Don Estelle
Don Estelle (22 May 1933 – 2 August 2003) was a British actor and singer best known as 'Lofty' in It Ain't Half Hot Mum.
Born Ronald Edwards in Crumpsall, Manchester, he was brought up in a house on Russell Street, Crumpsall. During World War II, at the age of eight, he was evacuated to Darwen, Lancashire, twenty miles away from his home, to escape the German bombing of the city. It was there he found his voice as a treble at the local Holy Trinity Parish Church (now called St Peter's), and on returning home after the war, he continued singing at St Mary's Church, Crumpsall. He later joined a charity group, the Manchester Kentucky Minstrels, and performed with them the Mario Lanza hit "Granada" in the talent show What Makes a Star? in 1954 at BBC Radio's northern studios in Manchester.
Estelle gained experience by singing one song 12 times a week in the show The Backyard Kids at the Hulme Hippodrome in Manchester. He later toured the northern club circuit, where he met the comedy actor Windsor Davies whom he teamed with and toured for four years. Estelle had cameo roles in Dad's Army (playing a Pickfords man in one episode (1969) and an ARP Warden called Gerald in three more (1970)). He eventually landed the role of Gunner "Lofty" Sugden in the British sitcom, It Ain't Half Hot Mum which was first broadcast in 1974 and ran until 1981. The character was given the ironic nickname of "Lofty" because of Estelle's stature (4 ft 9in). He had a powerful tenor voice and as a spin-off from the series, he and co-star Windsor Davies had a Number 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1975 with a semi-comic version of "Whispering Grass". Estelle also acted in the films Not Now, Comrade (1976), A Private Function (1984) and Santa Claus: The Movie (1984). Estelle and Davies also recorded an LP called Sing Lofty (1976), a top ten hit in the UK Albums Chart.
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