Dad’s Army star Ian Lavender has left £15,000 to various charities in his will after he died at the age of 77.
The actor, who played ‘stupid boy’ Private Pike, was the last remaining main cast member from the wartime-set BBC show and died in February of this year.
He is also known to another generation of TV viewers as Derek Harkinson in the BBC soap EastEnders.
Lavender will give £5,000 each to Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research UK, as well as £2,000 to the Actors Benevolent Fund and £3,000 to the Grand Order of Water Rats, which is an entertainment-based charity fund-raising body.
The Birmingham-born man left the bulk of his £165,000 estate to his wife Michele, who he lived with in the Suffolk village of Woolpi, Suffolk.
Ian Lavender played ‘stupid boy’ Private Pike (pictured) in Dad’s Army was the last remaining main cast member from the wartime-set BBC show and died in February of this year
Lavender was also known to another generation of TV viewers as Derek Harkinson in the BBC soap EastEnders
Lavender was remembered by celebs and villagers alike at his funeral at St Mary’s Church in Woolpit, Suffolk on March 1
The news of Lavender’s passing was revealed by the Dad’s Army’s official social media account on February 5.
The post read: ‘We are deeply saddened to hear the passing of the wonderful, Ian Lavender.
‘In what truly marks the end of an era, Ian was the last surviving member of the Dad’s Army main cast.’
He was remembered by celebs and villagers alike at his funeral at St Mary’s Church in Woolpit on March 1.
The service included an emotional rendition of Bring Him Home by Alfie Boe and Rick Wakeman as well as touching tributes to his role in Dad’s Army.
Draped on top of his coffin was an army beret worn by his character and a scarf in the colours of his favourite football team, Aston Villa.
Stars including Tim Healy, of Auf Wiedersehen Pet and Benidorm fame, were also in attendance.
On departure to the churchyard, the Dad’s Army theme tune was played on the organ, to remember his time in the comedy.
Lavender was cast in the classic comedy series at the age of 22 in 1968, after a chance spotting by a talent scout at Canterbury Rep.
Born in Birmingham in 1946, Lavender was twice married. His first wife was actress Suzanne Kerchiss in a union that lasted from 1967 to 1976, and the pair had two sons Dan and Sam.
Lavender, second from left, was a comedic stooge – frequently berated as ‘stupid boy’ by the troupe’s Captain Mainwairing, played by Arthur Lowe (centre)
Stars shared their sadness with a tribute on social media
After Dad’s Army, Lavender found renewed success in BBC One’s Eastenders, starring as Derek Harkinson – a friend of Pauline Fowler’s – from 2001 to 2005, and again from 2016 to 2017
The actor was the last remaining main cast member from the wartime-set BBC show and died on Friday, February 2 aged 77, with his wife and sons at his side
Draped on top of his coffin was an army beret worn by his character and a scarf in the colours of his favourite football team, Aston Villa
Tim Healy of Auf Wiedersehen Pet and Benidorm fame attended the service
From then on, he lived happily with American-born Miki Hardy. The couple married after 16 years together in 1993, following Lavender’s diagnosis with bladder cancer, which was successfully treated. He also survived a heart attack.
Lavender had only recently graduated from drama school and had just one previous TV appearance to his name when he was cast in Dad’s Army, in stark contrast to the rest of the cast – who were comic veterans.
He was earning £9 a week during a six-month stint at Canterbury Rep when someone came up to him and said he looked stupid enough to do Pike.
‘I was a complete beginner and I suddenly joined what was probably Britain’s most experienced team of character actors,’ he said.
‘I was in a state of shock finding myself suddenly among so many great actors. When the moment came for me to speak, that funny voice of Pike just came out in a moment of panic.
‘Since then at the start of every new series it has been one hell of a job trying to conjure it up again.
‘But Private Pike took me from obscurity into the TV big time. I could never have achieved that if I hadn’t learned to say: “Ooh Captain Mainwaring, my mum said even if the Germans come I mustn’t catch cold.”‘
The acting gig was only expected to last for eight weeks – but the show’s phenomenal success meant it endured for the best part of a decade.
Attracting audiences of 18 million, it ran from 1968 to 1977 and saw Lavender become a household name.
Ian was cast as Private Pike, the only youthful member of the reserve force, who was often chided for his simplicity
Lavender, who was born in Birmingham in 1946, was twice married. His first wife was actress Suzanne Kerchiss in a union that lasted from 1967 to 1976, and the pair had two sons Dan and Sam
The cast of Dad’s Army’, a popular TV series depicting the activities of the Home Guard (from left) Clive Dunn, James Beck, John LeMesurier, Arthur Lowe, John Laurie, Ian Lavender and Arnold Ridley at Shepperton Studios in 1970
From 1977, Lavender lived happily with American-born Miki Hardy. The couple married after 16 years together in 1993, following Lavender’s diagnosis with bladder cancer, which was successfully treated
As Pike, Lavender was a comedic stooge in the series, frequently berated as a ‘stupid boy’ by the troupe’s Captain Mainwairing, played by Arthur Lowe, although the other members of the reserve army behaved more warmly to him.
Lavender was key to one of Dad’s Army’s funniest moments where he had performed a song that called Hitler a ‘twerp’ in front of German forces.
The Nazi captain says his name will also go on a list of people he will take revenge on. Asked what it is, Captain Mainwaring urges ‘Don’t tell him, Pike’, accidentally revealing his name.
His bungling soldier routine in the Home Guard comedy brought him fanmail from all over Britain – especially from women who wanted to mother him.
‘I get letters from schoolgirls and middle-aged ladies who want to mother me. I miss out on ladies my own age,’ he joked once.
Lavender’s closest friend and mentor amongst the cast was Scottish actor John Laurie, who starred as the gruff undertaker Frazer.
Offscreen, the pair would often chat and tell each other jokes, a skill Lavender learnt from Laurie.
‘If I could choose one member of the cast to survive it would be John,’ Lavender told the Telegraph in 2018.
‘I loved him, actually. He was naughty, he was impish and he suffered no fools.’
One 1972 episode of Dad’s Army racked up an astonishing 18.6million viewers
Commissioned for an eight-week stint, Dad’s Army proved such a runaway success that it lasted from 1968 to 1977 (Pictured: Clive Dunn, Ian Lavender and Arthur Lowe in 1974 episode ‘The Godiva Affair’)
Lavender on the red carpet of The Oldie of the Year Awards in London in 2015
Ian Lavender as Monsignor Howard in Sister Act: The Musical at London’s Palladium Theatre in August 2010
Jimmy Edwards (centre), Patricia Brake (left) and Ian Lavender (right) in ITV’s ‘The Glums’ – 1978
Lavender also starred in ‘Carry On Behind’, pictured with actress Adrienne Posta
Lavender’s official Eastenders profile picture, showing his character Derek Harkinson outside the show’s iconic Queen Vic pub
Dad’s Army and EastEnders star Ian Lavender has died at the age of 77
In retrospect, Lavender suggested the part of Pike had put limits on his career, once telling The Independent: ‘I’ve certainly been typecast, but nobody expects you to come up with that character.
‘People don’t want Frank Pike, but they do expect you to be funny.’
After years of service in the Dad’s Army’s fictional seat of Walmington on Sea, Lavender guest-starred in many television series and also took to the stage. He played a lead role in 1970s comedy series The Glums but it failed to attract the same success of Dad’s Army.
Lavender also had a varied career in theatre. He treaded the boards with Dustin Hoffman in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and also appeared in Sister Act: The Musical.
Outside of Dads Army, his biggest impact on the silver screen was as Derek Harkinson in Eastenders from 2001 to 2005, and again from 2016 to 2017.
Initially the boyfriend of Christian (John Partridge), Derek became firm friends with the show’s matriarch Pauline Fowler (Wendy Craig) and a mentor to her son Martin (James Alexandrou).
He appeared in a total of 240 episodes of the BBC One soap.
Lavender was the last surviving member of the Dad’s Army cast. Clive Dunn, who played Lance Corporal Jones, died in 2012, while Bill Pertwee (air raid warden Hodges) died in 2013.
Arthur Lowe died from a heart attack in 1982 and John Le Mesurier, the long-suffering Sergeant Wilson, died the following year.
Lavender made a cameo appearance as Brigadier Pritchard in the 2016 Dad’s Army film, which starred Toby Jones and Bill Nighy.
In the film, The Inbetweeners star Blake Harrison played Private Pike.
Outside of acting, Lavender was a keen supporter of Aston Villa Football Club and chose a claret and blue scarf as part of Pike’s wardrobe.
