John Bluthal
Bluthal in 1993
Born	Isaac Bluthal (1929-08-12)12 August 1929 Jezierzany,Galicia, Poland
Died	15 November 2018(2018-11-15) (aged 89) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Alma mater	University of Melbourne
Occupations	Actor comedian
Years active	1953–2018[1]
Spouse	Judyth Barron ​ ​ (m. 1956, separated)​
Children	2

John Bluthal (bornIsaac Bluthal; 12 August 1929 – 15 November 2018)^[2] was a Polish-born Australian actor and comedian, noted for his six-decade career internationally in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

He started his career during theGolden Age of British Television, where he was best known for his comedy work in the UK withSpike Milligan, and for his role as Manny Cohen in the television seriesNever Mind the Quality, Feel the Width. In later years, he was known to television audiences as the bumbling Frank Pickle inThe Vicar of Dibley. At 85 he played ProfessorHerbert Marcuse in theCoen brothers' filmHail, Caesar! (2016).

Bluthal was born to a Jewish family inJezierzany,Galicia, Poland (now in Ukraine).^[3] Due toanti-Semitism in Poland,^[4] his family emigrated toMelbourne, Australia, in 1938, when he was aged nine. He was educated atPrinces Hill Central School inCarlton North andUniversity High School inParkville. He began his acting career in Melbourne's Yiddish Theatre and subsequently studied drama at theUniversity of Melbourne.

In 1949, he travelled to Europe and the United Kingdom, during which time he appeared inpantomime. He worked inrepertory theatre in Melbourne and appeared in Australian radio dramas, as well as television productions includingShell Presents andThree's A Crowd. He also devised and producedGaslight Music Hall, in which he starred.

Bluthal moved to the United Kingdom permanently in 1960^[1] and appeared inCitizen James in 1960 for BBC television, and the long-runningITV comedy seriesNever Mind the Quality, Feel the Width (1967–71) in which he played Manny Cohen, a Jewish London tailor in business with an Irish Catholic tailor, Patrick Kelly, played byJoe Lynch. Also in the 1960s, he provided the voice for Commander Zero in the televisionSupermarionation seriesFireball XL5 (1962–63).

Bluthal had worked withSpike Milligan before leaving Australia, appearing with him in a 1958 Australian television special,The Gladys Half-Hour, in the Australian radio comedy seriesThe Idiot Weekly. On relocating to Britain, he appeared as several characters in Milligan andJohn Antrobus' stage playThe Bedsitting Room, which opened at theMermaid Theatre on 31 January 1963.^[5][6][7] He also appeared inThe Omar Khayyam Show, a UK remake of episodes fromThe Idiot Weekly. He later worked extensively with Milligan on the television seriesQ and its radio counterpartThe Milligan Show. Bluthal was able to produce many comedic and imitative voices, like Milligan's radio colleaguePeter Sellers, and he was used somewhat like Sellers in Milligan's later work.

Bluthal worked extensively in British theatre. In 1960 he played Fagin in the original production of the musicalOliver! in the West End (replacingRon Moody). His appearances at theNational Theatre includedTales from Hollywood,Entertaining Strangers,Peter Hall's production ofAntony and Cleopatra (withJudi Dench andAnthony Hopkins),Yonaadab,The Tempest,The Winter's Tale, andCymbeline.

His other television appearances include theSykes and a... episode "Sykes and a Bath", broadcast on 25 January 1961,^[7]Hancock ("The Radio Ham", 1961),The Avengers (1965),The Saint ("The Happy Suicide", 1965),'Allo 'Allo! (1984),Minder (1985),Bergerac (1990),One Foot in the Grave (1990),Rumpole of the Bailey (1991),Inspector Morse (1993),Lovejoy (1994),Last of the Summer Wine (1995), andJonathan Creek (1997), as well as appearing as Major Cheeseburger inThe Goodies' episode "Clown Virus". He also replacedRonnie Stevens in the Australian comedy/satire seriesThe Mavis Bramston Show for the second half of 1966^[8] and starred as "Enzo Pacelli" in theABC-TV comedy television seriesHome Sweet Home (1982–83). Bluthal also appeared asLeonid Krasin in episodes of the Thames TV seriesReilly, Ace of Spies (1983).^[9] and "Chalky", a hospital patient, in the episode "I Gotta Horse" of the comedy television seriesDoctor Down Under (1979) the Australian series of the British television series syndicated internationally asDoctor in the House, which also starredRobin Nedwell as Dr. Duncan Waring andGeoffrey Davies as Dr. Dick Stuart-Clark).

His films appearances include:The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965), threeCarry On films, two of theDoctor films, and alsoThe Beatles' filmsA Hard Day's Night (1964) andHelp! (1965), three roles inCasino Royale (1967), and two of thePink Panther films. Bluthal also played several characters inThe Great McGonagall (1974), by Spike Milligan andJoseph McGrath, based on the life ofWilliam McGonagall.^[10] He portrayed an Egyptologist in the year 1914 for the first part of the filmThe Fifth Element (1997) and Uncle Karl inDark City (1998). He also appeared in the comedyBeware of Greeks Bearing Guns (2000).

His later television appearances were in the sitcomThe Vicar of Dibley as the fastidious minutes-taker Frank Pickle and as the caretaker Rocco inSpirited.

He also appeared in the 2004 filmLove's Brother and in the 2016Coen brothers filmHail, Caesar!

His final appearance was with his daughter Lisa Bluthal in her 2018 short filmBy Any Other Name, a comedy about a daughter dealing with her father'sAlzheimer's.^[11]

Bluthal married actress Judyth Barron in 1956. Together they had two daughters, but later separated. Barron died in 2016.^[3]

Bluthal's sister Nita marriedStephen Murray-Smith, makingJoanna Murray-Smith his niece.^[12]

Bluthal's agent confirmed on 16 November 2018 that the actor had died, aged 89, inNew South Wales, Australia.^[13]

Following his death, fellowThe Vicar of Dibley actorDawn French said "Tons of happy laughs remembered today. Cheeky, naughty, hilarious. Bye darlin' Bluey."^[14] On 22 December 2018, BBC One airedThe Vicar of Dibley's December 1996 episode "The Christmas Lunch Incident" with a caption at the end remembering Bluthal's death. Similarly the final episode of thelockdown edition ofThe Vicar of Dibley ended with a tribute just before the closing credits reading, "In loving memory of Liz, John, Emma and Roger", paying tribute to him and also three other deceased Dibley cast members (Liz Smith,Emma Chambers andRoger Lloyd-Pack).

In 2025, Bluthal appeared on a Britishpostage stamp issued as part of a special set byRoyal Mail, which commemorated the seriesThe Vicar of Dibley.^[15]

• John Bluthal atIMDb
• John Bluthal at theBritish Film Institute^{[better source needed]}
• John Bluthal at Filmreference
• John Bluthal at BBC Comedy Guide

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