Till Death Do Us Part

November 14, 2015 8:17 AM

RIP actor Warren Mitchell who had significant career on both stage and screen but will always be best remembered for playing the iconic and controversial bigot, Alf Garnett in the British television series Till Death Us Do Part and In Sickness and in Health

The Life And Times Of Alf Garnett - documentary
Royal Variety Performance
God was Church of England
The Empire
Aborigines
Smoking
Smoking and Drinking
West Ham United and Liverpool FC
1966 World Cup Final
(Some clips contain NSFW racist language)

posted by fearfulsymmetry (16 comments total)

(Some clips contain NSFW racist language)

This is one of those things where you hope everyone is in on the joke but you fear a bunch of people weren't.
posted by Artw at 8:31 AM on November 14, 2015 [5 favorites]

Yeah, I do fear that plenty were not. I only really remember the sequel where Alf was, probably deliberately, a more buffoonish and pathetic character... looking back some of the earlier stuff was pretty shocking and turns up in 'look how casually racist we were back in the 70s' documentaries along with The Black and White Minstrel Show and Mind Your Language.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:36 AM on November 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

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Quite the actor, as he was pretty much the opposite of the bigoted Alf. A bit like Carroll O'Connor playing Alf Garnett's rewrite, Archie Bunker.
posted by scruss at 8:38 AM on November 14, 2015 [5 favorites]

This is one of those things where you hope everyone is in on the joke but you fear a bunch of people weren't.

There's a story of a fan approaching Mitchell. "I love the way you make fun of those darkies," says the fan. Mitchell replies: "Actually, I'm making fun of people like you."
posted by popcassady at 9:37 AM on November 14, 2015 [14 favorites]

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The show is unwatchable and unbroadcastable now. 'Rising Damp' was also full of similar racism but had a prominent black character who was clearly intellectually superior to Rigsby, so it survives.
posted by colie at 9:41 AM on November 14, 2015

Not sure what to make of this.
posted by Segundus at 9:43 AM on November 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

a prominent black character who was clearly intellectually superior to Rigsby, so it survives.

They did that in In Sickness and in Health by introducing a black (and gay) character as the carer for Alf's wife. They are never exactly friends but eventually kinda bond over football.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:52 AM on November 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

.
posted by Smart Dalek at 10:37 AM on November 14, 2015

Not sure what to make of this.

Clearly it's a right old knees-up.
posted by Artw at 10:52 AM on November 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

The shoes on my feet. Alf Garnett!

.
posted by jonp72 at 11:18 AM on November 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

Clearly it's a right old knees-up.


I feel I already know the climactic track, 'My Grandfather's Clock'.
posted by colie at 11:22 AM on November 14, 2015

.
posted by runincircles at 3:18 PM on November 14, 2015

The show is unwatchable and unbroadcastable now.

I think this is true of All in the Family as well.
posted by el io at 4:10 PM on November 14, 2015

.
posted by anadem at 9:58 PM on November 14, 2015

They did that in In Sickness and in Health by introducing a black (and gay) character as the carer for Alf's wife

The always excellent Eamonn Walker
posted by fullerine at 7:22 AM on November 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

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A fine actor.
posted by On the Corner at 12:44 AM on November 16, 2015