Good moaning! It’s time to take a trip back to wartime France, where a randy café owner attempted to juggle his extra-marital affairs, keeping both the Germans and the Resistance onside and locating The Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies.
’Allo ’Allo! ran from 1982 to 1992 and sparked some unforgettable catchphrases – mainly by the French-mangling Officer Crabtree (“I was p***ing by the door when I heard two shats…”).
Following the tragic death of actor Robert Parkinson, who played Monsieur Ernest, Daily Star has looked back at what the famous cast did after their stint on the popular sitcom.
Robin Parkinson
Monsieur Ernest
(Image: PA)
Robin Parkinson tragically died at the age of 92 with his wife by his side.
His career spanned decades and he quickly became a beloved TV star, particularly after appearing on screens throughout the 70s and 80s.
After appearing on ‘Allo ‘Allo!, he also reprised his role for the West End stage version and tour of Australia in the 1990s.
A statement issued on behalf of his family confirmed his death as he was surrounded by loved ones.
The statement read: “Robin Parkinson, actor, known for ‘Allo ‘Allo and as the voice of Button Moon, has died peacefully at the age of 92 with his wife and daughters by his side.”
Gorden Kaye
René Artois
(Image: NC)
An unlikely babe magnet, Kaye’s René was wed to wife Edith but conducting illicit affairs with the waitresses in his café, inventing dubious excuses to get out of trouble.
The actor, who was gay in real life, revived René several times after the show finished.
In 1990 he was in a horror car accident which left him with head injuries and a scar from a piece of wooden advertising board that smashed through the windscreen.
Kaye died in 2017 aged 75 after a battle with dementia.
Carmen Silvera
Edith Artois
(Image: BBC)
Silvera was a good singer in real life, despite her character’s screeching vocals.
The actress, who divorced in 1948 following a miscarriage and never remarried, worked mainly in theatre post ’Allo ‘Allo!
A heavy smoker, she died from lung cancer in 2002 aged 80.
Richard Gibson and Kim Hartman
Herr Flick and Helga Geerhart
(Image: Getty Images)
Gibson and Hartman played the Gestapo agent and his kinky girlfriend and are still good friends today, often dressing up as the characters for fan conventions and appearances.
Hartman, 69, played Mrs Rawlinson in Grange Hill between 2005 and 2008 and was also in 2017 blockbuster Dunkirk. She is married with two children.
Gibson has had the odd TV role but is also a writer and newspaper sub-editor. Now 67, he is married with two children.
John Louis Mansi, who played his sidekick Von Smallhausen, died from lung cancer in 2010.
Vicki Michelle
Yvette Carte-Blanche
(Image: DAILY MIRROR)
Yvette’s lusty cry of “Oooooooh René!” and her numerous stocking top flashes made her a hit with viewers.
Actress Michelle has appeared in a string of TV shows and was Patricia Foster in Emmerdale between 2007 and 2009.
The Essex-born star – a youthful-looking 70 years old – also did I’m A Celeb in 2014 and has a weekly radio show.
She’s been married to Graham Fowler since 1974 and the pair have a daughter, Louise, also an actress.
Arthur Bostrom
Officer Crabtree
(Image: Getty Images)
The Brit undercover officer masquerading as a French policeman stood out thanks to his colourful take on the language.
In real life, Bostrom, 66, speaks fluent French.
In 2018 he brought out the book Officer Crabtree’s Fronch Phrose Berk, in which he attempts to teach others to “spook the Fronch longwodge”.
Kirsten Cooke
Michelle Dubois
(Image: BBC)
Now 68, Cooke played the Resistance leader who uttered one of the show’s top catchphrases: “Listen very carefully, I shall say zis only once.”
Afterwards, she was in short-lived 1995 Richard Briers comedy Down To Earth and Chucklevision in 2002.
Guy Siner
Lt Hans Gruber
Siner played the flirty German officer with a crush on René.
The 73-year-old has worked continually since, including a small role in the original Pirates Of The Caribbean and as minister Francis Pym in last year’s The Crown.
Sue Hodge and Francesca Gonshaw
Mimi Labonq and Maria Recamier
Both waitresses who fell under René’s spell, Hodge took over when Gonshaw left in 1987.
While she’s done little TV work since, Hodge, 63, has a one-woman show and has written a memoir, both based around Mimi.
Gonshaw departed to take the role of Amanda Parker in BBC television drama series Howards’ Way.
She retired from acting in the early 1990s and helped set up the publishing arm of the Miramax movie studio with the now-shamed Harvey weinstein, publishing the likes of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction script.
The 61-year-old is now an artist.
British Airmen
John D Collins and Nicholas Frankau
Stranded in France, the Resistance came up with various ludicrous plots to get them home.
Collins, 78, has had many one-off TV roles on the likes of Peak Practice and Wycliffe.
Frankau, 66, no longer acts regularly but works as a software engineer in Cambridge.
Richard Marner, Kenneth Connor, Hilary Minster
Colonel Von Strohm, Monsier Alfonse, General Von Klinkerhoffen
These three actors are no longer with us – Russian-born Marner died in 2004 aged 82, Carry On favourite Connor was still working two days before his death in 1993 aged 75, and Minster died from cancer in 1999 aged just 55.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
