William Arnold Ridley (7 January 1896 – 12 March 1984) was an English playwright and actor, known early in his career for writing the 1925 play The Ghost Train and later in life for the British television sitcom Dad's Army (1968–1977), in which he played the elderly, bumbling Private Godfrey. He also appeared in such Dad's Army spin-offs as the feature film version and the stage production.

Early life

William Arnold Ridley was born in Walcot, Bath, Somerset, England, the son of Rosa Caroline (née Morrish, 1870–1956) and William Robert Ridley (1871–1931). His father was a gymnastics instructor and ran a boot and shoe shop. He attended the Clarendon School and the Bath City Secondary School where he was a keen sportsman. A graduate of the University of Bristol, he studied in their Education Department, and played Hamlet in a student production. Ridley undertook teaching practice at an Elementary School in Bristol.

Military service

Ridley was a student teacher and had made his theatrical debut in Prunella at the Theatre Royal, Bristol when he volunteered for service with the British Army on the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. He was initially rejected because of a hammer toe. In December 1915, he enlisted as a private with the Somerset Light Infantry, British Army. his legs were riddled with shrapnel; he received a bayonet wound in the groin; and the lasting impacts of a blow to the head from a German soldier's rifle butt left him prone to blackouts after the war. He was medically discharged from the army with the rank of lance corporal in May 1917. He received the Silver War Badge having been honourably discharged from the army due to wounds received in the war, and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his service. He served with the British Expeditionary Force in France during the "Phoney War", employed as a "Conducting Officer" tasked with supervising journalists who were visiting the front line. In May 1940, Ridley returned to Britain on the overcrowded destroyer HMS Vimiera, which was the last British ship to escape from the harbour during the Battle of Boulogne. Shortly afterwards, he was discharged from the Armed Forces on health grounds. He subsequently joined the Home Guard,

Acting career

After his medical discharge from the army, Ridley commenced a career as a professional actor. In 1918 he joined the company of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, staying for two years and playing 40 parts before moving on to Plymouth, where he took a break from the stage when his war injuries began to trouble him.

During his time in military service in the Second World War he adapted the Agatha Christie novel Peril at End House into a West End play that premiered in 1940. Ridley's post-war play, Beggar My Neighbour, was first performed in 1951 and adapted for the Ealing Comedy film Meet Mr. Lucifer (1953).

Ridley worked regularly as an actor, including an appearance in the British comedy Crooks in Cloisters (1964). He also played Doughy Hood, the village baker, in the radio soap opera The Archers and the Rev. Guy Atkins in the ATV soap Crossroads from the programme's inception in 1964 until 1968. He became a household name after he was cast as Private Godfrey, the gentle platoon medic in the television comedy series Dad's Army (1968–1977). He continued to appear into his eighties, and was appointed an OBE in the 1982 Queen's New Year Honours List, for services to the theatre. in 1976 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at London's Marylebone Station.

Personal life

Ridley was married three times. His first marriage lasted from January 1926 to 1939, and was followed by a short marriage to Isola Strong (1911-1997), an actress (It's Hard to Be Good), at Kensington in 1939, before his final marriage to actress Althea Parker (1911–2001) on 3 October 1945; they had one son, Nicolas (b. 1947). He was a Freemason, and belonged to the Savage Club Lodge in London. The actress Daisy Ridley is his great-niece.

Death

Ridley died in hospital in Northwood in 1984 at the age of 88 after falling at his residence in Denville Hall, a home for retired actors. His body was cremated at the Golders Green Crematorium and an urn holding his ashes was buried in his parents' grave at Bath Abbey Cemetery.

Works

Plays

  • The Ghost Train (1923)
  • The Wrecker (with Bernard Merivale, 1924)
  • Old Leeds (1928)
  • The Flying Fool (with Bernard Merivale, 1929)
  • Keepers of Youth (1929) (filmed in 1931)
  • Third Time Lucky (1932)
  • Half a Crown (1934)
  • Recipe for Murder (1936)
  • Peril at End House (1945, from Agatha Christie novel)
  • Easy Money (1948)
  • East of Ludgate Hill (1950)
  • Murder Happens (1951)
  • The Return (1953)
  • Mrs Tredruthan's Son (1953)
  • Beggar My Neighbour (1953)
  • Geranium (1954)
  • Tabitha (1956) (written with Mary Cathcart Borer)
  • You, My Guests (1956)
  • Bellamy (1960)
  • Hercule Poirot Strikes (1967, from Agatha Christie novel)

Film adaptations (original author)

  • Ghost Train, directed by Géza von Bolváry (1927, based on the play The Ghost Train)
  • The Wrecker, directed by Géza von Bolváry (1929, based on the play The Wrecker)
  • The Flying Fool, directed by Walter Summers (1931, based on the play The Flying Fool)
  • Third Time Lucky, directed by Walter Forde (1931, based on the play Third Time Lucky)
  • The Ghost Train, directed by Walter Forde (1931, based on the play The Ghost Train)
  • Keepers of Youth, directed by Thomas Bentley (1931, based on the play Keepers of Youth)
  • Kísértetek vonata, directed by Lajos Lázár (Hungary, 1933, based on the play The Ghost Train)
  • Trenul fantoma, directed by Jean Mihail (Romania, 1933, based on the play The Ghost Train)
  • The Warren Case, directed by Walter Summers (1934, based on the play The Last Chance)
  • ', directed by René Hervil (France, 1934, based on the play The Ghost Train)
  • Blind Justice, directed by Bernard Vorhaus (1934, based on the play Recipe for Murder)
  • Seven Sinners, directed by Albert de Courville (1936)
  • East of Ludgate Hill, directed by Manning Haynes (1937, based on the play East of Ludgate Hill)
  • De Spooktrein, directed by Karel Lamač (Netherlands, 1939, based on the play The Ghost Train)
  • Shadowed Eyes, directed by Maclean Rogers (1940)
  • The Ghost Train, directed by Walter Forde (1941, based on the play The Ghost Train)
  • Easy Money, directed by Bernard Knowles (1948, based on the play Easy Money)
  • Meet Mr. Lucifer, directed by Anthony Pelissier (1953, based on the play Beggar My Neighbour)
  • Who Killed the Cat?, directed by Montgomery Tully (1966, based on the play Tabitha. Co-written with Mary Cathcart Borer)

Screenwriter

  • The Flying Fool (dir. Walter Summers, 1931)
  • Royal Eagle (dir. George A. Cooper, 1936)
  • East of Ludgate Hill (dir. Manning Haynes, 1937)
  • Shadowed Eyes (dir. Maclean Rogers, 1940)

Filmography

Films

{| class="wikitable"

! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes

|-

| 1949 || The Interrupted Journey || Mr Saunders || Uncredited

|-

| 1951 || Green Grow the Rushes || Tom Cuffley ||

|-

| 1952 || Stolen Face || Dr Russell ||

|-

| 1963 || Wings of Mystery || Mr Bell || Children's Film Foundation

|-

| 1964 || Crooks in Cloisters || Newsagent ||

|-

| 1966 || A Man for All Seasons || Innkeeper || Uncredited

|-

| 1971 || Dad's Army || Private Godfrey ||

|-

| 1973 || Carry On Girls || Alderman Pratt ||

|-

| 1975 || The Amorous Milkman || Cinema Attendant ||

|}

Television

{| class="wikitable"

! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes

|-

| 1959 || Charlesworth || Bank Clerk ||

|-

|1964–1968 || Crossroads || Rev. Guy Atkins ||

|-

| 1965 || The Human Jungle || Mr Swinnerton || Episode: "Heartbeats in a Tin Box"

|-

| rowspan="5" | 1967

| The Avengers || Elderly Gentleman at lake || Episode: Never, Never Say Die

|-

| Z-Cars || Gardener || Episode: I Never Meant to Drop Him: Part 1

|-

| Coronation Street || Herbert Whittle ||

|-

|Mrs Thursday

|Director

|

|-

|Beggar My Neighbour

|Man

|2 episodes

|-

|1968–1977 || Dad's Army || Private Godfrey || 80 episodes, (final appearance)

|-

| rowspan="4" |1968

|Theatre 625

|Tunicliffe

|

|-

|The War of Darkie Pilbeam

|Hospital patient

|

|-

|The Very Merry Widow

|Sir Frederick Snayle, QC

|

|-

|The Caesars

|Nigrinus

|

|-

| rowspan="3" |1969

|The Contenders

|Walrus

|

|-

|Out of the Unknown

|Munnings

|

|-

|Special Branch

|Mr. Turner

|

|-

| rowspan="3" |1970

|As Good Cooks Go

|Mr. Charmers

|

|-

|The Doctors

|Percy

|

|-

|W. Somerset Maugham

|London Club Waiter

|

|-

| rowspan="2" |1971

|Crossroads

|Guy Atkins

|

|-

|The Flaxton Boys

|Mr. Mooney

|

|-

| 1972 || The Persuaders! || Uncle Rodney || Episode: The Ozerov Inheritance

|-

|1973

|Thriller

|1st Old Man

|

|-

|1975

|Hogg's Back

|Old Man

|

|}

References

  • Arnold Ridley Collectors' Guide at Brenton Film
  • Arnold Ridley Archive in the University of Bristol Theatre Collection