Ian Carmichael was a renowned British comedy actor, born on June 18, 1920, in Hull, Yorkshire, England, to Arthur Denholm Carmichael, an optician, and his wife Kate (Gillett). He received his education at Bromsgrove High School and Scarborough College, before being accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he trained and made his stage debut as a mute robot in "RUR" in 1939.
Carmichael's early career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in Europe with the Royal Armoured Corps as a commissioned officer in the 22nd Dragoons. After the war, he returned to the theatre, appearing in various productions, including "She Wanted a Cream Front Door", "I Said to Myself", "Cupid and Mars", and "Out of the Frying Pan". He also honed his farcical skills in music hall revues, working with legends such as Hermione Baddeley and Dora Bryan.
Carmichael's breakthrough in film came with his association with late 50s "silly-ass" comedy, which included roles in the U.S. film "Betrayed" (1954) starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner, as well as the war-themed adventures "The Colditz Story" (1955) and "Storm Over the Nile" (1955). He co-starred in a series of droll satires for the Boulting Brothers and Ealing Studios, including "Simon and Laura" (1955),"Private's Progress" (1956),"I'm All Right Jack" (1959),"Lucky Jim" (1957),"Brothers in Law" (1957),and "Happy Is the Bride" (1958),firmly establishing him as a slapstick movie star.
The inane fun continued into the 60s with ripe vehicles such as "Skywatch" (1960),"School for Scoundrels" (1960),"Double Bunk" (1961),"The Amorous Mr. Prawn" (1962),and "Heavens Above!" (1963). During the late 1960s and 1970s, he found more fulfillment playing wry, bemused, upper-crust characters on comedy TV, particularly his Bertie Wooster in "The World of Wooster" (1965) which reunited him with frequent Boulting Brothers co-star Dennis Price as Jeeves, Wooster's chilly-mannered personal valet.
Carmichael made vigilant returns to the comedy stage whenever possible, appearing in lightweight vehicles such as "The Tunnel of Love", "The Gazebo", "Critic's Choice", "Birds on the Wing", "Darling, I'm Home", and "Springtime for Henry". He also appeared in his last musical "I Do! I Do!" in 1968.
Semi-retired since the mid-1980s, Ian continued to show elderly spryness here and there with a smattering of films including "The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins" (1971),"From Beyond the Grave" (1974),"The Lady Vanishes" (1979),and "Dark Obsession" (1989). On TV, he was quite popular in the role of the gentleman detective Lord Peter Wimsey in several crime mystery mini-series: "Clouds of Witness" (1972),"The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club" (1972),"Murder Must Advertise" (1973),"The Nine Tailors" (1974),and "Five Red Herrings" (1975),and had a recurring role on the TV series "Strathblair" (1992).
To cap his career off, he was honored as an OBE in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours List.
