Dead Elliot

[George White]

John Savident dead at 86.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/23/john-savident-dead-coronation-street-fred-elliott-actor/#:~:text=A%20statement%20from%20his%20agent,quickly%20became%20a%20fan%20favourite.

Of course, best known for Coronation Street, but in bloody everything, even Hudson Hawk and as the stuffy nemesis in the much-underrated Brain Donors (the 1990s Marx Brothers tribute with John Turturro, Mel Smith and Bob Nelson as pseudo-Groucho, Zeppo and Harpo).

[Norton Canes]

Obligatory mention of his role in the lovely five-minute 'prologue' to 1981's Doctor Who story The Visitation

[Mr Trumpet]

I honestly thought he'd died years ago - a combination of Fred dying and that incident where he got jumped by a young gentleman he'd just met, a la Kevin Spacey.

Wasn't he also in Gandhi?

[imitationleather]

I thought he was gay? I say, I thought he was gay!

[Kankurette]

Fred was the Foghorn Leghorn of Weatherfield.

[George White]

I honestly thought he'd died years ago - a combination of Fred dying and that incident where he got jumped by a young gentleman he'd just met, a la Kevin Spacey.

Wasn't he also in Gandhi?

I heard he was absolutely insufferable to work with, but they're the kind of older men I am attracted to (like my crush on Spacey).

[thr0b]

He's definitely one of those celebs who definitely died a couple of years ago and has died again to mass confusion.

[sevendaughters]

definitely was stabbed by a rent boy he was fond of, but was professionally hetero

[Ignatius_S]

Fred was the Foghorn Leghorn of Weatherfield.

Fred Elliott's way of speaking was to a large degree taken from a Know-it-all character that Al Read performed. Read's stock in trade were monologues and sketches (where he played all the parts) involving Northern people and Bob Newhart (who Read met at a party in the States) adapted a number of these routines. One Newhart's most famous routines, The Driving Instructor is an an Americanised version of Read's original one.

Read's know-it-all character spoke in a very loud voice, rather domineering and was very fond of uttering 'I say' before repeating himself - an example is:

'Well, weigh it up for yourself. I say, weigh it up for yourself!'

Savident's delivery is very close to Read's and the writers must have been deliberately aping Read's lines. Also, it's unlikely a coincidence that they made Elliott a butcher - Al Read's family business was a meat-processing company, noted for their sausages (which I have a feeling that Fred was very proud of the quality of his) and IIRC, they were the first company to tin meat and had made a tidy packet from selling tinned meat to the British Army in the 19th Century.

Read started off as a salesmen in the company and what he observed in people on his rounds influenced his comedy before he started running the company. It was through his after-dinner speaking (where he performed funny routines) that he came to the attention of a BBC producer and although he became a huge star (but never made the transition to television) he continued his business interests. But I digress...

Foghorn Leghorn was essentially a rip-off of Senator Claghorn, a character on Fred Allen's incredibly popular radio programme. The voice and delivery of lines is basically the same and Leghorn even used some of his catchphrases.

[Ignatius_S]

I honestly thought he'd died years ago - a combination of Fred dying and that incident where he got jumped by a young gentleman he'd just met, a la Kevin Spacey.

Wasn't he also in Gandhi?

He was indeed. Savident appeared in so much good stuff - another film appearance was A Clockwork Orange. Largely through Talking Pictures, I've become aware of just how often he appeared on British TV in the 1970s and he always enhanced a show and could be a surprisingly precise actor.

Also, I really liked him in the episode of Jeeves and Wooster he appeared in.

[Camp Tramp]

Played two very different roles in Blakes 7. Samor, a very serious Fleet Admiral, and Egrorian, who was not very serious at all!

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

utterly tolchhocked

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

The kid from ET? Gutted.

[twosclues]

RIsayP

[shiftwork2]

I think he's present in the 'rolling billiard balls across the table while music plays loudly' scene in A Clockwork Orange but I'm not going to check.

[beanheadmcginty]

The hearse of Elliott

[Satchmo Distel]

Dropped Dead Fred.

[WestHill]

He popped up as the lax doctor in Remains of the Day, which I watched last night.

[poodlefaker]

VIDDY - I SAY - VIDDY WELL LITTLE BROTHER!

[Glebe]

Sad news. Never knew he was in Yes Minister until I started watching it on BBC4 last year, nor that he was in The Black Adder pilot until Gold screened it.

Rest in peace John Savident, I SAY REST IN PEACE JOHN SAVIDENT. ;)

[gilbertharding]

I'd no idea he was 'Jumbo' from Yes Minister. His episode was on the other day, and, as ever, I was fascinated by his sheer corpulence:



But he wasn't really that massive, was he? All camera effects and forced perspective.

A stalwart of all those ATV/ITC pulp from the 60s and 70s - The Saint, The Avengers, The Professionals, Dept S, Man in a Suitcase (but not Randall and Hopkirk Deceased).

[Glebe]

Apparently he joined Corrie in 1994, I used to think his character had been around longer than that.

[McDead]

I honestly thought he'd died years ago - a combination of Fred dying and that incident where he got jumped by a young gentleman he'd just met, a la Kevin Spacey.

Wasn't he also in Gandhi?

He was. As Gandhi.

[poodlefaker]

Be the change I SAY BE THE CHANGE you want to see in the world

[Glebe]

Of course, best known for Coronation Street, but in bloody everything, even Hudson Hawk and as the stuffy nemesis in the much-underrated Brain Donors (the 1990s Marx Brothers tribute with John Turturro, Mel Smith and Bob Nelson as pseudo-Groucho, Zeppo and Harpo).

I've not seen either of those movies and I didn't know he was in them, I just remember they were both completely slated on release.

He popped up as the lax doctor in Remains of the Day, which I watched last night.

Also didn't know he was in that. Only ever seen bits of it.

Played two very different roles in Blakes 7. Samor, a very serious Fleet Admiral, and Egrorian, who was not very serious at all!

Samor about this! But seriously folks Blake's 7 was great for cameos, although admittedly I've only watched up to maybe the first or second episode of series 3.

[sevendaughters]

the scenes in Corrie between Fred and Alec Gilroy were absolutely fantastic, youtube seems to have lost them down the sofa.

[Gulftastic]

Apparently he joined Corrie in 1994, I used to think his character had been around longer than that.

He joined at the tail end of Corrie's era of real cultural significance. His performance was so good he feels like he was around in the Street's imperial phase, where nearly every character was an icon.

[chocky909]

86? Not bad for a fat man! Unless he'd lost loads of weight since I saw him last in Corrie years ago...

[holyzombiejesus]

I used to live above a white goods shop on Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton and inside they had a wall of signed photos of famous people they'd sold stuff to. There was one from John Savident that said "Good old fashioned service, I say, good old fashioned service."