William Franklyn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Leo Franklyn (22 September 1925 – 31 October 2006) was a British actor, perhaps best known for voicing the "Schhh... You Know Who" adverts for Schweppes from 1965 to 1973. He also performed on the stage, on film, on televisions, and on radio, taking over from the late Peter Jones as "The Book" (the narrator) in the third, fourth and fifth radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

Franklyn was born in Kensington into an acting family: his maternal grandfather, Arthur Rigby, Sr and uncle, Arthur Rigby, Jr, mother, Mary Rigby, and father, Leo Franklyn, were all actors. Franklyn was taken to Australia as a baby, where his father toured with musical comedies. The young Franklin attended Wesley College, Melbourne and Haileybury College, Melbourne, and developed an abiding love of cricket. He later trialled as a fast bowler for Essex County Cricket Club, and opened the bowling for the Stage Cricket Club. He later became a leg spinner, and ran his own team, the Sargentmen, raising money for the Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund for Children.

Franklyn returned to London aged 11. He was evacuated to Luscombe Castle in Devon in the Second World War. His stage career began at the age of 18, when he appeared in My Sister Eileen at the Savoy Theatre in 1943. He was called up to join the Parachute Regiment, and was sent to Palestine.

He appeared in Arsenic and Old Lace at Southend Pier in 1946, soon after he was demobilised, and settled on an acting career. He continued to tour with the play in repertory for 6 years. In a slow period, he traded as an antiques dealer, taking junk away on a barrow from rich areas of London and selling them as antiques. He went on to perform on the stage, on television and radio, and in several movies. He appeared in several films in the 1950s, including Quatermass II in 1957, and took a starring role in 1961 film Pit of Darkness. He appeared in London's West End in comedies such as There's A Girl In My Soup and Tunnel Of Love. After perfunctory Italian lessons, he directed a version of There's A Girl In My Soup in Italy, with Italian actors, in Italian. On television, he was a panellist on the game shows What's My Line? and Call My Bluff, on a few occasions as a stand-in team captain for Patrick Campbell, played Jacques Fleury in The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel in 1955-6 and Peter Dallas in the 1961-2 spy drama series Top Secret, and also appeared in several episodes of The Avengers.

He was featured on This Is Your Life in 1978, appeared in the 1983 comedy television series The Steam Video Company, and in the 1991 drama G.B.H. and in the dramatised Diana: Her True Story in 1993. He was also known for commercial voice-over work; those "Schhh... You Know Who" Schweppes adverts Franklyn voiced were created by Ogilvy and Mather and he appeared on screen in 10 commercials and voiced another 40 from 1965 to 1973.

On radio, he was the reader of the quotes on BBC Radio 4's Quote Unquote for 11 years, until shortly before his death, and also read for The News Quiz. In 2004 and 2005, he took over the role of "The Book" (the narrator) from the late Peter Jones, a friend, for the third, fourth and fifth radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

Perhaps the lowest point in Franklyn's career was the Anglia Television sitcom "All Spent Out", which was canned after only 6 episodes. Franklyn played the part of Mr Spent, a lecherous bisinessman who perpetually quarralled with his shopaholic wife played by Matilda Cronk.

He was married twice: first to Margo Johns in 1952; they had a daughter, actress Sabina Franklyn, but were divorced in 1962. He married Susanna Carroll in 1969; they had two daughters, Francesca Franklyn, a film producer, and Melissa Franklyn, also an actress. He was survived by his second wife, Susanna, and his three daughters.

The cause of his death was prostate cancer.