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Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs dies at 86
Source: The Guardian
The actor Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel in the comedy series Fawlty Towers, has died aged 86, it has been reported.
His wife, Melody, revealed that he died in a care home last week after a four-year battle with Alzheimer’s.
“My heart has been broken every day for a long time,” she said, explaining that she had collapsed while caring for her husband. Nevertheless, she said they were happy, adding that she “never once heard him grumble”.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/dec/01/andrew-sachs-dies-after-alzheimers-aged-86
Damn. Possibly the greatest TV comedy ever. He fled Germany with his family after Kristallnacht:
He remembers how he and Ralph would go round collecting for the "peace effort" together, writing down the names of those who had donated and those who hadn't. Soul brothers, united in their cause. Then one day Ralph came and said he couldn't play with him any more. Sachs was as baffled as he was hurt. "I said, 'Why not?' And he said, 'My dad just says I can't. My dad says your dad is Jewish.' I said 'Yes.' And he said, 'Well, apparently Jews are not very nice to Hitler, so I'm not allowed to play with you.'"
In 1938, Sachs's father was arrested in a restaurant by an SS officer because he had a red J in his passport. Soon after, Sachs witnessed Kristallnacht, the horrific Nazi attack on Jewish people and their property. The family knew they had to escape. It was his mother who went around Berlin schmoozing and bullying the authorities to give her husband a passport, while Sachs's father lay low. "She had no fear of anybody. She's a bit of a hero of mine, as indeed is my father. She was pretty tough, and had a lot to deal with. God knows how she coped, God knows, trying to get out of Germany with a family and a husband who wasn't earning any money. He was an insurance broker, but it wasn't done to do business with a Jew."
The Sachs family arrived in north London when Andrew was eight. When he was 13, during the war, his father died. Despite all this, Sachs says he had such a happy childhood - he felt loved and secure and always had a roof over his head. Actually, he says, everything worked out for the best. Because he was so young when they came over, he learned to speak English without an accent. "If I'd come when I was 15, I'd have been left with a German accent, and if I had become an actor, I'd have been limited to foreign roles. So for that reason I'm grateful to Hitler."
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/may/02/andrew-sachs-actor-interview-sachsgate
In 1938, Sachs's father was arrested in a restaurant by an SS officer because he had a red J in his passport. Soon after, Sachs witnessed Kristallnacht, the horrific Nazi attack on Jewish people and their property. The family knew they had to escape. It was his mother who went around Berlin schmoozing and bullying the authorities to give her husband a passport, while Sachs's father lay low. "She had no fear of anybody. She's a bit of a hero of mine, as indeed is my father. She was pretty tough, and had a lot to deal with. God knows how she coped, God knows, trying to get out of Germany with a family and a husband who wasn't earning any money. He was an insurance broker, but it wasn't done to do business with a Jew."
The Sachs family arrived in north London when Andrew was eight. When he was 13, during the war, his father died. Despite all this, Sachs says he had such a happy childhood - he felt loved and secure and always had a roof over his head. Actually, he says, everything worked out for the best. Because he was so young when they came over, he learned to speak English without an accent. "If I'd come when I was 15, I'd have been left with a German accent, and if I had become an actor, I'd have been limited to foreign roles. So for that reason I'm grateful to Hitler."
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/may/02/andrew-sachs-actor-interview-sachsgate
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RIP
RIP, Manuel.
