Comic actor was 81

Comedy actor Lance Percival, whose credits include Up Pompeii, Carry On Cruising and his own sitcom, has died at the age of 81.

His TV career began performing satirical calypso songs on shows such as the groundbreaking That Was The Week That Was.

He was later given his own series, The Lance Percival Show and Lance at Large, a 1964 sitcom which also featured Bernard Bresslaw.

Percival also appeared in Sid James’s sitcom Citizen James and provided the voices of both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in the 1960s cartoon The Beatles.

In the 1971 film version of Up Pompeii, which followed on from Frankie Howerd's TV series, Percival starred as Bilius. He also appeared in the follow-ups Up the Chastity Belt and Up the Front, and appeared as guests on shows including Just A Minute and Countdown in the 1980s.

Outside of his professional work, Percival was involved in a fatal car crash in Kent in 1970, apparently while racing another driver at high speed in his Jaguar XJ. Percival almost lost the sight of one eye and agreed to pay substantial damages following the death of a third, uninvolved driver.

Percival, whose full name was John Lancelot Blades Percival, had been suffering a long illness, a death notice in The Times said. He died on January 6 and his funeral will be held on January 20 at Putney Vale Crematorium.

Here he is in a That Was The Week That Was sketch:

Published: 9 Jan 2015