Jack Smethurst RIP

He is what they probably refer to as a Stock Actor by which I infer he could play many many roles and a look at his credits show that . He started acting as early as 1958 . He appeared in many of the iconic shows of the sixties and Seventies Z Cars, Softly Softly , Dixon of Dock Green the list in endless and in the seventies notably Budgie, for the Love of Ada but of course by far his most well remembered role as Eddie in Love Thy Neighbour which at its peak had 16 million viewers .

The show attracts huge criticism now for its content and I imagine it would never be commissioned today but that does not detract from the huge impact it had.

Deviations with Davenport is a favourite of mine , he played a wonderful role in the episode , he will be sadly missed .
 
A very fine actor, best known as Eddie Booth in Love thy Neighbour.

He was also one of the major stars in For the Love of Ada.

He also appeared in three different in Coronation Street over 40 years.

One of his early roles was in Carry on Sergeant.

Other guest appearances other than his brilliant part in LOTSW also include Keeping Up Appearances and Dinnerladies.

Will be greatly missed.
 
Loved Eddie in Love thy neighbour,he always came worse off in the end,Deviations with Davenport is one of my Summer Wine favourites,when the weather improves I’m going to go to the ruined village of Hade,beside Hades Edge,where he was lost looking for the road with Foggy,Compo and Clegg,as tribute to him,I’m currently enjoying watching him in For the love of Ada which is being shown on Talking Pictures tv.
 
Douglas Enwright said:
Loved Eddie in Love thy neighbour,he always came worse off in the end,Deviations with Davenport is one of my Summer Wine favourites,when the weather improves I’m going to go to the ruined village of Hade,beside Hades Edge,where he was lost looking for the road with Foggy,Compo and Clegg,as tribute to him,I’m currently enjoying watching him in For the love of Ada which is being shown on Talking Pictures tv.
Click to expand...

Didn't know they were repeating For the Love of Ada. Thanks.

Looking forward to your trip to Hade if you manage it.

Have you seen Love thy Neighbour in Australia (actually made in Australia) which also starred Jack Smethurst?
 
Cloggy said:
I agree, when they try to re-create British sit-coms abroad it has never worked IMO.
Click to expand...

While that is usually true, there are some successes. "All in the Family" was at least inspired by "Til Death Do US Part." A far better example in many respects was "Three's Company," which is basically the US version of "Man About the House." That copied the UK series to the point of having similar spinoffs, such as "The Ropers" being very similar to "George and MIldred." Obviously there has to be some adjustment made to reflect cultural differences, though. That is where a lot of the problems arise.

It makes me wonder if the LOTSW US version that came close to happening would have succeeded. Could Roy Clarke have written for a US audience? And how would the premise have changed? LOTSW is helped a lot by being filmed partially outside in a great and interesting landscape but trying to find that in the US and then somehow explaining why three old guys don't have cars (like almost everyone has here) and have to walk everywhere makes me wonder how much different it would have turned out. I'm worried it would have ended up being a typical Hollywood studio only sitcom with everyone indoors all the time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top