SHOT IN THE DARK
French actor Andre Maranne has died at the age of 95. A familiar face on UK TV back in the day, he was best known for his role as Francois, Herbert Lom’s unflappable assistant, in The Pink Panther films. Other roles included Fawlty Towers, All Creatures Great and Man, and a small role as a SPECTRE agent in Thunderball. He played another deputy, the fussy but loyal Benoit, in Doctor Who global warming predicting tale The Moonbase, alongside Patrick Troughton and the Cybermen. In Yes Minister, he played an EU commissioner who was fond of the euro-sausage, so maybe Boris Johnson turns out to have been a huge Andre Maranne fan all this time. Despite long standing internet rumours he had died in 1992, Maranne continued to reply to fan mail from the house he’d lived in for 50 years until his 90s. He was a pick for two teams: I Like to Cease Beside the Seaside, and Moribold Krakatoa’s Playhour.
Andre Maranne
14 May 1926 – 12 April 2021
2 teams