John Wells

John Wells

Wells started in cabaret at Oxford and began his television career as a writer on That Was The Week That Was, the 1960s weekly satire show that launched the careers of David Frost and Millicent Martin, among others, and also appeared in the television programme Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life, as well as in The Secret Policeman's Other Ball. Besides making cameo appearances in films such as Casino Royale (1967) and Rentadick (1972), television dramas like Casanova (1987), an episode of Lovejoy (1991) and comedy shows like Yes Minister, he also wrote television scripts and screenplays, such as Princess Caraboo (1994). In 1971, with John Fortune, he published the comedy classic A Melon for Ecstasy, about a man who consummates his love affair with a tree. Wells played the headmaster of Thursgood's Preparatory School in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979). Wells was one of the original contributors to the satirical magazine Private Eye and contributed to Mrs Wilson's Diary, the long-running spoof journal of the wife of Prime Minister Harold Wilson. From 1979 he repeated that success with Dear Bill, a series of letters (co-written with Richard Ingrams) supposedly sent by Denis Thatcher, husband of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, to Bill Deedes. Wells developed the feature into a stage farce, Anyone for Denis?, first performed in 1981, in which he played Denis Thatcher. Co-starring Angela Thorne as Mrs. Thatcher, the play was a major West End hit, toured the UK and was adapted for television.He co-wrote Alice in Wonderland, a musical adaptation of Lewis Carrol’s novel with Carl Davis, which debuted at The Lyric Theatre in the West End, London.[3] Wells also played Denis Thatcher in the Bond movie For Your Eyes Only (1981). In 1991, he and Thorne again played the Thatchers in Dunrulin, a one-off TV sitcom-like satirical look at the couple in retirement.[4] He also voiced Arnold the Elephant, Edward the Monkey and Bert in the children's TV series Charlie Chalk. In 1988, Leonard Bernstein started working on a new version of his much-revised operetta Candide. The author of the original book, Hugh Wheeler, had died, and John Wells was asked to help revise the text.[5] The first production of this "final version", by Scottish Opera, was followed by a "final revised version" in 1989, performances of which have been released on CD and DVD. An insert in the DVD ("Bernstein and Voltaire"), written by Wells, explained what Bernstein had wanted in this final revised version. Wells authored Rude Words in 1991, a history of the London Library, for the institution's 150th anniversary. In 1997, Wells appeared in the BBC situation comedy Chalk as ineffectual headmaster Richard Nixon.[6] His fellow cast members do not recall him being ill on set, but he was too unwell to participate in the second series.[7] Wells' last book, House of Lords, was a best-seller and published a year before his death in 1998. The book is a historical and humorous study of the British peerage system.

  • Npe: John Wells
  • Cov Nrov: 1.691
  • Paub Txog: Acting
  • Hnub yug: 1936-11-17
  • Qhov chaw yug: Ashford, Kent, UK
  • Homepage:
  • Kuj Paub Li:
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John Wells Movies

  • 1981
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    For Your Eyes Only

    For Your Eyes Only

    6.526 1981 HD

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  • 1982
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    Anyone for Denis

    Anyone for Denis

    1 1982 HD

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  • 1985
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    Revolution

    Revolution

    5.3 1985 HD

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  • 1985
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    Dutch Girls

    Dutch Girls

    4.4 1985 HD

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  • 1976
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    Let's Sleep On it

    Let's Sleep On it

    1 1976 HD

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  • 1967
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    The Bobo

    The Bobo

    6 1967 HD

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  • 1972
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    Rentadick

    Rentadick

    4.4 1972 HD

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  • 1968
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    30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia!

    30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia!

    4.2 1968 HD

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  • 1982
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    The Secret Policeman's Other Ball

    The Secret Policeman's Other Ball

    6 1982 HD

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  • 1988
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    Consuming Passions

    Consuming Passions

    8 1988 HD

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  • 1965
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    The Flying Alberts (Brucey Lacey edit)

    The Flying Alberts (Brucey Lacey edit)

    1 1965 HD

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  • 1984
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    Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

    Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

    6.339 1984 HD

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  • 1967
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    Casino Royale

    Casino Royale

    5.3 1967 HD

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  • 1970
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    Every Home Should Have One

    Every Home Should Have One

    4.6 1970 HD

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  • 1978
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    The Light Princess

    The Light Princess

    7 1978 HD

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  • 1976
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    Stones

    Stones

    1 1976 HD

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  • 1985
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    Love's Labour's Lost

    Love's Labour's Lost

    7 1985 HD

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  • 1994
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    Princess Caraboo

    Princess Caraboo

    5.4 1994 HD

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  • 1980
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    The Mystery of the Disappearing Schoolgirls

    The Mystery of the Disappearing Schoolgirls

    1 1980 HD

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  • 1973
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    The Cobblers of Umbridge

    The Cobblers of Umbridge

    1 1973 HD

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  • 1968
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    30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia!

    30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia!

    4.2 1968 HD

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  • 1982
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    Anyone for Denis

    Anyone for Denis

    1 1982 HD

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  • 1994
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    Princess Caraboo

    Princess Caraboo

    5.4 1994 HD

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  • 1972
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    Rentadick

    Rentadick

    4.4 1972 HD

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  • 1969
    imgS5 E6

    Q...

    Q...

    7.2 1969 HD

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  • 1988
    imgS1 E13

    Charlie Chalk

    Charlie Chalk

    5.6 1988 HD

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  • 1997
    imgS2 E6

    Chalk

    Chalk

    6.8 1997 HD

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  • 1975
    imgS7 E6

    Rumpole of the Bailey

    Rumpole of the Bailey

    7.063 1975 HD

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  • 1992
    imgS6 E3

    Absolutely Fabulous

    Absolutely Fabulous

    7.5 1992 HD

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  • 1983
    imgS3 E6

    The Irish R.M.

    The Irish R.M.

    5.2 1983 HD

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  • 1986
    imgS6 E10

    Lovejoy

    Lovejoy

    7.3 1986 HD

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  • 1986
    imgS2 E8

    Yes, Prime Minister

    Yes, Prime Minister

    8.4 1986 HD

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  • 1978
    imgS1 E37

    BBC Television Shakespeare

    BBC Television Shakespeare

    5.2 1978 HD

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  • 1987
    imgS2 E7

    Rude Health

    Rude Health

    1 1987 HD

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  • 1979
    imgS1 E7

    Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

    Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

    7.523 1979 HD

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  • 2023
    imgS1 E4

    100 Years of Warner Bros.

    100 Years of Warner Bros.

    7.7 2023 HD

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  • 1982
    imgS5 E6

    The Kenny Everett Television Show

    The Kenny Everett Television Show

    7 1982 HD

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  • 1974
    imgS2 E1

    The End Of The Pier Show

    The End Of The Pier Show

    1 1974 HD

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  • 1990
    imgS68 E10

    Have I Got News for You

    Have I Got News for You

    7.1 1990 HD

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  • 1982
    imgS12 E61

    Wogan

    Wogan

    4.5 1982 HD

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  • 1982
    imgS1 E1

    Anyone for Denis?

    Anyone for Denis?

    1 1982 HD

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  • 1987
    imgS1 E6

    Filthy Rich & Catflap

    Filthy Rich & Catflap

    6.6 1987 HD

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