The actor Warren Mitchell died today. Perhaps we might pause a moment to remember him with respect. He served in the RAF in WWII, studied physics at University College Oxford (my old college), and had a long and distinguished career as an actor on stage and screen. His most famous character was the comedy racist bigot "Alf Garnett". He was an erudite and articulate man, and a persuasive speaker. I remember seeing him speak at an Oxford Union debate about racism. From time to time he would slip into character as Alf Garnett to illustrate a point, then revert smoothly to his academic persona. May he rest in peace.
My grandfather used the N word all the time, but then he did lay power lines across middle of Africa. He would talk to Black people and never had any other issues apart from the useage of that fithy word. RIP "Alf"
Did Alf use the N word? I thought his preferred term was jungle bunnies. The episode where Marigold turned up as his home-help was hilarious. Mitchell was pure class.
Safe to say the BBC won't be doing any re runs of Til Death Us Do Part this Christmas. Oops, did I say Christmas? I mean erm, Holiday Season....
The whole point about Alf, is that Johnny Speight wanted to illustrate how easily the bigotry was being overlooked. Or so he said.
There was an episode in which the Alf Garnett character was making typically anti-jewish comments and his Mrs commented that his grandparents were jewish; Alf is upset by this and indignantly protests that he is not jewish. The joke is that Warren Mitchell really was jewish.
I'm not totally convinced about Speight's reasoning, though...........I have always had the sneaking suspicion that as people were becoming more appalled by the bigotry; he said what he did to eliminate himself also from being a bigot, if you know where I'm coming from on that bad explanation.
Yes I know.........and even if I didn't, the name gives it away.............. .....but Alf's attitude was directed more at black people (and members of the Labour Party).....it were rare episodes that had Jewish references IIRC.
