38-643: Andreas Siegfried Sachs (7 April 1930 – 23 November 2016), known professionally as Andrew Sachs , was a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and found his greatest fame for his portrayal of the comical Spanish waiter Manuel in Fawlty Towers . Sachs had a long career in acting and voice-over work for television, film and radio. He was successful well into his eighties, with roles in numerous films such as Quartet , and as Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street . Sachs
76-759: A "sweet, sweet man". In July 2021 the BBC Two television series Secrets of the Museum reported on the waiter's costume, worn by Manuel, which had been gifted to Victoria and Albert Museum by the actor's daughter. Manuel (Fawlty Towers) Manuel is a fictional character from the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers , played by Andrew Sachs . He reappeared for a small sketch with John Cleese in We Are Most Amused in November 2008. Manuel himself appeared on
114-404: A German waiter), but loved his experiences on the show and still had Manuel's attire. Sachs suffered two serious injuries during Fawlty Towers . In "The Wedding Party", he was almost knocked unconscious after being hit over the head with a frying pan (after John Cleese accidentally picked up a real frying pan instead of a rubber-padded prop) and in "The Germans", he suffered second degree burns from
152-614: A character on screen speaks with a Spanish accent, the riffers would often respond with "I'm so sorry, he's from Barcelona". Sachs also appeared in a few adverts on British TV in the Manuel persona. Sachs made a cameo appearance in We Are Most Amused , as an aged Manuel. Radio documentary Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include
190-794: A fire. For the Spanish dub of the show broadcast in Spain, the character was changed to an Italian from Naples called Paolo (and in The Anniversary , his desire to make paella is changed to lasagna ). In the Catalan TV3 channel (based in Barcelona), Manuel's origin was changed to Mexico City and the character has a Mexican accent. The French version also gives his nationality as Mexican. In scenes in which Manuel appears there are several references to Spain, and to General Franco , who
228-509: A part-time writer." On 25 October 2008, the BBC apologised to Sachs and his agent after they had been informed that Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross had made several obscene phone calls to him during an episode of The Russell Brand Show recorded on 16 October and broadcast two days later, on which Sachs had agreed to appear. Both presenters had left explicit messages on Sachs's telephone answering machine stating that Brand had sex with his granddaughter, Georgina Baillie . Gordon Brown ,
266-483: A previous marriage, who became known as John Sachs and William Sachs, and the couple had one daughter, Kate Sachs, in 1961. Lang appeared in one episode of Fawlty Towers , " Basil the Rat ", as Mrs. Taylor. In the late 1950s, while still studying shipping management at college, Sachs worked on radio productions, including Private Dreams and Public Nightmares by Frederick Bradnum , an early experimental programme made by
304-675: A tale of mistaken identity, Sachs plays airport window cleaner Kostas Malmatakis who is hired to assassinate a businessman by his greedy partner ( Mark Chapman ); the British short won a Gold Remi at the Houston Worldfest in 2001. Sachs has had several roles in Doctor Who productions. He played "Skagra" in the webcast/audio version of the Doctor Who story Shada , completed by Big Finish Productions and in 2008 he played
342-411: A very small part. In fact there was only one episode of Fawlty Towers – the one with the hamster – in which I had anything much to do." Sachs recorded three singles in character as Manuel; the first was "Manuel's Good Food Guide" in 1977, in which he appeared, in character, on the cover. Sachs was co-author of the tracks. This was followed in 1979 by "O Cheryl" with "Ode to England" on the B side, under
380-504: Is a well-meaning but dim, disorganised, and constantly confused Spanish waiter from Barcelona with a limited grasp of the English language and customs. He is constantly verbally and physically assaulted by his boss, and often used as a scapegoat for the various disasters that befall the hotel – even when they are not his fault. He is afraid of Basil 's quick temper and violent assaults, yet often expresses his appreciation for being given
418-612: The BBC Radiophonic Workshop . Sachs's first film appearance was as a schoolboy in Hue and Cry , Ealing comedies ' first film in 1947. He began in acting with repertory theatre and made his West End debut as Grobchick in the 1958 production of the Whitehall farce Simple Spymen . He made his screen debut in 1959 in the film The Night We Dropped a Clanger . He then appeared in numerous television series throughout
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#1732791171902456-456: The 1960s, including some appearances in ITC productions such as The Saint (1962) and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969). Sachs is best known for portraying Manuel , the Spanish waiter in the critically acclaimed sitcom Fawlty Towers (1975 and 1979), a role for which he was nominated for a BAFTA award (the award went to co-star John Cleese ). He claimed in 1981 that Manuel was "really
494-525: The 1977 Are You Being Served? movie, In addition he also played the recurring character of Barrister Jeremy Nisbett Q.C. in the Granada Television daytime series, Crown Court. In 1980 Sachs starred in the title role of a four-part BBC adaptation of H. G. Wells 's The History of Mr Polly . The following year, he portrayed a French Revolutionary in Mel Brooks 's History of
532-768: The BBC broadcast an adaptation of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency with Sachs portraying Reg (Professor Urban Chronotis, the Regius Professor of Chronology). He would later appear in another Adams adaptation as the Book in the live tour of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy during its run at Bromley's Churchill Theatre . On 17 November 2008 it was announced that Sachs had been approached to appear in ITV soap Coronation Street . He later confirmed on 14 December that he
570-414: The Rat ". When told by either Basil, Sybil or Polly what to do, he frequently answers "Sí" ("Yes"), or "¿Qué?" ("What?") or "¿Cómo?" (a more polite way of "What?"), which once led to a particularly harebrained guest (Mrs. Richards) believing Basil's name to be "C. K. Watt". By the time of the second series, Manuel's English is shown to have improved, while still limited. Basil hired Manuel because he
608-662: The Woosters , Edmond Dantès in The Count of Monte Cristo on BBC Radio 7 's "Young Classics" series, Snowy in The Adventures of Tintin , and Tooley in Neil Gaiman 's Neverwhere . Although no other role gained him the same attention as Manuel, Sachs continued to star in a range of productions, both comedic and dramatic. In a reversal of his Fawlty Towers role, he was the hotel manager Don Carlos Bernardo in
646-562: The World, Part I . 1988 saw Sachs and his wife Melody returning to Berlin to make a three-part BBC documentary following his early life in the city, comparing it with the divided Berlin of 1988. An excerpt exists in the BBC Archive. In 1990 he appeared as a contestant on Cluedo , facing off against fellow actor Keith Barron . In 1992 he voiced the titular gingerbread man in the animated series The Gingerbread Man . He also voiced
684-424: The audio adaptations of Fawlty Towers as a linking narrator , explaining things from his point of view, when the series was released in audio format. The first two episodes released did not feature him at all, as the dialogue was edited and a short burst of piano music would indicate a change of scene. However, when the whole series was re-released, they were re-edited with Manuel's linking commentary. Manuel
722-611: The characters Mr Salt, Herr Von Cuckoo and Sleek The Mouse. In 1994 Sachs appeared in the popular Thames Television comedy drama series Minder . He played Sidney Myers in the episode " All Things Brighton Beautiful ". In 1996 Sachs portrayed Albert Einstein in an episode of the American PBS series NOVA entitled "Einstein Revealed". In 1997, Sachs played opposite Shane Richie in Chris Barfoot's Dead Clean : in
760-534: The elderly version of former companion Adric , in another Doctor Who story for the same company, The Boy That Time Forgot . In the 1980s, Sachs had submitted his name to be considered for the part of the Seventh Doctor in the television series. In 2005 Sachs served as the performer for the audiobook version of Urchin of the Riding Stars , the first book of The Mistmantle Chronicles . In 2007,
798-588: The following year. In 1978, BBC Radio 4 broadcast The Revenge , a ground-breaking 30-minute play totally without dialogue (an experiment in binaural stereo recording), written and performed by Sachs. It was dismissed by playwright Jonathan Raban as a "wordless sequence of noises" and "a well-puffed curiosity". The play has however subsequently been repeated a number of times on BBC Radio 4 Extra . Made in Heaven , which had starred Sachs's future Fawlty Towers co-star Prunella Scales when produced for radio in 1971,
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#1732791171902836-440: The impression that it is a Siberian hamster , and names it Basil, after his boss. He becomes very emotionally attached to the rat, and even threatens to leave Fawlty Towers altogether if Basil and Sybil dispose of it, to which Basil immediately responds, "Well, goodbye." The episode also highlights the fact that Manuel is rather dim even without the language barrier, as he lets the rat out of its cage for some exercise (which leads to
874-408: The local ice rink in "Basil the Rat". He is known for his passionate patriotism, amplified in " The Anniversary " when he tries to make Terry the chef let him cook a seafood paella to his mother's recipe . Manuel has a large family in Spain, mentioning in " The Wedding Party " that he has five brothers and four sisters. During the episode "Basil the Rat", Manuel acquires a common rat while under
912-475: The movie Quartet . Between 1962 and 1985 Sachs wrote a number of plays for theatre and radio, in parallel with his acting career. His first radio play, in 1962, was One Man and His Dog . Till Death Do Us Join , concerning Ernest Wire's desire to murder his wife, and Ruby Drab's hope to 'dispose of her spouse', was produced by the BBC in 1964 and broadcast in Australia as So You Want to Get Rid of Your Wife
950-477: The name "Manuel and Los Por Favors". Sachs shares the writing credits for the B side with "B. Wade", who also wrote the A side. In 1981, at the urging of Elton John , "Manuel" released a cover version of Joe Dolce 's worldwide hit " Shaddap You Face ", with "Waiter, there's a Flea in my Soup" on the B side. When finally released it reached 138 in the UK Chart. Dolce prohibited Sachs from releasing his version until
988-527: The original had been a hit. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1980, when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews while making a personal appearance as Manuel at the HMV store on London's Oxford Street. Sachs, who had himself experienced life as a 'foreigner' in Britain, denied allegations that the character was based on racist stereotypes, arguing that Manuel could have been any 'foreign' worker. During
1026-741: The popular children's TV series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends "Thomas and the Tiger" and "Thomas and the Dinosaur". He provided the voice of Puzzle the Donkey in the Focus on the Family production of The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis. In 2000, Sachs narrated the spoof documentary series That Peter Kay Thing . He also narrated the documentary series Eyewitness , based on the children's books of
1064-471: The position. On the other hand, whenever Manuel appears sad, Basil is depicted attempting to cheer him up, and even kisses him on the forehead for his aid in ejecting a particularly abusive guest, indicating that he holds at least some loyalty to Manuel. Sybil also appears to hold Manuel in low esteem, dryly remarking, "It'd be quicker to train a monkey." Despite this, she does show considerably more loyalty to him than Basil, as she stands up for him in " Basil
1102-522: The rat ending up loose in the hotel), manages to spell "Spleep" from S-L-E-E-P, and pronounces cholesterol as "costellorol", even though the two words are quite similar in English and Spanish (colesterol). Sachs claimed that he only had a few weeks to learn the difficult and complex accent that Manuel is so famous for (in fact, having lived in Germany until he was eight, Sachs initially suggested playing
1140-779: The same name. Sachs performed all the voices in the English-language version of Jan Švankmajer 's 1994 film Faust . He also did voices for children's animation, including William's Wish Wellingtons , Starhill Ponies , The Gingerbread Man , Little Grey Rabbit , The Forgotten Toys , Asterix and the Big Fight . and the horse in the English-language version of 1970's cult TV show Monkey . Roles for radio include G. K. Chesterton 's Father Brown , 1984–1986, Dr. John Watson in four series of original Sherlock Holmes stories for BBC Radio 4, Jeeves in The Code of
1178-729: The shooting of the Fawlty Towers episode " The Germans ", Sachs was left with second degree acid burns due to a fire stunt. He was also hit with a faulty prop on the set of the show by Cleese and suffered a severe headache. Sachs was frequently heard as a narrator of television and radio documentaries , including all five series of BBC's BAFTA Award -winning business television series Troubleshooter presented by Sir John Harvey-Jones and ITV 's ...from Hell series. He also narrated several audio books, including C. S. Lewis 's Narnia series and Alexander McCall Smith 's first online book, Corduroy Mansions , as well as two audiobooks of
Andrew Sachs - Misplaced Pages Continue
1216-436: The then Prime Minister, criticised Ross and Brand's actions, saying that it was "clearly inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour", and the television watchdog, Ofcom , launched an inquiry into the matter. Afterwards, Brand and Controller of Radio 2 Lesley Douglas resigned, with Ross soon suspended. In February 2014, Sachs was interviewed by the BBC about his autobiography. He spoke of how the scandal still affected him. Sachs
1254-650: Was born on 7 April 1930 in Berlin , Germany , the son of Katharina (née Schrott-Fiecht), a librarian, and Hans Emil Sachs, an insurance broker. His father was Jewish and his mother was Lutheran, with Austrian ancestry. The family moved to Britain in 1938 to escape the Nazis . They settled in north London, and he lived in Kilburn for the rest of his life. In 1960, Sachs married the actress, writer, and fashion designer Melody Lang, who took his surname. He adopted her two sons from
1292-527: Was brought to the stage in 1975. As performed at the Chichester Festival it starred Patrick Macnee . Though it was a popular success, Sachs said in 1981, "the critics really slaughtered it ... Actually, I had to agree with the critics. There was a lot wrong with the play." He professed his intention to rewrite the work and stage it again. Sachs claimed he would "concentrate on writing if anything happened to impair my acting. But I'm very much
1330-619: Was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2012, which eventually left him unable to speak and forced him to use a wheelchair. He died on 23 November 2016 at the Denville Hall nursing home in Northwood, London . His funeral took place on 1 December, the same day his death was publicly announced. Melody Sachs died the following year. On 2 December 2016, BBC One broadcast the Fawlty Towers episode " Communication Problems " in his memory. John Cleese paid tribute to Sachs, describing him as
1368-752: Was still alive when the first six episodes of the show were broadcast. In The Builders when Bennion the delivery man says "No no, where's the real boss?... The... the generalissimo ." Manuel looks at him daftly: "In Madrid!" Since the Catalan version was broadcast in 1986, eleven years after Francisco Franco 's death, the dubbing of Manuel says "Dead!" In " Basil the Rat ", Basil says to Manuel, "You have rats in Spain, don't you – or did Franco have them all shot?" The Swedish pop group I'm from Barcelona chose its name in reference to this character. The movie-mocking television program Mystery Science Theater 3000 has referred to Manuel on several occasions. When
1406-602: Was taking up the offer, saying "My wife was such a fan that I've been watching it since 1962". In May 2009 he made his debut on the street as Norris' brother, Ramsay. He appeared in 27 episodes and left in August 2009. Sachs toured with the Australian pianist Victor Sangiorgio in a two-man show called "Life after Fawlty", which included Richard Strauss 's voice and piano setting of Alfred, Lord Tennyson 's poem " Enoch Arden ". 2012 saw his last major role, as Bobby Swanson in
1444-406: Was very cheap labour. Basil's excuse for everything Manuel does wrong is "he's from Barcelona", an excuse that Sybil and even Manuel himself once resorted to. Manuel is good friends with Polly, who can communicate best with him (Basil claims to have learnt "classical Spanish", whereas Polly speaks the actual language) and often uses him as a model for her sketches. Basil also suggests she take him to
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