Clive Dunn, best known for his role as Lance Corporal Jack Jones in Dad's Army, has died in Portugal aged 92.
The actor died in the Algarve on Tuesday (6 November) following complications during an operation earlier this week.
He was born in London in 1920.
Dunn's agent, Peter Charlesworth, told media he would be "sorely
missed" and that his death was "a real loss
to the acting profession".
Speaking to The Portugal News on Wednesday, 7 November, Mr.
Charlesworth said that as well as being Dunn's agent for 25 years, he
was also a very close friend.
"We were great friends, and up until last year I spent a lot of time
with him. I'll never forget the times I had at his home in the Algarve",
he said.
He described the actor as a "very entertaining, happy-go-lucky man" who will be greatly missed; "he is an institution."
A close family friend told The Portugal News that Mr. Dunn had been
ill for "quite a while" and hadn't been seen in his usual social circles
of late.
Last November the legendary actor made a rare appearance in a charity fundraising performance held in the auditorium in Lagoa.
He performed his No.1 hit from the 70’s, ‘Granddad’, appearing with his very own granddaughters Lydia and Alice.
Unbeknown to many, Dunn was blind at the time of the performance, according to his agent.
The much-loved Dunn had reportedly promised to return to Lagoa auditorium to repeat the fundraising success.
He had spent his last three decades in the Algarve where he occupied
himself as an artist painting portraints landscapes and seascapes until
his sigh failed. He lived in Boliqueime with his wife Prescilla Morga,
also an actress, whom he married in 1959.
His daughter Jessica, one of two daughters, is also a well-known artist in the Algarve.
Last year Mr. Dunn’s close friend, comedy writer and TV producer
David Croft, famous for co-producing iconic British sitcoms such as
‘Dad’s Army’, ‘Are You Being Served?’ and ‘’Allo ‘Allo’, also died in
his holiday home in the Algarve, on 27 September.
At the time Mr. Dunn paid tribute to his “very, very old friend”,
saying: “He was very simple and liked by everyone. He was loved by
everyone he worked with.”
Croft and Dunn’s friendship was forged long before the cameras started rolling on Dad’s Army.
“His father and my mother were great friends. We’ve always been
very close as friends; some even said we were more like brothers.”
That bond was reinforced whenever Croft visited his home in the Algarve.
