Alan Stratford Johns (born 22 September 1925) first came to
prominence, here in the UK at least, in the mid-1950s, in a string of small
parts in movies and theatre, before hitting the big time as Detective Inspector
Charlie Barlow in the long-running BBC police series
Z-Cars and its many
spin-offs.
Johns grew up in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and served
as a deckhand in the South African navy during World War II. After the war, and
following a short period working in accountancy, he became involved in amateur
theatre. In 1948 he bought a one-way ticket to Britain and learned his craft
working in repertory theatre at Southend-on-Sea. One of the first roles he was
offered was in a Christmas musical, which he turned down as he felt he did not
have the vocal chops. He did, however, stay with the company for almost five
years, and during that time changed his name, dropping ‘Alan’ and becoming known,
simply, as Stratford Johns.
Early film appearances included a bit-part in the classic
Ealing comedy The Ladykillers (1955), and, in 1957, he made his British
TV debut in the Associated-Rediffusion series Destination Downing Street,
but it was as Barlow that he would become one of the most familiar and popular
faces on British television. Charlie Barlow appeared in five TV series, four as
the star: Z-Cars (1962–1965); Softly, Softly (1966–1969), Softly,
Softly: Taskforce (1969–1972), and Barlow at Large (1971-1975,
retitled Barlow in its final seasons). The character appeared for a
final time in 1976, in the series Second Verdict.
Johns’s film appearances include 1970’s Cromwell, with
Richard Harris and Sir Alec Guinness. Later roles included appearances in the George
and Mildred movie, the 1980 big screen version of the popular sitcom, and
in Ken Russell’s 1988 films Salome's Last Dance and The Lair of the
White Worm. His many stage credits include Daddy Warbucks in the original
West End run of Annie, and the Ghost of Christmas Present in the stage
adaptation of the film musical Scrooge. Guest appearances on TV include The
Avengers, Department S, Doctor Who, Great Expectations,
Blake's 7 and I, Claudius. He can be seen, alongside Clare Grogan
and Moly Weir in the video for Young at Heart, the 1984 hit by Scots
band The Bluebells. One of his final roles was in the TV series Heartbeat.
Outside of acting, he and his wife (and her aunt) ran a
hotel and bar for actors in St Martin’s Lane (which opened during the 1950s and
closed in 1976), and in the mid-1960s there was a popular photographer used by
members of the acting profession, the Stratford Johns Studio, in Marble
Arch. He was also the author of the children's book Gumphlumph, which he
read on the children's television series Jackanory and narrated for album
release.
But that’s not why we’re here, is it? We are here because,
in 1965, he released an album Stratford Johns Sings, on His Master’s
Voice. A selection of ballads which, as he himself admits in the sleeve notes,
were chosen ‘quite deliberately’ because they were ‘square’. It’s a delight:
Johns’ stentorian voice blasts its way through 14 songs, including Summertime,
Beautiful Dreamer, and How to Handle a Woman. In other hands it
could have been awful; somehow Stratford Johns Sings manages to be
charming, if a little amateur and vainglorious. It’s clear, though, that the
actor knows his limitations: on the back cover Johns writes about how he has
taken singing lessons but that he realises his voice has been somewhat ravaged by
too much drinking and smoking. He even enlists his children, offering their
opinions on his vocal abilities. The producer of the album goes unnamed, but I’ll
lay you a pound to a penny that the man behind this was Norman Newell, one of
EMI’s in-house A&R men, whose career I touch on in my book The Velvet Mafia.
Johns died on 29 January 2002: his wife, Nanette Ryder (the daughter
of actors Morris/Maurice Parsons and Mona Ewins), who he had married in March
1955, outlived him by four years and two days.
Here are a couple of tracks from Stratford Johns Sings:
You Stepped Out of a Dream and You Do Something To Me. Enjoy!
Download Stepped HERE
Download Something HERE
