John Bluthal was a Polish-born radio, stage, television and film character actor, comedian and voice artist, noted for his six-decade career internationally in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. He started his career during the Golden Age of British Television, where he was best known for his comedy work inthe UK with Spike Milligan, and for his role as Manny Cohen in the television series Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width. He became best known to television audiences as the bumbling Frank Pickle in The Vicar of Dibley. At 85 he played Professor Marcuse in the Coen Brothers' film Hail, Caesar!.
Early life
Bluthal was born in Jezierzany, Galicia, Poland, to a Jewish family. Due to anti-Semitism in Poland he emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, with his family in 1938, at the age of nine, and was educated at Princes Hill Central School in Carlton North and University High School Parkville. He began his acting career in Melbourne's Yiddish Theatre and subsequently studied drama at the University of Melbourne. In 1949 he travelled to Europe and the United Kingdom, during which time he appeared in pantomime. He worked in repertory theatre in Melbourne and appeared in drama on Australian radio, as well as television productions, including Shell Presents and Three's A Crowd. He also devised and produced Gaslight Music Hall, in which he starred.
Career
Bluthal moved to the United Kingdom permanently in 1960 and appeared in Citizen James in 1960 for BBC television, and the long-running ITV comedy series Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width in which he played Manny Cohen, a Jewish London tailor in business with an Irish Catholic tailor, Patrick Kelly, played by Joe Lynch. Also in the 1960s, he provided the voice for Commander Zero in the television puppet series Fireball XL5. Bluthal had worked with Spike Milligan before leaving Australia, appearing with him in a 1958 Australian television special, The Gladys Half-Hour. On relocating to Britain, he appeared as several characters in Milligan and John Antrobus' stage play The Bedsitting Room, which opened at the Mermaid Theatre on 31 January 1963. He also worked extensively with Milligan on the television series Q and its radio counterpart The Milligan Show. He previously worked with Milligan in the Australian radio comedy series The Idiot Weekly and The Omar Khayyam Show. Bluthal was able to produce many comedic and imitative voices, like Milligan's radio colleague Peter Sellers, and he was used somewhat like Sellers in Milligan's later work. Bluthal worked extensively in British theatre. In 1960 he played Fagin in the original production of the musical Oliver! in the West End. His appearances at the National Theatre included Tales from Hollywood, Entertaining Strangers, Peter Hall's production of Antony and Cleopatra, Yonaadab, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, and Cymbeline. His other television appearances include the Sykes and a... episode "Sykes and a Bath", broadcast on 25 January 1961, Hancock, The Avengers, The Saint, Allo 'Allo!, Minder, Bergerac, Rumpole of the Bailey, Inspector Morse, Lovejoy, Last of the Summer Wine, and Jonathan Creek, as well as appearing as Major Cheeseburger in The Goodies episode "Clown Virus". He also replaced Ronnie Stevens in the Australian comedy/satire series The Mavis Bramston Show for the second half of 1966 and starred as "Enzo Pacelli" in the ABC-TVcomedy television seriesHome Sweet Home. Bluthal also appeared as Leonid Krasin in episodes of the Thames TV series Reilly, Ace of Spies. and "Chalky", a hospital patient, in the episode "I Gotta Horse" of the comedy television series Doctor Down Under. His films appearances include: The Knack...and How to Get It, three Carry On films, two of the Doctor films, and also The Beatles' films A Hard Day's Night and Help!, three roles in Casino Royale, and two of the Pink Panther films. Bluthal also played several characters in The Great McGonagall, by Spike Milligan and Joseph McGrath, based on the life of William McGonagall. He portrayed an Egyptologist in the year 1914 for the first part of the film The Fifth Element and Uncle Karl in Dark City. He also appeared in the comedy Beware of Greeks Bearing Guns. His later television appearances have been in the sitcom The Vicar of Dibley as the fastidious minutes-taker Frank Pickle and as the caretaker Rocko in Spirited. He also appeared in the 2004 film Love's Brother and in the 2016 Coen Brothers film Hail, Caesar! His final appearance was with his daughter Lisa Bluthal in her 2018 short film By Any Other Name, a comedy about a daughter dealing with her father’s Alzheimer’s.
Personal life
Bluthal married actress Judyth Barron in 1956. Together they had daughters Nava and Lisa, but later separated. Barron died in 2016. Bluthal's agent confirmed on 16 November 2018 that the actor had died, aged 89, in New South Wales, Australia. Following his death, fellow The Vicar of Dibley actor Dawn French said "Tons of happy laughs remembered today. Cheeky, naughty, hilarious. Bye darlin' Bluey." On 22 December 2018, BBC One aired The Vicar of Dibley December 1996 episode "The Christmas Lunch Incident" with a caption at the end remembering Bluthal's death.
