British rocker Robin Le Mesurier had famous parents – but his star-studded family was ripped apart by betrayal and heartache.
Robin sadly passed away at the age of 68 on Wednesday (December 22) – following a battle with cancer.
The guitarist was famed for his collaborations with Rod Stewart and playing in the pop-rock band – The Wombles.
Robin was not the only star in his family though, because his parents were Dad’s Army star John Le Mesurier and Carry On actress Hattie Jacques.
To mark the late musician’s life – Daily Star have taken a look at Robin’s famous parents – and their tragic marriage which wreaked havoc on Robin’s household.
(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
Robin’s dad John met Hattie Jacques in a suitably showbiz setting – the theatre – back in June 1947.
John had gone to visit the Players’ Theatre in London with fellow actor Geoffrey Hibbert – and Hattie was one of the performers.
John and Hattie hit it off and began to see each other regularly afterwards, but John was still married to his ex-wife June Melville – although the pair had separated at that point.
When John’s divorce to June came through in 1949, Hattie that proposed to John – asking him: “Don’t you think it’s about time we got married?”
(Image: Getty Images)
The pair tied the know in November of that year – and they had two sons – rock star Robin and Kim.
However, the marriage began to dissolve in the 1960s when Hattie met a new man and struck up a relationship with him – despite still being married to John.
In 1962, the Carry On actress met cockney driver and car-dealer John Schofield, who once chauffeured her to a Leukaemia Research Fund event.
She started cheating on John with the driver as he provided her the support and attention that John didn’t – and Mesurier was often away due to work commitments.
(Image: Getty Images)
Hattie began sleeping with Schofield, and things took a nightmare turn for Robin’s dad when she moved the younger man into the family home.
To make matters even more complicated, John decided to move into the attic instead of leaving the house – in a desperate bid to save the failing marriage.
John later said: “I could have walked out, but, whatever my feelings, I loved Hattie and the children and I was certain—I had to be certain—that we could repair the damage”
He added that the atmosphere was extremely frosty between him and the younger bloke.
John recalled: “The atmosphere was heavy to say the least. John Schofield made clear his opinion that I should do the decent thing and quietly disappear.”
(Image: We Love TV)
His wife’s affair was do devastating to John that it sparked a serious decline in his health – and in 1963 he collapsed on holiday in Tanglier, Morocco.
The actor had to be rushed to hospital in Gibraltar – but when he returned to London, his wife Hattie and John were still lovers.
Despite the dissolving marriage, both Hattie and John appeared in the 1963 Tony Hancock film, The Punch and Judy Man.
Le Mesurier finally moved out of the family home in 1964 – and incredibly he decided to protect Jacques from any negative press by allowing her to bring a divorce suit on grounds of his own adultery.
This would ensure that the public blamed John for the marriage failing rather than Jacques.
In 1963, John later met actress Joan Malin in London, and they married in 1966.
(Image: BBC)
However, John was hit by another wave of betrayal as Joan started a relationship with comedian Tony Hancock – who starred in his TV show Hancock’s Half Hour.
Joan then ditched John as she moved in with Hancock, leaving John heartbroken again.
Le Mesurier was allegedly abusive to Joan both physically and verbally during their relationship – and at one point it got so bad that she attempted suicide.
Somehow, John and Tony remained friends at the time, with the Dad’s Army star calling him a “comic of true genius”.
Sadly, Tony committed suicide in 1968 – and Joan decided to stay with John after that.
John was considered an alcoholic, but he once said that he never thought of himself as a heavy drinker.
He said: “I had never thought of myself as a heavy drinker. I liked to drink, yes… Sometimes I drank too much, sometimes not at all”
The actor was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver after he collapsed in Australia in 1977 – and he was ordered to stop drinking.
He accepted that it was the “cumulative effect over the years that had done the damage”.
(Image: Daily Mirror)
Mesurier also smoked cannabis – but only during his period of abstinence from alcohol.
Sadly, John’s health deteriorated in July 1983 – and he was rushed to hospital – and he had to be taken to Ramsgate Hospital a year later when the condition returned.
He passed away on 15 November in 1983 after falling into a coma.
He showed his comedic streak in his death notice which he had written himself which read: “John Le Mesurier wishes it to be known that he conked out on November 15th. He sadly misses family and friends.”
Hattie’s relationship with Schofield didn’t last long, because he ended up running off with an Italian heiress whilst she was filming in Rome.
(Image: TV Times via Getty Images)
Hattie began comfort eating and she put on lots of weight – growing to nearly 20 stone.
Robin’s mum had been a chain smoker who suffered from arthritis, high blood pressure, swollen legs and breathing difficulties.
After the loss of her mum, Hattie warned her family that she didn’t have long left herself, and she died of a heart attack in her sleep – at just 58 years of age.
After Robin passed this week, Rod Stewart paid tribute to his “dear friend”.
He wrote: “A Rock & Roll soul, rest in peace my dear friend.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
