Arnold Ridley

Playwright

Arnold Ridley was born in Bath, England, United Kingdom on January 7th, 1896 and is the Playwright. At the age of 88, Arnold Ridley biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, TV shows, and networth are available.

Other Names / Nick Names
William Arnold Ridley
Date of Birth
January 7, 1896
Nationality
United Kingdom
Place of Birth
Bath, England, United Kingdom
Death Date
Mar 12, 1984 (age 88)
Zodiac Sign
Capricorn
Profession
Actor, Film Actor, Military Personnel, Playwright, Television Actor
Arnold Ridley Height, Weight, Eye Color and Hair Color

At 88 years old, Arnold Ridley has this physical status:

Height
Not Available
Weight
Not Available
Hair Color
Grey
Eye Color
Not Available
Build
Average
Measurements
Not Available
Arnold Ridley Religion, Education, and Hobbies
Religion
Not Available
Hobbies
Not Available
Education
University of Bristol
Arnold Ridley Spouse(s), Children, Affair, Parents, and Family
Spouse(s)
Hilda Kathleen Mary Cooke, (m. 1926–1939),, Isola Strong, ​ ​(m. 1939)​,, Althea Parker, ​ ​(m. 1945)​
Children
1
Dating / Affair
Not Available
Parents
Not Available
Siblings
Daisy Ridley (great-niece)
Arnold Ridley Life

William Arnold Ridley, OBE (7 January 1896 – 12 March 1984) was an English playwright and actor who was best known for writing the play The Ghost Train and later in life for portraying the elderly Private Godfrey in the British sitcom Dad's Army (1968-1977).

Early life

William Arnold Ridley was born in Walcot, Somerset, England, and the son of Rosa Caroline (née Morrish, 1870-1960) and William Robert Ridley (1871-1931). His father, who was a gymnastics instructor, also owned a boot and shoe store. He attended the Clarendon School and the Bath City Secondary School, where he was a keen sportsman. He studied at the Education Department and performed Hamlet in a student production and was a graduate of the University of Bristol. Ridley began teaching at an Elementary School in Bristol.

Personal life

Ridley was married three times. His first marriage lasted from January 1926 to 1939, followed by a short marriage to Isola Strong, an actor who appeared on "It's Hard to Be Well," in 1939, before his final marriage to actress Althea Parker (1911–2001) on October 3rd. He was a Freemason and belonged to the Savage Club Lodge in London. Daisy Ridley, a British actress, is his grand-niece.

He was President of Bath Rugby from 1950 to 1952, a keen rugby player in his youth.

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Arnold Ridley Career

Acting career

Ridley started working as a professional actor after being drafted from the army in 1916. He joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1918, spending two years and appearing 40 times before moving to Plymouth, where his war injuries began to bother him.

Ridley was inspired to write The Ghost Train (1923), a tale of passengers trapped at a haunted railway station in Cornwall, with one of the protagonists being an incognito British Government agent attempting to capture Bolshevik revolutionaries active in the United Kingdom. The play was staged and became a hit in London's West End, with 665 performances being staged consecutively, as well as two revivals. The Ghost Train was first shot in 1931 and then again in 1941, when Arthur Askey appeared. Ridley has written more than 30 plays, including The Wrecker (1924), Keepers of Youth (1929), The Flying Fool (1929) and Recipe for Murder (1932).

He converted Agatha Christie's Peril at End House, a West End play that premiered in 1940, during his time in military service during the Second World War. Beggar My Neighbour, Ridley's war drama, was first performed in 1951 and then adapted for the Ealing Comedy film Meet Mr. Lucifer (1953).

Ridley performed regularly as an actor, with a role in the British comedy Crooks in Cloisters (1964). In the radio soap opera Doughy Hood, the village baker, was also portrayed by him. Guy Atkins appeared on ATV's Crossroads from 1964 to 1968. However, he became a household name only after being cast as Private Godfrey, the gentle platoon medic in the television comedy film Dad's Army (1968–1977). He continued to appear in his eighties and was named an OBE on the 1982 Queen's New Year Honours List for services to the theatre.

In 1976, he was greeted by Eamonn Andrews at London's Marylebone Station, and he was the subject of This Is Your Life.

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