| Actor | |
| |
|---|---|
| Edward Sinclair | |
| Born | 3rd February 1914 |
| Died | 29th August 1977 (aged 63) |
| First appearance | The Showing Up of Corporal Jones (television), No Spring for Frazer (radio) |
| Last appearance | Never Too Old (television), The Cricket Match (radio) |
| Series | 1 - 9 (television), 1 - 3 (radio) |
| Episode count | 50 (television), 10 (radio) |
Edward Sinclair (3rd February 1914 – 29th August 1977) was best known for playing the Verger in Dad's Army from 1968 until 1977.
Biography[]
Early life and career[]
Edward Sinclair was born in Oldham, Manchester. His love of acting came mainly from his parents; his father was a stage actor and his mother was singer and dancer. However drama school was too expensive for Teddy in his young days, due to the death of his father and the need for his mother look after him and his other two siblings solo. He then decided to join the St. Luke's Players amateur company.
Starting at the age of 17, Teddy got paid employment as a salesman in men's wear at a shop in Kingston. He then moved into a high class store in London. He eventually got out of the outfitting industry and joined a company in selling hairdressing equipment.
During World War II, Teddy was in the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry of the army. However due to his suffering with severe bronchitis since he was born, he had to stay based in England during hostilities.
Early acting career[]
In 1937, eight years after joining St. Luke's Players, Teddy went on to be in the Teddington Theatre Club. He acted and produced many produtions for the club and he loved every minute of it. He even wrote some scripts for the company. However, Teddy resisted the temptations of going proffessional as an actor whilst he and his wife Gladys still had a young family to look after. Once his two sons, Peter and Keith reached their teen years and got closer to ending their education, Teddy (now in his late 40's) decided to go into professional acting. He appeared in various television shows like Z Cars and appearead in 1973 film No Sex Please, We're British.
Dad's Army[]
Edward Sinclair as the Verger in Dad's Army
Teddy first appeared in Dad's Army for the fifth episode of the first two seasons. He was at first cast as the Caretaker of St. Aldhelm's Church Hall, but when he was made a more recurring from the third season onwards, his part became commonly known as the Verger (Mr. Yeatman by name). Between 1968 and 1977, Teddy played the Verger in all mediums, including the film version and even joined Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Arnold Ridley, Ian Lavender, Bill Pertwee and Frank Williams for the tour of the stage show at every venue in 1976.
Final years and death[]
Exactly a month after the cast of Dad's Army finished filming the last episode, Edward Sinclair died of a heart attack in Cheddar, Somerset where his eldest son lived. He and his wife had been on holiday in Bournemouth at time and they decided to visit their son on the way home. On the final morning of their visit, Teddy went indoors to starting packing for the last stage of the journey home and collasped on the kitchen floor with the heart attack.
Edward Sinclair had always had bad health ever since he was born, but his death still came as a complete shock to everybody. At the funeral, Arthur Lowe who played Captain Mainwaring in Dad's Army stated that there was mostly certainly no chance of the show's return now that Teddy was gone. Due to his devotion to his family, Edward Sinclair had started acting professionally terribly late in his life and was only really starting become popular when he was working on Dad's Army. He had just lost the chance of playing a major part in a pantomime shortly after the show had ended in 1977, but hopefully, his part as the Verger has ensured that he will never be forgotten.