I have a very clear memory of being on the Goodison Road
terracing in the 1962-63 Championship Winning Season as the crowd recognised a
celebrity sat in the directors’ box. Immediately the air was filled with cries
of “get it down in the book” as the famous face was that of actor
Leonard Williams who played the part of Sergeant Percy Twentyman in the new hit
TV series Z-Cars. He was frequently heard to admonish his sidekick P.C.Sweet
with these words which quickly became a catchphrase. He would have enjoyed the
game as Everton ran out 5-0 winners. Sadly, he died the following Thursday,
November 15th, suffering a heart attack at his London flat. He was
aged just 48.
The nationwide recognition which came Williams’ way with Z-Cars
illustrated how the medium of TV was dominating public life and its capacity to
bring instant fame. Like many such actors his overnight fame had been years in
the making.
Before Z-Cars his face was not so instantly
recognisable but he had enjoyed a very full career with hundreds of TV and
radio appearances plus parts in a number of prominent film comedies of
the 1950’s. His screen roles included two Arthur Askey films (Ramsbottom Rides Again and The Love Match), the 1950
Ealing film The Magnet which was filmed on Merseyside, and Orders Are Orders (which was Tony Hancock’s first film appearance). He was a regular in
the radio comedy series The
Clitheroe Kid, playing characters
Theododore Craythorpe and Harry Whittle. On TV he frequently appeared with
comedian Harry Worth.
His character on Z-Cars was “loved by millions” and it seems that off screen he was also a
popular and amiable man. Brian Blessed recalled him as the joker of the cast
who kept everyone else amused. At the time of Williams’ death Ken Dodd,
expressing his personal sadness, said “We both started at the same time. He helped me and, I hope, I was able
to help him. He had a wonderful sense of humour and was a very good person to
work with”.
At the time of his
death Leonard Williams lived at 54 Baycliff Road L12. In the 1940’s he and his
wife Imelda had lived at 80 Snaefell Avenue, moving later to a ‘prefab’ on the
edge of Shiel Park, 9 Penally Way L6 (now demolished).
