Remembering Michael Gwynn, a.k.a. Lord Melbury in ‘Fawlty Towers’
John Cleese (Basil Fawlty) and Michael Gwynn (Lord Melbury). Photo: BBC
Stay with me here….as I was watching Village of the Damned recently on Turner Classic Movies, I noticed a very familiar face from ‘the village’. Not immediately able to put a name with a face, I did a quick search and saw what was a very familiar name and thought, of course, this was none other than Michael Gwynn.
Remember, it was Michael Gwynn who momentarily fulfilled Basil’s wishes of improving the class of guest that stayed at Fawlty Towers. Gwynn was one of a long line of talented actors who paid a visit to Fawlty Towers over the course of the 12 episodes (yes, there were only 12). Gwynn passed away on 29 January 1976 at the age of 59.
Gwynn appeared in several Hammer Studio films in addition to starring in the 1960 film, Village of the Damned, and also appearing in Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Having a Wild Weekend with the Dave Clark Five and playing Hermes in Jason and the Argonauts. Despite a lengthy film, television and stage career, he will forever be linked to his brief stay at Fawlty Towers, checking in as conman ‘Lord Melbury’ in the series’ first episode, “A Touch of Class”.
In addition to Gwynn, Fawlty Towers entertained a host of other name actors such as Robin Ellis (the cockney detective Danny Brown in “A Touch of Class”), Bernard Cribbins (the pretentious spoon salesman, Mr. Hutchinson, in “The Hotel Inspectors”), Geoffrey Palmer (Doctor Price in “The Kipper and the Corpse”) and Nicky Henson (Mr. Johnson in “The Psychiatrist”). All had very successful careers that spanned decades but will be forever known for their short stay at Fawlty Towers.
To illustrate that concept, we had the great good fortune of interviewing Nicky Henson several times over the years for a variety of PBS specials. For Fawlty Towers Revisited, which looked back at the series on its’ 30th anniversary, Henson, who sadly passed away in December 2019, joked at the time that despite his 50 years of professional acting, his tombstone would probably read “Here lies Nicky Henson – he was in one episode of Fawlty Towers“.
Remembering Michael Gwynn who passed away on 29 January 1976 of a heart attack in London at the all-too young age of 59.
In: Actors/Actresses
