 Patrick Cargill is probably best remembered for his role as the flustered
father of two nubile teenage daughters in ITV's sitcom Father, Dear Father
(1968-73). In his stage career he specialised in farce, but TV and film roles
tended to trade on his ability to play aloof, slightly out-of-their-time
authority figures.
Born Sidney Patrick Cargill in London in 1918, he trained at Sandhurst and
served as an officer in the Indian army before choosing acting after the Second
World War. After several West End comedies and small roles in British films, he
found himself appearing opposite Tony Hancock in his solo vehicle Hancock (BBC,
1961), most memorably as the doctor in 'The Blood Donor' (tx. 23/6/1961).
Throughout the 1960s Cargill appeared as a guest in cult TV shows such as The
Avengers (ITV, 1961-69) and - as Number Two - The Prisoner (1967-68), as well as
in features, including Carry On Jack (d. Gerald Thomas, 1964) and Help! (d.
Richard Lester, 1965). His stage play Ring for Catty, co-written with Jack
Beale, inspired two hospital comedies directed by Gerald Thomas, Carry on Nurse
(1959) and Twice Around the Daffodils (1962)
While Father, Dear Father was at its peak, he was the above-the-title star of
Ooh La La! (BBC, 1973), a series of seven Feydeau farces, and was granted a
one-off special, Patrick Dear Patrick: An Evening with Patrick Cargill and His
Guests (ITV, tx. 26/1/1972), in which he sang and sparred with the likes of
Beryl Reid. He went on to star in another comedy vehicle, The Many Wives of
Patrick (1976-78) before his star waned. He died in 1996 in Australia, following
a car accident.
Eddie Dyja
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FILM & TV CREDITS
