The star died “peacefully in his sleep” on Monday, his agent Jonathan Lloyd confirmed. Phillips made his first film appearances as a boy in the 1930s and went on to a brilliant career on stage and screen, particularly in the Carry On films – which included Carry On Teacher, Carry On Columbus, Carry On Constable and Carry On Nurse . He became well known for his catchphrases such as “Ding Dong!”, “Well, hello” and “I Say!”. Image: Leslie Phillips with Joan Sims in Carry on Teacher. Photo: Studiocanal/Shutterstock During a long and varied entertainment career spanning several decades, the actor has worked with a vast array of stars, from Steven Spielberg and Laurence Olivier to Anthony Hopkins and Angelina Jolie. Although he was known for his dull accent and exaggerated performances of the English upper class, Phillips was born in Tottenham and grew up speaking English on the estuary – taking enunciation lessons and losing his accent later in life as it was seen as a hindrance to acting. industry at that time. He released his autobiography, Hello, in 2005, detailing how he discovered acting after growing up “in a poverty-stricken childhood in north London” and the death of his father when he was just 10 years old. Phillips has appeared in TV series such as Heartbeat, Midsomer Murders, Monarch Of The Glen and Holby City, films such as Empire Of The Sun, Scandal and Out Of Africa, and plays such as Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. In 2007, the actor starred in Hanif Kureshi’s film Venus alongside Peter O’Toole, a performance for which he was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor. And in recent years, his voice had become instantly recognizable to younger generations, like that of the Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter films. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 0:46 Phillips as the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter He was made an OBE in the 1998 Birthday Honors and promoted to CBE in the 2008 New Year Honours. Born Leslie Samuel Phillips on April 20, 1924, the actor learned his craft at the prestigious Italia Conti Stage School before serving as a lieutenant in the Durham Light Infantry between 1942 and 1945, when he was discharged. Then he was soon back in the limelight and the Carry On Films came in the 1950s and 1960s – cementing his reputation for playing calm and unscrupulous but inept members of high society. Image: Leslie Phillips was nominated for a BAFTA for his performance in Aphrodite, starring opposite Peter O’Toole. Photo: Miramax Films Image: With Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider. Photo: Paramount Films such as Brothers In Law, The Smallest Show On Earth and The Man Who Liked Funerals followed and he also became known for his appearances in the series Doctor, as well as comedies in which he was paired with Scottish comedian and impressionist Stanley Baxter – including Very Important Person , Crooks Anonymous, The Fast Lady and Father Came Too. Like most of his contemporaries, a stint in Hollywood followed, but he said he preferred Britain. “I could have stayed,” he once said, “but I’m a Londoner at times. I want to go everywhere, but I will always want to live in London. That’s how I came back.”
“His stories were like a tour of the golden age of British cinema” – actress Kerrie Taylor
I first learned of Leslie Phillips’ death while out shopping in Ealing. While all the studio filming of the Carry On films took place in Pinewood, Ealing was the location for Carry On Constable. The story goes that Leslie had laughed when, while dressed as a policeman, Kenneth Williams held up traffic in Ealing and then proceeded to urinate in the middle of the road. I was very fortunate to live on a diet of these kinds of stories when I had the privilege of working with Leslie for a few weeks. After years of my then boyfriend (now husband) watching the entire Chancer box set at least every two years, I found out I was to play the nurse who intervenes with his dying widow in the ITV series Where The Heart Is. I’m not saying that working with one of his heroes is why my husband married me, but it’s in there. And Leslie did not disappoint – he was not, as they say, a tough stitch to pull for a thread. Everyday, from putting on makeup to traveling home, I turned on the faucet and asked for more and more stories. He was such a great guide, so funny and generous and no-holds-barred that it was like a tour of the golden age of British cinema, maybe in an open car, probably with Terry Thomas along the way. He had been born in Tottenham and only years later acquired the plummy tones that gave the impression of a silver spoon to the Italia Conti stage school. He knew what it was like to be poor, and when I asked him for advice on our precarious profession, he told me to buy “good things” when I work and never sell anything. He said he had bought a Rolls Royce, a house in London’s Maida Vale and a villa in Ibiza in the early years of his success and still had it all. Oh, the villa in Ibiza. the stories from there, then… But when we got on set, he was the consummate professional. My work with him was not the fun he became best known for, but the sad story of a man grieving the loss of his wife and seemingly choosing to let her go. As my busy nurse knelt at his feet, he looked into my eyes for something that seemed impossible as the life drained from him. it was truly a beautiful show that I will always remember. But as soon as the director called cut, the impostor started dancing in his eyes again and without missing a beat his silky voice said to me, “Honey, has anyone ever told you, you have the most beautiful eyes?” And 30-year-old, serious feminist me laughed and blushed like a 16-year-old at her first dance. RIP Leslie, you were, just fine. The stars pay tribute Following the news of his death, stars who worked with and knew him were among those who paid tribute. Actor Sanjeev Bhaskar shared a clip of Phillips on his show The Kumars At No 42. In the footage, Phillips recalled how he once found himself stuck on the London Underground surrounded by audience members asking him to do his lines. “A truly warm, funny and kind man #RIPLEsliePhillips,” Bhaskar wrote. Coronation Street actor Tony Maudsley said working with Phillips “was a blast”. Phillips’ first marriage, to Penelope Bartley in 1948, dissolved in 1965. They had two sons and two daughters. He married his second wife Angela Scoular in 1982 and the couple remained together until her death in April 2011. He is survived by his third wife, Zara Carr, whom he married in 2013.
