James Beck
James Beck asPrivate Walker in theDad's Army episode "The Honourable Man" in 1973, just over a week before his collapse
Born	Stanley James Carroll Beck (1929-02-21)21 February 1929 Islington,London, England[1]
Died	6 August 1973(1973-08-06) (aged 44) Roehampton, London, England[2]
Resting place	Putney Vale Cemetery, London, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1961–1973
Spouse	Kathleen Bullus ​ (m. 1959)​

Stanley James Carroll Beck (21 February 1929 – 6 August 1973) was an English television actor. He appeared in a number of programmes, but is best known for the role ofPrivate Walker, acockneyspiv, in theBBCsitcomDad's Army from the show's beginning in 1968 until his sudden death in 1973.

Beck was born on 21 February 1929 inIslington,North London,^[3] and attended Popham Road Primary School.

After attendingSaint Martin's School of Art and doing hisnational service as aphysical training instructor in theBritish Army, Beck became an actor.^[4]

In 1949, Beck made his career acting debut inLittle Lambs Eat Ivy at theGranville Theatre, Ramsgate.^[5] and followed inPeace Comes to Peckham andMiranda,^[5] at the same venue later that year.^[5] In 1954, he starred inA Murder Has Been Arranged atBridgwater Town Hall.^[5] He joined the 'Unicorn Players', and performed in seven different plays at thePalace Theatre, Paignton between 1955–1957.^[5] From 1958 to 1967, he was a regular performer in many different plays atYork Theatre Royal.^[5]

He concentrated on television and his early broadcast roles included Charlie Bell in an episode ofDr Finlay's Casebook (Series 1 episode 4, "Conduct Unbecoming", 1962), and was cast as a policeman in a 1965 episode ofCoronation Street,^[6] in a storyline concerning the collapse of a house and in a 1967 episode in a storyline concerning a train crash. He also appeared, uncredited, as a policeman inGideon's Way (1965), and was often seen in TV drama, with one-off roles in series such asThe Troubleshooters (1965, 1967, 1970) and in 1968, withPeter Cushing in the episode "The Blue Carbuncle", the BBC'sSherlock Holmes.^[7]

In 1968, he was offered the role of Private Walker inDad's Army, originally written byJimmy Perry for himself. Perry approved of the casting of Beck: "He had the right mix of cheekiness and charm. He gave the role a bit of oomph."^[8]

Always in demand, he continued to work on TV programmes includingA Family at War (1970) andRomany Jones (1972–73),^[6] in which he played the lead character of Bert Jones.^[8] He also recorded a pilot for an uncommissioned series calledBunclarke With an E (1973),^[8] which was to be based on scripts originally written forHancock's Half Hour and in whichArthur Lowe was also to appear.^[8]

By 1973, Beck had recorded five series ofDad's Army and had nearly finished working on the sixth, besides working on theradio series of the show.^[8] All of the location filming and studio recording for five of the planned seven episodes of Series Six had been completed when Beck suddenly fell ill while opening a school fête in aid ofGuide Dogs for the Blind.^[8] He returned home and within an hour was taken toQueen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton^[9] suffering frompancreatitis. He died three weeks later, due to a combination of heart failure, renal failure and pancreatitis, aged 44.^[8]

The last time Beck'sDad's Army co-stars saw him alive was on Friday 13 July 1973 at the Playhouse Theatre in London where he recorded two radio episodes ofDad's Army (which ran alongside the TV series).^[8] The following afternoon Beck suddenly became ill.^[8]

His death was a great shock to his fellow cast members, as well as toJimmy Perry andDavid Croft. Perry has said that heavy drinking was common in show business at the time, and that he paid little attention to Beck's habit until "I saw Jimmy’s legs and they were purple.^[8] It was the last episode he appeared in before he died".^[8]

In the episode, "The Recruit" (the series 6 finale), Mainwaring reads a note written by Walker apologising for his absence, as he has gone "up to the Smoke" (to London) to conduct one of his deals.^[10]

• Pertwee, Bill (2009).Dad's Army: The Making of a Television Legend. Anova Books. pp. 56–59.ISBN 978-1-84486-105-7.

• James Beck atIMDb
• James Beck atFind a Grave

• 1929 births
• 1973 deaths
• 20th-century British Army personnel
• 20th-century English male actors
• Actors from the London Borough of Islington
• Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art
• British Army soldiers
• Burials at Putney Vale Cemetery
• Deaths from pancreatitis
• English male film actors
• English male stage actors
• English male television actors
• Male actors from London
• Military personnel from the London Borough of Islington
• People from Islington (district)

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• Use dmy dates from January 2025
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