Jack Warner

Jack Warner

Born: October 22, 1895
Died: May 24, 1981
in Bromley-by-Bow, London, England, UK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Jack Warner OBE (24 October 1895 – 24 May 1981) was an English film and television actor.

He was born in London, his real name being Horace John Waters. His sisters Elsie and Doris Waters were well-known comediennes under the names Gert and Daisy. Like them, Jack Warner made his name in music hall and radio, but he became known to cinema audiences as the patriarch in a trio of popular post-World War II family films beginning with Here Come the Huggetts. He also co-starred in the 1955 Hammer film version of The Quatermass Xperiment and as a police superintendent in the 1955 Ealing Studios black comedy The Ladykillers.

Warner attended the Coopers' Company's Grammar School for Boys in Mile End, while his sisters both attended the nearby sister school, Coborn School for Girls in Bow. The three children were choristers at St. Leonard's Church, Bromley-by-Bow, and for a time, Warner was the choir's soloist.

By the early war years Warner was nationally known and starred in a BBC radio comedy show Garrison Theatre, invariably opening with, "A Monologue Entitled...".

It was in 1949 that Warner first played the role for which he would be remembered, PC George Dixon, in the film The Blue Lamp. One observer predicted, "This film will make Jack the most famous policeman in Britain". Although the police constable was shot dead in the film, the character was revived in 1955 for the BBC television series Dixon of Dock Green, which ran until 1976. In later years though, Warner and his long-past-retirement-age character were confined to a less prominent desk sergeant role. The series had a prime-time slot on Saturday evenings, and always opened with Dixon giving a little soliloquy to the camera, beginning with the words, "Good evening, all". According to Warner's autobiography, Jack of All Trades, Elizabeth II once visited the television studio where the series was made and told Warner "that she thought Dixon of Dock Green had become part of the British way of life".

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1965. In 1973, he was made a Freeman of the City of London. Warner commented in his autobiography that the honour "entitles me to a set of 18th century rules for the conduct of life urging me to be sober and temperate". Warner added, "Not too difficult with Dixon to keep an eye on me!"

The characterisation by Warner of Dixon was held in such high regard that officers from Paddington Green Police Station bore the coffin at his funeral in 1981.

Warner is buried in East London Cemetery. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jack Warner (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Movies for Jack Warner...

Dominique
Title: Dominique
Released: March 6, 1980
Type: Movie
The wife of a greedy man comes back to haunt him after he scares her to death.
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The Ealing Comedies
Title: The Ealing Comedies
Character: Self
Released: September 8, 1970
Type: Movie
The story of the men and women who produced a series of film comedies that were so original and funny that they put Ealing on the map.
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Jigsaw
Title: Jigsaw
Character: Det. Insp. Fred Fellows
Released: August 21, 1962
Type: Movie
A woman is found murdered in a house along the coast from Brighton. Local detectives Fellows and Wilks lead an investigation methodically following up leads and clues mostly in Brighton and Hove but also further afield.
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Title: Christmas Night with the Stars
Released: December 25, 1958
Type: TV
A gala programme broadcast each Christmas night by the BBC from 1958 to 1972 and also revived in 1994. It was hosted by a leading star and featured specially made short, seasonal editions of the previous year's most popular sitcoms and light entertainment programmes.
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Carve Her Name with Pride
Title: Carve Her Name with Pride
Character: Mr. Bushell
Released: February 18, 1958
Type: Movie
London, England, during World War II. After living a tragic life experience, young Violette Szabo joins the Special Operations Executive and crosses the German enemy lines as a secret agent to aid a French Resistance group.
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Title: Eye to Eye
Character: Narrator
Released: May 17, 1957
Type: TV
Documentary programmes looking at aspects of contemporary British life.
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Now and Forever
Title: Now and Forever
Character: Mr. J. Pritchard
Released: September 10, 1956
Type: Movie
A rich young society girl falls in love with a car mechanic. Her family is appalled and stops her seeing him. The girl attempts to commit suicide and then decides to elope.
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Home and Away
Title: Home and Away
Character: George Knowles
Released: September 4, 1956
Type: Movie
When George discovers that he has won the pools, there is huge excitement in the household. But it turns out that it's his son who has won, in partnership with the son of a woman against whom George has some ill feelings.
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The Ladykillers
Title: The Ladykillers
Character: The Superintendent
Released: December 8, 1955
Type: Movie
Five oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.
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The Quatermass Xperiment
Title: The Quatermass Xperiment
Character: Inspector Lomax
Released: August 26, 1955
Type: Movie
The first manned spacecraft, fired from an English launchpad, is first lost from radar, then roars back to Earth and crashes in a farmer's field, and is found to contain only one of the three men who took off in it; and he is unable to talk but appears to be undergoing a torturous physical and mental metamorphosis.
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Title: Dixon of Dock Green
Character: PC George Dixon
Released: July 9, 1955
Type: TV
Created by Ted Willis. Dixon of Dock Green was a BBC television series following the activities of police officers at a fictional Metropolitan Police station in the East End of London from 1955 to 1976. Some episodes were later remade as a BBC radio series in 2005 and 2006.
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Forbidden Cargo
Title: Forbidden Cargo
Character: Maj. Alec White
Released: May 4, 1954
Type: Movie
Kenyon is a narcotics agent who, with the aid of a titled bird-watcher attempts to trap a brother and sister drug smuggling team.
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Bang! You're Dead
Title: Bang! You're Dead
Character: Bonsell
Released: March 15, 1954
Type: Movie
Two small boys are playing in a wood. The younger boy has a revolver and, not understanding that the gun differs from his toy pistol, plays 'highwayman' on the road and holds up a cyclist; the gun goes off, killing the cyclist. Both boys are unaware of the tragic consequences of their game. The body and the gun are found by Bob Carter, who had recently quarreled with the victim in the presence of their workmates, and both men had uttered threats. The evidence is strong, and Bob is arrested for murder...
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Albert R.N.
Title: Albert R.N.
Character: Capt Maddox
Released: November 23, 1953
Type: Movie
The British inmates of a POW camp think they have an informer among them after several escape attempts fail. One of the prisoners constructs a dummy which they christen "Albert" and use at roll call in order to foil the German guards.
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The Square Ring
Title: The Square Ring
Character: Danny Felton
Released: July 13, 1953
Type: Movie
Boxing drama following the lives of 5 different fighters and their reasons for becoming boxers.
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The Final Test
Title: The Final Test
Character: Sam Palmer
Released: April 9, 1953
Type: Movie
Legendary England cricketer Sam Palmer (Jack Warner) is due to bat in his final test match against Australia. He is desperate for his son Reggie (Ray Jackson) to see his final innings. But Reggie prefers poetry to cricket and when he is offered the opportunity to read his poetry to England's greatest playwright Alexander Whitehead (Robert Morley) on the last day of the test, the relationship between father and son is tested to the limit. As Sam prepares for his final knock, the conflict with his son weighs heavily on his mind, but he is also upset over England's young batsman and ladies-man, Syd Thompson (George Relph), dating the woman whom he hopes to marry.
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Those People Next Door
Title: Those People Next Door
Character: Sam Twigg
Released: February 1, 1953
Type: Movie
The Twiggs are a typical working-class family: Sam (Jack Warner) and Mary (Marjorie Rhodes) are trying to bring their family up in the shadow of the Blitz whilst taking everything in good humour. Their neighbours Joe (Charles Victor) and Emma (Gladys Henson) are constantly in the Twiggs house, borrowing a cup of sugar or using their Anderson shelter and between them the two working class families put the world to rights. But when their daughter falls for an upper class RAF pilot the Twiggs are asked by his mother, Lady Diana Stephens to tell their daughter to call the romance off, as the social gap between the families is too large. Incensed by Lady Diana s offer of money, Sam Twigg throws her out of the house. But events take a sudden turn as the war enters the Twiggs own living room. Will the two families manage to overcome their disdain for each other and let true love find its way?
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Meet Me Tonight
Title: Meet Me Tonight
Character: Murdoch
Released: September 9, 1952
Type: Movie
Meet Me Tonight was the American title for the British-filmed Tonight at 8:30, adapted from the Noel Coward stage production of the same name.
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Emergency Call
Title: Emergency Call
Character: Inspector Lane
Released: May 19, 1952
Type: Movie
A 5-year-old child is diagnosed with leukaemia and has only days to live. Her only hope is a blood transfusion, but her blood type is extremely rare, so the race is on to find the donors.
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Scrooge
Title: Scrooge
Character: Jorkins
Released: November 28, 1951
Type: Movie
Ebenezer Scrooge malcontentedly shuffles through life as a cruel, miserly businessman; until he is visited by three spirits on Christmas Eve who show him how his unhappy childhood and adult behavior has left him a selfish, lonely old man.
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Valley of the Eagles
Title: Valley of the Eagles
Character: Inspector Peterson
Released: September 26, 1951
Type: Movie
A Norwegian scientist builds a device that can convert sound waves into electrical energy. However, the machine is stolen by the scientist's wife and assistant, who head across the frozen tundra towards Russia. A police inspector and a local girl team up with the scientist to help recover the device.
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Talk of a Million
Title: Talk of a Million
Character: Bartley Murnahan
Released: March 12, 1951
Type: Movie
A family reduced to imminent poverty by the father's disinclination to work; an American lawyer looking for the heir to half a million pounds; the scene is set for a hilarious tale of creative deception!
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The Blue Lamp
Title: The Blue Lamp
Character: PC George Dixon
Released: January 19, 1950
Type: Movie
P.C. George Dixon is a long-serving traditional copper who is due to retire shortly. He takes a new recruit under his aegis and introduces him to the easy-going night beat. Dixon is a classic ordinary hero but also anachronistic, unprepared and unable to answer the violence of the 1950s.
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Boys in Brown
Title: Boys in Brown
Character: Governor
Released: December 1, 1949
Type: Movie
Jackie lives in poverty with his widowed mother. In a bid to escape poverty he gets involved in a robbery that sees him sentenced to three years in Borstal where he meets a tough crowd, tougher than anything on the outside.
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The Huggetts Abroad
Title: The Huggetts Abroad
Character: Joe Huggett
Released: March 21, 1949
Type: Movie
Life is not going well for the Huggetts. Father has lost his job. Jimmy and his wife cannot get to South Africa where he has a new job. So the family decide that they should go to South Africa by truck. With their travelling companion they travel across the desert which includes a brush with the law.
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Vote for Huggett
Title: Vote for Huggett
Character: Joe Huggett
Released: February 1, 1949
Type: Movie
A firm of solicitors do battle with the head of the local council over a parcel of river front land, owned by the Huggett family, in order to build a lido/community center.
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Train of Events
Title: Train of Events
Character: Jim Hardcastle
Released: January 18, 1949
Type: Movie
A train disaster is told in four short stories to give character studies of the people involved, how it will affect them and how they deal with it.
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Here Come the Huggetts
Title: Here Come the Huggetts
Character: Joe Huggett
Released: December 2, 1948
Type: Movie
The Huggetts have their first telephone installed, sleep rough on The Mall whilst waiting for the Royal Wedding and deal with a fire at the 'Oatibix' factory.
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My Brother's Keeper
Title: My Brother's Keeper
Character: George Martin
Released: August 19, 1948
Type: Movie
War hero turned villain George Martin escapes from the police, but he is handcuffed to a naive young crook Willie Stannard. After using a clever plan to obtain railway tickets, and with the police and the press in hot pursuit, George has to find a way of breaking loose from Willie, and to make his escape.
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Against the Wind
Title: Against the Wind
Character: Max Cronk
Released: February 1, 1948
Type: Movie
A disparate group of volunteers are trained as saboteurs and parachuted into Belgium to blow up an office containing important Nazi records and to rescue a prominent S.O.E. agent, who is being interrogated by the Germans for vital information.
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Easy Money
Title: Easy Money
Character: Philip Stafford
Released: January 20, 1948
Type: Movie
A win on the football pools in postwar Britain changes lives. A happy family is turned into an unhappy argumentative lot until it is discovered the coupon apparently didn't get posted. A mild-mannered clerk worries about how to tell his overbearing boss he is quitting. A double-bass player finds life without the orchestra lacks something. The lure of the big money even turns some people into criminals, as when a coupon checker is tempted by his night-club singer girlfriend to cheat the company. Written by Jeremy Perkins
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It Always Rains on Sunday
Title: It Always Rains on Sunday
Character: Detective Sergeant Fothergill
Released: November 28, 1947
Type: Movie
During a rainy Sunday afternoon, an escaped prisoner tries to hide out at the home of his ex-fiance.
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Holiday Camp
Title: Holiday Camp
Character: Joe Huggett
Released: August 5, 1947
Type: Movie
The Huggett family go to a holiday camp, and get involved in crooked card players, a murderer on the run, and a pregnant young girl and her boyfriend missing from home.
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Dear Murderer
Title: Dear Murderer
Character: Inspector Penbury
Released: June 23, 1947
Type: Movie
When a man discovers his wife is having an affair, he commits the perfect crime.
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Hue and Cry
Title: Hue and Cry
Character: Nightingale
Released: February 1, 1947
Type: Movie
A gang of street boys foil a master crook who sends commands for robberies by cunningly altering a comic strip's wording each week, unknown to writer and printer. The first of the Ealing comedies.
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The Captive Heart
Title: The Captive Heart
Character: Cpl. Ted Horsfall
Released: April 29, 1946
Type: Movie
A series of stories about the lives and loves of nine men in a Prisoner of War Camp over five years. Location shooting in the British occupied part of Germany adds believability. The main story is of Hasek (Redgrave) a Czech soldier who needs to keep his identity a secret from the Nazis, to do this he poses as a dead English Officer and corresponds with the man's wife. Upon liberation they meet and decide to continue their lives together. The other inmates' stories are revealed episodically.
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The Dummy Talks
Title: The Dummy Talks
Character: Jack
Released: October 25, 1943
Type: Movie
An operation of counterfeit five pound notes is discovered at a variety theater, leading to murder during the performance.