disillusioned with show
business, particularly television. He fell out with a producer - he
never revealed which one - over the writing of a game show for which he
had devised the format. Litigation cost him £70,000 and he was also in
debt to the tax man to the tune of £120,000. He did, however, return to
scriptwriting and contributed to The Crazy World of Joe Pasquale (1998)
and The Impressionable Jon Culshaw (2004) and he was much in demand as
an after dinner speaker.
Close friend, former Radio 1 disc jockey Dave Lee Travis, said: If you
were in conversation with John, you were always in a state of hilarity.
He had no airs and graces."
the 1960s and 70s, actor and comedian John Junkin wrote scripts for
such shows as The Army Game, The World of Beachcomber, Queenie's
Castle, plus scripts for many comedians, including Ted Ray, Jim
Davidson, Bob Monkhouse and Mike Yarwood.
As an actor he became familiar to TV soap viewers when he starred in
East Enders (2001), playing Ernie, a mysterious stranger who suddenly
appears at the Queen Vic.
Junkin was born in Ealing, West London. Educated locally, he worked as
a teacher in the East End of London but said he hated the job. "I loved
the kids," he recalled. "But hated the adults and bores of the
Education Authority."
In 1960 he joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in Stratford East
and was in the original cast of Littlewood's production of Sparrers
Can't Sing with Barbara Windsor.
Throughout the sixties and seventies he was one of the busiest men on
television, both as a performer and scriptwriter. The comedian Marty
Feldman won the Golden Rose Award with a Junkin script in 1972 and with
Barry Cryer and others, Junkin contributed to many of the Morecambe and
Wise specials for the BBC. He also wrote, with Bill Tidy, The Fosdyke
Saga, and The Grumbleweeds for radio.
He had a prolific career in the cinema playing a variety of straight
and comic roles and described himself as easy to cast: "I look like the
bloke next door," he said. "I always seem to be wearing one of those
sheepskin coats."
In the latter part of his career, Junkin became disillusioned with show
business, particularly television. He fell out with a producer - he
never revealed which one - over the writing of a game show for which he
had devised the format. Litigation cost him £70,000 and he was also in
debt to the tax man to the tune of £120,000. He did, however, return to
scriptwriting and contributed to The Crazy World of Joe Pasquale (1998)
and The Impressionable Jon Culshaw (2004) and he was much in demand as
an after dinner speaker.
Close friend, former Radio 1 disc jockey Dave Lee Travis, said: If you
were in conversation with John, you were always in a state of hilarity.
He had no airs and graces."