William Leo Franklyn (; 22 September 1925 – 31 October 2006) was an English actor, perhaps best known for voicing the "Schhh... You Know Who" adverts for Schweppes from 1965 to 1973. He also performed on stage, film, television and radio, taking over from Peter Jones as "The Book" (the narrator) in the third, fourth and fifth radio series of ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a Science fiction comedy, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), radio sitcom broadcast over two series on BBC ...

''. He is also known for his portrayal of Sexton Blake for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

in 1967.

Early life

Franklyn was born William Leo Beare in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

into an acting family: his maternal grandfather, Arthur Rigby, Sr and uncle, Arthur Rigby, Jr, mother, Mary Rigby, and father, Leo Franklyn, were all actors. He was taken to Australia as a baby, where his father toured with musical comedies. The young Franklyn attended Wesley and Haileybury Colleges, both in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, and developed an abiding love of

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. He later trialled as a fast bowler for

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, and opened the bowling for the Stage Cricket Club. He also became a leg spinner, and ran his own team, the Sargentmen, raising money for the Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund for Children. He returned to London, aged 11. He was evacuated to Luscombe Castle in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His stage career began at the age of 18, when he appeared in '' My Sister Eileen'' at the Savoy Theatre in 1943. He was called up to join the Parachute Regiment, and was sent to

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

Career

He appeared in '' Arsenic and Old Lace'' at Southsea Piernewspaper obituaries in 1946, soon after he was demobilised, and settled on an acting career. He continued to tour with the play in repertory for six years. In a slow period, he traded as an antiques dealer, taking junk away on a barrow from rich areas of London and selling it as antiques. He went on to perform on the stage, on television and radio, and in several films. He appeared in several films in the 1950s, including '' Quatermass 2'' in 1957, and took a starring role in the 1961 film ''Pit of Darkness'' which was the B-feature shown with Adam Faith's '' What A Whopper''. He featured in the 1965 Morecambe and Wise film '' The Intelligence Men''. He appeared in London's West End in comedies such as '' There's a Girl in My Soup'' and ''Tunnel of Love''. After perfunctory Italian lessons, he directed a version of '' There's a Girl in My Soup'' in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, with Italian actors, in Italian. On television, he was a panellist on game shows such as '' What's My Line?'' and '' Call My Bluff''. He played Jacques Fleury in '' The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel'' (1955–56) and Peter Dallas in the spy drama series '' Top Secret'' (1961–62), and also appeared in several episodes of '' The Avengers''. Franklyn also was in comedy sketch show What's on Next and was the host of espionage quiz game The Masterspy. He was featured on '' This Is Your Life'' (1978), appeared in the 1984 comedy television series '' The Steam Video Company'', and in '' G.B.H.'' (1991) and '' Diana: Her True Story'' (1993). He was also known for commercial voice-over work; he appeared on screen in 10 commercials and voiced another 40 from 1965 to 1973. The "Schhh... You Know Who" Schweppes adverts Franklyn voiced were created by Ogilvy and Mather. He voiced '' Danger Mouse'' in the unbroadcast pilot for the British television series (although David Jason replaced him in all broadcast episodes). On radio, he was the reader of the quotes on

's '' Quote Unquote'' for 11 years, until shortly before his death, and also read for '' The News Quiz''. In 2004 and 2005 he took over the role of "The Book" (the narrator) from his friend Peter Jones for the third, fourth and fifth radio series of ''

''. He also appeared as a guest star in an episode of the sketch show ''The Skivers''.

Filmography

Personal life

Franklyn was married twice: first to Margo Johns in 1952; they had a daughter, actress Sabina Franklyn, but were divorced in 1962. He remarried in 1969; he and his second wife, Susanna, had two daughters, Francesca Franklyn, a film producer, and Melissa Franklyn, an actress. Franklyn died of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

on Tuesday, 31 October 2006. His funeral was held on Monday, 6 November 2006 at Mortlake Crematorium, Richmond-Upon-Thames, England.

References

External links

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Obituary

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 31 October 2006
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'', 1 November 2006
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The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 1 November 2006
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The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 1 November 2006
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The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 31 October 2006

" TV.com Danger mouse cast", 31 May 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Franklyn, William 1925 births 2006 deaths English male film actors English radio personalities English male stage actors English male television actors English male voice actors Male actors from London People from Kensington Deaths from prostate cancer in England People educated at Haileybury (Melbourne) People educated at Wesley College (Victoria) British Army personnel of World War II British Parachute Regiment soldiers Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Actors from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea