Allan Cuthbertson

Allan Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was a naturalised Anglo-Australian actor.

Early life

Born Allan Darling Cuthbertson in Perth, Western Australia, son of Ernest and Isobel Ferguson (Darling) Cuthbertson, he performed on stage and radio from an early age.

During World War II, he served as a Flight Lieutenant with the RAAF from 6 December 1941 to 1 July 1947, based with 111 Squadron Air Sea Rescue Flight.

Career

Cuthbertson arrived in England in 1947, and appeared shortly thereafter as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet at the Boltons. In London's West End, he appeared as Laertes in Hamlet, Aimwell in The Beaux Stratagem, and Octavius Robinson in Man & Superman, among many other roles.

He was often cast in military roles which was quite common in actors of his generation. He was Captain Eric Simpson in Tunes of Glory (1960) as well as being cast as more stuffy regimental types in such films as The Guns of Navarone (1961) and Carrington V.C. (1955), which also starred David Niven. He also made a brief appearance as a harassed staff officer, who then gets blown up, at the beginning of Ice-Cold in Alex (1958). He appeared four times in the television series The Avengers.

Perhaps surprisingly Cuthbertson also had a talent for playing comedy, which led to his best known role as Colonel Hall in the "Gourmet Night" episode of the hit sitcom Fawlty Towers in...
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