David Lodge

He met Peter Sellers in the last days of the war when they were both posted to Gloucester. He later recounted that he was poking life into an ancient stove when he heard Sellers arguing fiercely at the far end of the hut with an airman "considerably larger than himself". Lodge removed the red-hot poker from the fire, walked down the hut and told the airman to "leave off or come outside with me". It ended the argument and began a lifelong friendship. "Pete just looked at me with those lovely sad eyes of his", Lodge told Sellers's biographer Peter Evans, "and something just happened. I was a couple of years older than him, no more, but I became his big brother, father confessor, favourite uncle, the lot. Pete was the kind of a bloke who always needed somebody there. There always had to be somebody in his life he could telephone at three o'clock in the morning and know they'll be a friendly voice." Lodge later staunchly defended Sellers when Sellers' son Michael wrote a scathing memoir. Lodge was also best man at Sellers' wedding to Swedish actress Britt Ekland in 1964. He appeared in a number of Sellers' films; his appearances in After the Fox (1966) (After the Fox) and Hoffman (1970), were done as a favour to Sellers. (From Lodge's obituary, The Independent, Friday, 24 October 2003).

In 1986, Lodge wrote an autobiography, ''Up the Ladder to Obscurity''.

He was an actor, known for The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), The League of Gentlemen (1960) and The Cockleshell Heroes (1955). He was married to Marilyn Garcia.

The role of the Police Inspector in "Carry On Girls" (1973) was offered to Bill Maynard but although he'd asked his agent to accept any film offers he actually thought most of the Carry on films were awful. Fortunately a television assignment came up which clashed with the film so the offered role went to David.

Was best man at Peter Sellers' wedding to Britt Ekland in 1964.

For many years he lived as a bachelor with his parents and a budgerigar in Winchmore Hill, north London. However, in June 1963, while working in Yugoslavia on the Viking epic The Long Ships (1964) he surprised everyone. After a whirlwind 24-hour courtship, he proposed to a French journalist and ex-model, and they married soon afterwards.

He was originally cast as a detective in Never Let Go (1960) but after one day's filming he was told the part had been recast. Two days later he was cast in the role of Cliff.

First film part was in Orders Are Orders (1954), but this was cut before release.

David Lodge was born on August 19, 1921 in Strood, Kent, England as David William Frederick Lodge.