Robertson Hare

Acting

Robertson Hare

Born — Died

1891-12-16 — 1979-01-25

Place of birth

Islington, London, England

Known for

Acting

Credits

45 titles

John Robertson Hare, OBE (17 December 1891 – 25 January 1979) was an English actor, who came to fame in the Aldwych farces. He is remembered by modern audiences for his performances as the Archdeacon in the popular BBC sitcom, All Gas and Gaiters. Short in stature and of unheroic appearance, Hare made his stage career in character roles. From his early days as an actor he was cast as older men. One of his favourite parts, which he played in the provinces before achieving West End success, was "Grumpy", a retired lawyer, in which he toured before the First World War. After war service in the army, Hare got his big break. He was cast in a long-running farce with Ralph Lynn and Tom Walls. His…

Known for

Film credits

1960s · 7 titles

Salt & Pepper poster
5.3

After discovering the body of a murdered female agent in their trendy Soho, London nightclub, groovy owners Charles Salt and Christopher Pepper partake in a fumbling investigation and uncover an evil plot to overthrow the government. Can our cool, yet inept duo stop the bad guys in time?

Salt & Pepper

1968

The Night We Got the Bird poster
6.3

Good natured comic caper charting the misadventures of a hapless bunch of Brighton based petty crooks dogged with disaster at every turn.

The Night We Got the Bird

1960

The Young Ones poster
6.1

Nicky and his friends find that their youth club is in danger of being flattened to make way for a new office block unless they can come up with £1500 to pay the new owner, the ruthless property tycoon Hamilton Black. To help raise the cash, Nicky records a song and his friends broadcast it via a pirate radio station, touting him as "The Mystery Singer" - the plan works and interest in their up and coming show is heightened by this new but unknown heart-throb. But Nicky has an even bigger secret and one that he cannot share, even with his girlfriend Toni... Hamilton Black is his father.

The Young Ones

1961

Crooks Anonymous poster
6.1

A former burglar trying to go straight joins a rehabilitation scheme using much the same methods as AA. Through the process, he takes work as a department store Santa, where the endless parade of goods and money, not to mention the pretty young shop hands have him like a moth to a flame in no time flat.

Crooks Anonymous

1962

Hotel Paradiso poster
6.0

Monsieur Feydeau has writer's block and he needs a new play, so he takes an opportunity to observe his upper class neighbors of 1900 Paris. There is Monsieur Boniface with hard domineering wife Angelique; also, Monsieur Cotte with beautiful but neglected wife Marcelle. Henri Cotte traces architectural anomalies (mostly "ghost" sounds in the drain pipes) and plans a night at the Hotel Paradiso, which happens to be the chosen romantic rendezvous spot of Marcelle and Monsieur Boniface. One wife, two husbands, a nephew, and the perky Boniface maid, all at this 'by the hour' hotel and consummation of the affair is, to say the least, severely compromised (not the least by a police raid). All of this is under Feydeau's eye, and his play is the 'success fou' of the next season.

Hotel Paradiso

1966

Out of the Shadow poster
5.8

A reporter learns that his brother, a student, has committed suicide. Unconvinced, he begins his own investigation when the police dismiss his suspicions. Could a killer be on the loose in Cambridge?

Out of the Shadow

1961

Seven Keys poster
6.9

Convict Russell is bequeathed a set of seven keys by a fellow prisoner. After discovering that the deceased embezzled an unrecovered £20,000, Russell sets out to find the cash after finishing his sentence. However, he must first solve the mystery of which locks the keys fit, and run the gauntlet of the police and gangsters who are after him and the money.

Seven Keys

1961

1950s · 5 titles

1940s · 5 titles

1930s · 24 titles

Aren't Men Beasts! poster
7.0

Two businessmen have the shock of their lives when a woman appears out of their past bearing a 23 year old son - and one of them may be the father!

Aren't Men Beasts!

1937

O.H.M.S. poster
4.7

American racketeer Jimmie Dean travels to England, where he assumes the identity of a Canadian whom he has been falsely accused of murdering. Jimmie is then forced to join the British army in the dead man's place. He falls in love with the Canadian's childhood playmate, Sally Briggs, and becomes a hero after saving an isolated English colony in China.

O.H.M.S.

1937

Friday the Thirteenth poster
6.4

It is pouring with rain at one minute to midnight on Friday the thirteenth, and the driver of a London bus is peering through his blurred windscreen as his vehicle sails down an empty road. Suddenly, lightning strikes, and a vast crane above topples into the path of the oncoming bus... Then Big Ben begins to wind backwards. Time recedes. And we discover the lives of all the passengers and the events that brought them to that late-night bus journey, from the con-man with a hundred-pound cheque to the businessman's distraught and elderly wife. Time flows on, inevitably, to the crash -- and past it, as some live and some die.

Friday the Thirteenth

1933

A Cuckoo in the Nest poster
6.2

A crowded inn means that a man and a woman must share the same room for a night. One problem is that they are both married - to other people. The other problem is that they used to be engaged to each other.

A Cuckoo in the Nest

1933

Dirty Work poster
7.0

Staff in a jewellery store hatch a plan to catch a thief.

Dirty Work

1934

So This Is London poster
9.0

American (Churchill) in London dislikes England until his daughter (Lehmann) falls for the son (Granger) of the Lord (Drayton) with whom he wants to conclude a business deal.

So This Is London

1939

A Cup of Kindness poster
10.0

A tale of two feuding families whose offspring cause uproar when they announce their marital plans.

A Cup of Kindness

1934

No artwork available
9.0

An ageing aristocrat schemes to secure his dwindling finances by any means – fair or foul!

Foreign Affaires

1935

No artwork available
10.0

"It's a Boy" stars Horton as Dudley Leake, who is betrothed to Mary Bogle (the very pretty Wendy Barrie). Shortly before the wedding, Dudley blurts a confession to his friend and best man, Jim Skippett: 20 years ago, Dudley had a brief affair with a certain Miss Piper, but he's never heard from her since then. Next day, who should suddenly appear? A youth about 19 or 20 years old, claiming to be named Joe Piper. Is he Horton's son, or is Skippett playing a practical joke?

It's a Boy

1934

Rookery Nook poster
8.0

A husband tries to hide a runaway girl from his wife and mother-on-law.

Rookery Nook

1930

A Night Like This poster
7.0

Going under cover, P.C. Mahoney passes for a gentleman to get into the notorious Moonstone Club. There he meets Clifford Tope, a ne'er do well who is love with cabaret star Cora Mellish. She in turn has run up steep gambling debts and has paid off the Club's blackmailing owner with a stolen necklace. As things heat up Cora seeks help from the easy-going Tope.

A Night Like This

1932

Oh, Daddy! poster
6.0

Member of a village Purity League branch find things much livelier on a trip to London.

Oh, Daddy!

1935

Car of Dreams poster
6.1

Produced by the highly acclaimed Michael Balcon, the story revolves around Robert, the son of the owner of a musical instrument factory. He is in love with Vera, one of the factory workers, who is unaware of his position. So when she jokes one day that she would love a Rolls-Royce, Robert makes sure that she gets one. Then he decides to raise her salary out of all proportion to hint at who he is...

Car of Dreams

1935

Stormy Weather poster
7.0

Sir Duncan Craggs retires from the Colonial Service and returns to London with his new French wife. The couple are devoted to each other, but continually flirt with other people. Sir Duncan is appointed to the board of clothing retail chain. On his tour of inspection, he encounters a successful store run by the efficient Mr. Bullock. By contrast, a neighbouring shop is filled with unhelpful staff overseen by an incompetent and lazy manager, Raymond Penny, who is more interested in horseracing than running his shop. Craggs is unimpressed by Penny and summons him to a meeting in London. Both Bullock and his domineering wife travel up to London as well, fearing that Penny will tell Craggs malicious stories about them.

Stormy Weather

1935

Turkey Time poster
10.0

A group of guests come to stay with the Stoatt family in the seaside town of Eden Bay for Christmas. They soon become involved with an impoverished concert performer whose innocent presence in the house leads to a series of misunderstandings.

Turkey Time

1933

Tons of Money poster
7.0

A debt-ridden inventor has to pretend to be his cousin to avoid his creditors.

Tons of Money

1930

No artwork available
NR

Skulduggery is on the menu after a bishop hands over a cathedral’s rebuilding fund to a shady businessman. The bishop’s secretary is entrusted with overseeing the investment, but is soon out of his depth as the money is swept up in a brandy and silk underwear smuggling racket.

A Spot of Bother

1938

No artwork available
6.7

In this he's on the dole, hungry and ready to do any job but quickly light-heartedly scams his way into society and a highly regarded position at a bank next to the beleaguered Robertson Hare. Here he invents a fraudulent business plan (Merrivale - you remember it surely?), the manager and chairman and another finance company are suck(er)ed in and it all snowballs from there. With of course a love interest as a dynamo.

Jack of All Trades

1936

Pot Luck poster
7.0

A retired Scotland Yard detective, Patrick Fitzpatrick (Tom Walls) comes back to take one final case, tracking down a missing vase which has been stolen by a gang of thieves specialising in taking art treasures. His investigation takes him to the home of the innocent Mr Pye (Robertson Hare), whose house has been used by the crooks to hide their proceeds.

Pot Luck

1936

No artwork available
9.0

'Broke duke and millionairess try month of trial marriage.' (British Film Catalogue)

On Approval

1930

Thark poster
10.0

Mrs Todd is aggrieved at finding that the country house she has bought is evidently haunted. Sir Hector Benbow and his nephew, on behalf of the previous owner, set out to demonstrate that there is no ghost.

Thark

1932

Just My Luck poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Just My Luck

1933

No artwork available
7.5

The Aldwych Theater farceurs are at it again in Fighting Stock. The punning title refers to a well-stocked rural fishing stream, which sparks a battle royale between two rival groups of fishermen. Brigadier-General Sir Donald Rowley (Tom Walls) gets involved in the fray when he rents a country cottage with his nephew Sydney (Ralph Lynn). While the nephew pitches woo at the local maidens, General Rowley adopts military tactics to reclaim the stream from village squire Duck (J. Robertson Hare).

Fighting Stock

1935

Plunder poster
8.0

A comedy film directed by and starring Tom Walls.

Plunder

1930

Series credits