JOHN INMANFew actors enjoyed such a fun-filled career as John Inman, who died aged 71 on 8 March, 2007.He made his name on television, but he also performed in theatre and was a much-loved pantomime dame.Mr Inman delighted audiences in the 1970s show, Are You Being Served? when he played Mr Humphries, a camp sales assistant in an old-fashioned department store.He worked alongside Wendy Richard, who went on to play Pauline Fowler in EastEnders, as well as Molly Sugden, Frank Thornton and Trevor Bannister.His catchphrase ‘I’m free’ was loved by viewers and contributes to him winning the BBC's TV Personality of the Year award in 1976.John Inman was born Frederick John Inman on 28 June, 1935, in Preston, Lancashire.At the age of 13, he made his acting debut at the South Pier in Blackpool, and from there went on to make hundreds of stage and screen appearances.His West End debut came when he was chosen for the musical Ann Veronica, at the Cambridge Theatre – followed by a stint at Lord Fancour Babberley in Charley’s Aunt at the Adelphi Theatre.During his long career, he also performed in more than 40 pantomimes and was one of the UK’s best-loved panto dames.In the 1970s he was also voted funniest man on television by TV Times readers.Are You Being Served? attracted up to 22 million viewers and ran from 1972 to 1985. Mr Inman stayed for its entire TV run.He also appeared in ITV's Odd Man Out as Neville Sutcliffe, the owner of a Blackpool fish and chip shop who inherited his father's factory, but the show only ran for seven episodes in 1977.He next starred alongside Rula Lenska as a male secretary in Take A Letter, Mr Jones for six episodes in 1981.He returned to the BBC for Revolver, a 2004 sketch show in which he played an antiques-shop owner who got carried away when explaining the history of objects for sale.At the end of that year Mr Inman, who suffered from hepatitis A – an infection usually caused by eating contaminated food, cancelled the opening of a London pantomime because of the disease.In December 2005, he and his partner of 35 years, Ron Lynch, took part in a civil partnership ceremony at London 's Westminster Register Office.Mr Inman's Are You Being Served? co-star Wendy Richard, said after his death: “John was one of the wittiest and most inventive actors I've ever worked with.“He was a brilliant, brilliant pantomime dame and he was a very good all-round actor, really. He was a true professional.”
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