Page "John Le Mesurier" Paragraph 16

Le Mesurier's friendship with Tony Hancock provided a further source of work when Hancock asked him to be one of the serial supporting actors in Hancock's Half Hour, once it moved from radio to television.

Le Mesurier subsequently appeared in seven episodes of Hancock's show between 1957 and 1960, and then in two episodes of the follow-up works, entitled Hancock.

In 1957 Le Mesurier also had an uncredited role as a cook in The Admirable Crichton and portrayed a commanding officer in Herbert Wilcox's comedy musical These Dangerous Years, co-starring George Baker, Frankie Vaughan, Carole Lesley and Thora Hird.

In 1958 he appeared in ten films, amongst them Roy Boulting's comedy Happy is the Bride, for which Dilys Powell wrote in The Sunday Times that, " my vote for the most entertaining contributions ... goes to the two fathers, John Le Mesurier and Cecil Parker ".

His other roles during the course of the year were Herbert Wilcox's The Man Who Wouldn't Talk, Charles Crichton's Law and Disorder, Lewis Allen's Another Time, Another Place ( featuring Sean Connery and Lana Turner in the lead roles ) and Henry Cass's horror film Blood of the Vampire.

He also portrayed Oliver Cromwell in David MacDonald's swashbuckling picture, The Moonraker, set during the English Civil War.

In 1959 he appeared in 13 films, the busiest year of his career, including Jack the Ripper, Too Many Crooks, Carlton-Browne of the F. O., The Hound of the Baskervilles and I'm All Right Jack, which was critically and commercially the most successful of le Mesurier's credited films that year.

He also had an uncredited role as a doctor in Ben-Hur and appeared alongside Norman Wisdom in Follow a Star.