Jon Pertwee

John Devon Roland Pertwee (7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996), known professionally as Jon Pertwee, was an English actor, entertainer and cabaret performer. Pertwee starred as the Third Doctor in the science-fiction series Doctor Who between 1970 and 1974, and also spent 18 years (1959–1977) playing Chief petty officer Pertwee in The Navy Lark on BBC Radio. He later played the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge from 1979 to 1981, and again from 1987 to 1989. As an actor, Pertwee appeared in many comedy roles and was once described as having "rubbery features and ability to affect silly voices". Earlier in his career, Pertwee had worked as a vaudeville comedian, performed at the Glasgow Empire Theatre and shared a bill with Max Wall and Jimmy James. 2Biography 3Personal life Born in Chelsea, London, and having Huguenot ancestry (his surname was an Anglicisation of "Perthuis"; the origins of his surname being "de Perthuis de Laillevault"), Jon was the son of screenwriter and actor Roland Pertwee and distant cousin of actor Bill Pertwee. Pertwee’s mother, Avice Scholtz, separated from his father Roland when Pertwee was young. His father remarried, and his mother found a new partner, with whom Pertwee did not build a relationship. Avice’s sister Daphne married Captain Philip Cecil Clowes and became the mother of Pertwee's cousin, the writer St. John Legh Clowes (1907–1951