Johnny Speight

Johny Speight was born in Canning Town, London, in June 1920 – the son of a dock labourer and the eldest of three children.

Upon leaving school at the age of 14, he worked in a succession of factories along the Silvertown Way, lasting about a week or a fortnight in each place.

He was grateful when World War II broke out and he was called up into the army, which got him away from the laborious factory jobs in Canning Town.

During his time in the army, he wrote a revue and played drums in his unit’s band. When he was demobbed, he survived for a while as a drummer, heavily subsidised by the National Assistance Board.

However, after reading some of Bernard Shaw’s works, he thought he might try his hand at being a writer.

A friend from the army introduced Johnny to Frankie Howerd, and through Frank he met Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes who saw some promise in his work.

He began writing gags for radio – five gags a week for the princely sum of £15 a week – and then moved on to write for Frankie Howerd, Morecambe and Wise and Peter Sellers. He had become a professional writer.

His big breakthrough came with Arthur Haynes. One of the characters Speight invented for Haynes was the belligerent tramp with a chest full of medals, which became a viewer favourite.

Invited by the BBC to write a Comedy Playhouse, he penned Till Death Us Do Part and found he had a huge success on his hands.

The show also provided the basis for the long-running US sitcom All In The Family.

Speight’s later series Curry and Chips (1969) was a more controversial sitcom and was eventually cancelled on the instructions of the Independent Broadcasting Authority.

He returned to form with a follow-on series for the BBC featuring the character of Alf Garnett (Warren Mitchell) – In Sickness and in Health – which ran from 1985 to 1992.

Despite Speight’s work bringing him financial success, he remained a life-long socialist.

He died at his home in Chorleywood in 1998 of pancreatic cancer. He was 78.