‘Dad’s Army’ Star Dies: Clive Dunn Passes Away At 92

Dad’s Army star Clive Dunn, who spent nine years playing Lance-Corporal Jones in the popular World War Two sitcom, died on Tuesday. He was 92.

Dunn’s agent Peter Charlesworth confirmed the actor’s passing, saying the Dad’s Army star had died in Portugal where he had lived for almost three decades.

Dad’s Army, long considered a classic sitcom in Britain, aired in the 1960s and 1970s. It focused on a bumbling group of local volunteer members of the Home Guard.

In the show, Dunn’s Lance-Corporal Jones character became renowned for catchphrases such as “Don’t panic!” and “They don’t like it up ’em.”

Speaking to The Daily Record, fellow cast member Ian Lavender, who played young Private Pike, reflected on how Dunn was always happy to spend time with fans:

“A word he often used was ‘nice’. He wanted everyone to have a nice time. Out of all of us, he had the most time for the fans. Everyone at one time or another would be tempted to duck into a doorway or bury their head in a paper but not Clive. He always made time for fans.”

Tony Pritchard of the Dad’s Army ­Appreciation Society supported this view, describing how Clive regularly appeared at the society’s conventions and was “immensely popular”:

“I met him many times over the years. He was just a nice chap. He always had a joke to tell and was full of humour.”

Dunn was born in London in 1920 and enrolled in an acting academy after leaving school. He will remain most famous for his role in a World War Two sitcom, but the Dad’s Army star also had first-hand experience of the conflict; while serving for the British army in the Second World War, he ended up in prisoner-of-war and labor camps for four years.

According to the BBC, Clive Dunn is survived by his wife Priscilla Morgan and two daughters, Jessica and Polly.