John Junkin

John Francis Junkin (29 January 1930 - 7 March 2006) was an English radio, television and film performer and scriptwriter.

In 1960 Junkin joined Joan Littlewood's Stratford East Theatre Workshop, and played the lead in the original production of Sparrows 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^{[citation needed]}. American moviegoers will remember him best for playing "Shake", the assistant to Norman Rossington, in the Beatles movie A Hard Day's Night. In comedy roles, Junkin was rarely short of work, on account of his outstanding ability to play the stoney-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).^[1]

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.^[1]

Junkin died on 7 March 2006 in the Florence Nightingale House, Aylesbury. He had been suffering from lung cancer, emphysema and asthma.^[2] His life and work were honoured at the British Academy Television Awards in 2006.

Credits

• Cinema:
  • The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963)
  • A Hard Day's Night (1964) ... as Shake
  • Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977)
  • A Handful of Dust (1988)
  • Chicago Joe and the Showgirl (1990)
  • 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 in 1986

• Television:
  • The Plane Makers, drama series set in an aircraft factory, 1962-5
  • 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 Professionals (Series 5 Episode 8 as Mr Hollis)
  • Out
  • Inspector Morse
  • The Avengers
  • Crosswits (quiz panelist)
  • Mr Bean
  • Ask No Questions
  • Picking Up The Pieces
  • The Thing About Vince
  • Coronation Street (as a short-lived boyfriend of Elsie Tanner)
  • EastEnders (2001-2002) as Ernie Johnson

References

External links

• John Junkin at the Internet Movie Database
• John Junkin at Find a Grave
• Actor's Compendium
• John Junkin: reminiscences of making A Hard Days' Night