George Layton

For the footballer, see George Layton (footballer).

George Layton (born George Michael William Löwy; 2 March 1942) is a British actor, director, screenwriter and author best known for three television roles – junior doctor Paul Collier in the comedy series Doctor in the House and its sequels Doctor at Large, Doctor in Charge and Doctor at the Top, that of Bombardier 'Solly' Solomons in the first two series of It Ain't Half Hot Mum, and as Des the mechanic in early episodes of Minder. He also appeared in two episodes of The Sweeney and played Norman Simmonds in EastEnders as well as a few early appearances as himself on the light entertainment BBC1 consumer show That's Life!.

George Layton
Born	George Michael William Löwy (1942-03-02) 2 March 1942 Bradford, England
Occupations	Actor author theatre director screenwriter performer writer
Years active	1964–present
Spouses	Vera Hodges ​ ​ (m. 1968, divorced)​ Moya Smylie ​ (m. 1977)​
Children	4
Website	georgelayton.co.uk

Life and career

Layton was born George Michael William Löwy in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England to Fritz and Edith Löwy (nee Hecht). Both of Layton's parents were Austrian Jews who fled their native Vienna to England just before the outbreak of the Second World War. The family moved to Surrey before settling in Bradford where Layton was born in Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Layton was educated at Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School in Bradford during which time, in an interview for Talking Pictures TV Channel in April 2020, he mentioned his work on BBC Children's Hour at the former BBC Studios at Piccadilly, Manchester, where he came under the influence and guidance of Trevor Hill, Violet Carson and Doris Gamble. He then studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he won the Emile Littler award. He went on to leading parts at Coventry and Nottingham and appeared on Broadway in Chips with Everything as well taking over the role of Fagin from Roy Hudd in 1979 in the first London revival of Oliver! at the Albery Theatre. He also appeared in an Australian production called Funny Peculiar. His early television work includes Swizzlewick, Enter Solly Gold, United!, Thirty-Minute Theatre, Detective, Toast, What's in It For Me? and Lay Down Your Arms. He also made guest appearances in many classic British series, including The Likely Lads, Z-Cars, The Liver Birds, two episodes of The Sweeney, Minder and played the lead in Len and the River Mob. In 1969, he played a small role in the Doctor Who story The Space Pirates.

Later that year he made his debut as medical student Paul Collier in Doctor in the House. As well as continuing to star in the series and its sequels, in 1971, he began to co-write episodes with former co-star Jonathan Lynn, the first under the pseudonym Oliver Fry to conceal the new writer's identity from his fellow cast members.

At the end of the Doctor in Charge series in 1973 he left the show (although he stayed on as a writer), and the following year he appeared in the first two series of It Ain't Half Hot Mum as Bombardier 'Solly' Solomons. He then joined forces with Jonathan Lynn once again to co-write and co-star in another sitcom My Brother's Keeper. He also appeared in Carry On Behind in 1975 playing a hospital doctor.

Layton was also one of the main presenters on the original series of That's Life!, hosted by Esther Rantzen.

His other television writing credits with Jonathan Lynn include episodes of On the Buses, Nearest and Dearest, Romany Jones and My Name Is Harry Worth.

In the mid-1970s, he and Lynn began to write separately, and Layton became a regular writer of Robin's Nest, in which he also played a guest character. Following this, he created and wrote the sitcoms Don't Wait Up starring Nigel Havers and Tony Britton and Executive Stress with Geoffrey Palmer, (later Peter Bowles), and Penelope Keith. In 1990, Don't Wait Up won the Television and Radio Industries Club's 'Best Comedy Series' award. In the 1980s,he played the recurring character ‘Des’in the hit comedy-drama Minder. In a 2021 interview with Paul Stenning, Layton described how he left Minder temporarily as he had committed to a pantomime and now bitterly regrets he lost his role in the show.

Layton provided voices for the children's cartoons Pigeon Street and Joshua Jones, and was the voice behind Sydney, a character in the long-running advertising campaign for Tetley tea.

After a brief return to the role of Paul Collier in 1991's Doctor at the Top, he starred in the hit comedy-drama series Sunburn (1999–2000), playing Alan Brooks, area manager of Janus Holidays in Cyprus. His most recent acting appearances have been in Doctors, Holby City and Casualty. In 2006, he made five appearances in Dictionary Corner on the game show Countdown and made a guest appearance in an episode of Heartbeat.

On 18 January 1999 Layton was the subject of This Is Your Life. He has also appeared on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank. Layton's less well-known voiceover work includes TV commercials for various financial products, and narration of promotional videos for property speculators Inside Track.

In August 2012 Layton competed in Celebrity Masterchef.

Author

Layton has written three books of short stories, entitled The Fib and Other Stories, The Swap and Other Stories and The Trick and Other Stories. The tales describe family life in the North of England in the post-Second World War era. The books have been part of the National Curriculum in British schools, and film versions are being planned. Myles McDowell quotes Layton's The Balaclava Story as an example of how adults are often mostly absent from children's fiction.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1968	Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush	Gordon
1969	Mosquito Squadron	Pilot Officer	uncredited
1975	Carry On Behind	Doctor
1976	Confessions of a Driving Instructor	Tony Bender
1977	Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers	Pvt. Jacobs
1999	Don't Go Breaking My Heart	Max
2013	One Candle One Man	GKO

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1961	BBC Sunday-Night Play	Workman	Episode: "Wet Fish"
1964	ITV Play of the Week	Pvt. Root	Episode: "The Other Man"
1964	Swizzlewick	Eustace Madden	18 episodes
1965	The Likely Lads	Mario	2 episodes
1965	Emergency-Ward 10	Gordon Hurst	2 episodes
1965	Theatre 625	Alan	Episode: "Enter Solly Gold"
1965–1966	United!	Jimmy Stokes	85 episodes
1966	Thirty-Minute Theatre	Herbert Wallwork	Episode: "The Spoken Word"
1967	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle	Rudge	Episode: "The Black Doctor"
1968	Len and the River Mob	Len Tanner	All 10 episodes
1968	Detective	Mervans	Episode: "Deaths on the Champs Elysees"
1969	The Wednesday Play	Pete	Episode: "Sling Your Hook"
1969	Doctor Who	Technician Penn	Episode: "The Space Pirates"
1969	Dixon of Dock Green	Billy Tate	Episode: "Whose Turn Next"
1969	The Root of All Evil?	Thomas	Episode: "What's in It for Me?"
1969	Z-Cars	Grady	2 episodes
1969, 1971	The Liver Birds	Joe	2 episodes
1969–1973, 1991	Doctor in the House Doctor at Large Doctor in Charge Doctor at the Top	Junior Dr Paul Collier
1970	ITV Sunday Night Theatre	Corporal May	Episode: "Lay Down Your Arms"
1970	Z-Cars	Todd	Episode: "The Little Woman: Part 2"
1971	Coronation Street	Barney Shelton	2 episodes
1971	It's Awfully Bad for Your Eyes, Darling	Gus	Episode: "The Flat to Ourselves"
1974–1975	It Ain't Half Hot Mum	Bombardier 'Solly' Solomons	16 episodes
1975	Comedy Premiere	Richard Bunting	Episode: "For Richer for Poorer"
1975	The Sweeney	Ray Stackpole	2 episodes
1975–1976	My Brother's Keeper	Brian Booth	All 13 episodes
1979—1981	Robin's Nest	Vernon Potter	3 episodes
1979-1982	Minder	Des	6 episodes
1980	Keep It in the Family	Freddy	Episode: "Smoke Without Fire"
1981	Pigeon Street	Narrator	Voice
1982	Kelly Monteith	Various	2 episodes
1986	The Kenny Everett Television Show	Various	4 episodes
1987	French and Saunders	The Doctor	Unaired Doctor Who sketch
1988, 1989	The Les Dennis Laughter Show	Various	2 episodes
1991	Josie Smith	Narrator	Voice
1992	Joshua Jones	Narrator	Voice
1994	All Night Long	Larry Morse	Episode: #1.6
1994	Dig & Dug with Daisy	Narrator	Voice; all episodes
1999–2000	Sunburn	Alan Brooks	All 14 episodes
2000	Metropolis	Mr. Jacobs	2 episodes
2004	Holby City	Howard Martin	Episode: "Baptism of Fire"
2005	Nova	Emilie's Father	Episode: "E=mc²: Einstein's Big Idea"
2006	Heartbeat	Graham Simpson	Episode: "Hearts and Flowers"
2007	The Bill	Dr. Michael Sanderson	Episode: "Back from the Dead"
2008	Doctors	Ashish Mountjoy	Episode: "The Universe Provides"
2011–2012	EastEnders	Norman Simmonds	24 episodes
2012	Doctors	George Simpson	Episode: "Walter"
2014	Boomers	Dennis	Episode: "The Sixties Weekender"
2015	Doctors	Rod Buckwell	Episode: "Mods and Rockers"
2015	Casualty	Clive Jones	Episode: "A Moment of Clarity"
2015	Vicious	Andrew	Episode: "Stag Do"
2018	Casualty	Geordie McDale	Episode: #32.40
2023	The Madame Blanc Mysteries	Martin Harris	Episode: "Christmas Special"

Selected theatre

As actor:

• Billy Liar as Geoffrey Fisher (King's Head, Islington)
• The Caucasian Chalk Circle as Lavrenti (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry)
• Chicago as Amos Hart (Adelphi Theatre, London)
• Chips With Everything as First Corporal (Royal Court and Broadway)
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as Ponty (New Theatre, Bromley)
• More Lies About Jerzy as Jerzy Kosinski (New End Theatre, Hampstead)
• The Odd Couple as Felix (Theatre Royal, Windsor)
• Oliver! as Fagin Albery Theatre 1978/9 then at the(London Palladium)
• Twelfth Night as Feste (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry)

As director:

• Barefoot in the Park (Cambridge Theatre Company)
• Dangerous Corner (Cambridge Theatre Company)
• Aladdin (Theatre Royal, Bath)
• Dick Whittington (Shaw Theatre)

External links

• George Layton at IMDb
• George Layton at the Internet Broadway Database
• George Layton at British Comedy Guide