Sitcom writer dies at 88

Veteran comedy scriptwriter Dick Sharples has died at the age of 88.

His most successful series was In Loving Memory, set in an undertakers in the 1930s as the business was moving from horse-drawn hearses to cars. The sitcom, pictured, ran for five series from 1979 and starred Thora Hird and Christopher Beeny.

In 1981, Sharples penned another Thora Hird comedy vehicle called Hallelujah! Set in a branch of the Salvation Army, it ran for two years.

And in 1986 he created Farrington of the FO, starring Angela Thorne as a newly appointed British consul in 'one of the armpits of Latin America', and Joan Sims as her friend.

Sharples was one of the founders of the Writer's Guild Of Great Britain after his experiences with ITV executives in the broadcaster's early days.

When he submitted his first script, two months before the channel went on air in 1955, he was told he would receive no fee as there would be no money left after paying actors and production costs. When he asked why the actors were being paid, he was told: 'Because the bastards have a union.'

On the Writer's Guild website, the group's chair Gail Renard says: 'Dick Sharples's career was the history of British television. He contributed to series such as The Saint, Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars, and dozens of others. Dick went on to create his classic situation comedies Hallelujah! and In Loving Memory, both for his favourite actress and muse, Thora Hird.

'Earlier in his career, Dick wrote on A Little Bit Of Wisdom. Norman Wisdom was renowned for demanding to be in every scene. Dick told me he once wrote a third of a page in which Wisdom didn't feature. Dick went to the loo and upon his return saw a note from his star scribbled in the margin of his script: 'Where's Norman?'

'Dick was on the WGGB Television Committee and a negotiator for many years. His company guaranteed good companionship and laughter. It was a privilege to know him.'

His funeral will take place at 11.30am on Thursday at Golders Green Crematorium, London NW11 7NL. Donations can be made in lieu of flowers to the Writers' Guild Welfare Fund.

• Al Molinaro who played Al Delvecchio, the owner of Arnold's Drive-In, on Happy Days, has died in Wisconsin at the age of 96. He previously had a regular role on The Odd Couple sitcom.

Published: 3 Nov 2015