George Layton (born George Michael William Rafael Löwy; 2 March 1942) is a British actor, director, and television comedy writer best known for three television roles: junior doctor Paul Collier in the comedy series Doctor in the House and its sequels Doctor at Large, Doctor in Charge, and Doctor at the Top; bombardier 'Solly' Solomons in the first two series of It Ain't Half Hot Mum; and Des the mechanic in early episodes of Minder. His TV writing credits include several "Doctor" series episodes as well as some in Robin's Nest, Don't Wait Up, and Executive Stress.
Contents
Early life
Layton was born George Michael William Rafael Löwy in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England to Fritz and Edith Löwy (née Hecht), the second of three children (an older brother, Peter and a younger sister, Viv). Both of Layton's parents were Austrian Jews who fled their native Vienna to England just before the outbreak of the Second World War. His grandfather, Victor Hecht, fled to England with his wife and sent the letter to George's parents that led them to moving to the UK. When they arrived, they could not speak English, and worked as a butler and maid.
The family moved to Surrey before settling in Bradford where Layton was born in Bradford Royal Infirmary. They lived in a house in Manningham, Bradford, where they shared a house with another family of refugees Layton's father had met (in total four adults and six children). Layton attended Lilly Croft Primary School in 1947 and played Puck in a school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which got him into acting. He was educated at Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School in Bradford. During his teenage years, he earned seven shillings and a sixpence every Saturday delivering groceries on a bike.
In January 1957 Layton and his best friend Roger Selby were at Selby's aunt and uncle's house in Edinburgh during the summer holidays; they went to different schools and Layton's school's holidays ended early, so he called in sick so he could stay in Scotland, and with Selby climbed the Arthur's Seat mountainous hill, by the time they got up to the top it was dark so they took a shortcut which led them to the edge of a cliff overhanging a 60-foot drop; unable to go up or down they yelled for help until the police came and attempted to rescue them however they also got stuck. After the fire brigade were called, they were successfully brought back down. According to Selby, the incident was "splashed all over the national press" including Bradford's Telegraph & Argus, which got Layton in trouble as the school's headmaster, believing he was sick, had read the paper.
Career
In an interview for Talking Pictures TV in April 2020, he mentioned his work on the BBC's Children's Hour at the former BBC Studios at Piccadilly, Manchester, where he came under the influence and guidance of Trevor Hill, Violet Carson and Doris Gamble. He then studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, studying in the same class as Mike Leigh, Martin Jarvis and Ian McShane, where he won the Emile Littler award for most promising actor and The Denys Blakelock Award for an outstanding performance in a minor role. He graduated in 1962. After graduating, he joined Belgrade Theatre. Layton auditioned for the role of Terry Collier in The Likely Lads, however the producers deemed that he was not a household name and the role was given to James Bolam.
He went on to leading parts at Coventry and Nottingham and in 1963 appeared on Broadway in Chips with Everything, the production lasted for six months but according to Layton the assassination of John F. Kennedy forced the show to be stopped. Layton's big break came in 1969 with the show Doctor in the House, in which he played Paul Collier. He would later reprise this role many times for other Doctor-related series' such as the 1971 show Doctor at Large, the 1972—73 show Doctor in Charge and the 1991 sitcom Doctor at the Top. His other television writing credits during this time with Jonathan Lynn include episodes of On the Buses, Nearest and Dearest, Romany Jones and My Name Is Harry Worth. Layton wrote for the first series of Doctor at Large under the pseudonym "Oliver Fry". and contributed scripts under his own name to subsequent series in the "Doctor" franchise. Layton was part of the team that wrote most of the episodes of series 4-6 of Robin's Nest and was the creator and primary writer of Don't Wait Up (1983–90) and Executive Stress (1986–88) respectively.
Layton was cast as Bombardier "Solly" Solomons in It Ain't Half Hot Mum. He appeared in sixteen episodes of the first two series before he left the show after the second series when he felt that his character was not developing enough, which led to show co-creator David Croft telling him "if you're not happy, you can leave". Solomons was written out of the show and in the first episode of the third series it was mentioned that he was demobbed. Despite leaving, Layton remained friends with Croft and Jimmy Perry. Layton also appeared in an Australian production called Funny Peculiar in 1977 and later took over the role of Fagin from Roy Hudd in 1979 in the first London revival of Oliver! at the Albery Theatre. He also appeared in two episodes of The Sweeney and made a few early appearances as himself on the light entertainment BBC1 consumer show That's Life!.
Personal life
Layton lives in north London with his second wife, Moya Smylie, who he met in 1974 and married three years later. He married his first wife, Vera Hodges, in 1968 but they later divorced. He has four children, two with Vera and two with Moya. From his first marriage, he has Tristan, who works for charity and Claudie, who is a producer. From his second marriage, he has Danny, a former musical director for Endemol and Hannah, a comedy agent.
Layton's older brother Peter is an artist in studio glass.
Layton is a supporter of Bradford City.
Filmography
Selected theatre
As actor:
Billy Liar as Geoffrey Fisher (King's Head, Islington)
The Caucasian Chalk Circle as Lavrenti (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry)
Chicago as Amos Hart (Adelphi Theatre, London)
Chips With Everything as First Corporal (Royal Court and Broadway)
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as Ponty (New Theatre, Bromley)
More Lies About Jerzy as Jerzy Kosinski (New End Theatre, Hampstead)
The Odd Couple as Felix (Theatre Royal, Windsor)
Oliver! as Fagin Albery Theatre 1978/9 then at the(London Palladium)
Twelfth Night as Feste (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry)
As director:
Barefoot in the Park (Cambridge Theatre Company)
Dangerous Corner (Cambridge Theatre Company)
Aladdin (Theatre Royal, Bath)
Dick Whittington (Shaw Theatre)
