Rugby actor pays tribute to his 'Allo 'Allo! colleague Gorden Kaye

'Allo 'Allo! was a BBC comedy series which spawned a string of extraordinary catchphrases, with Rugby actor Arthur Bostrom among its stars.
MHDE-29-08-11 FEAST AUG71 (5) The Buckby Feast Wendy Roberts ( with her winning Buckby Pudding )  & Arthur Bostrom ( Crabtree - Allo Allo ) NNL-170124-114220001MHDE-29-08-11 FEAST AUG71 (5) The Buckby Feast Wendy Roberts ( with her winning Buckby Pudding )  & Arthur Bostrom ( Crabtree - Allo Allo ) NNL-170124-114220001
MHDE-29-08-11 FEAST AUG71 (5) The Buckby Feast Wendy Roberts ( with her winning Buckby Pudding ) & Arthur Bostrom ( Crabtree - Allo Allo ) NNL-170124-114220001

At the heart of its silliness was the cafe run by Rene, played by actor Gorden Kaye, who died on Monday.

And Mr Bostrom, who was Officer Crabtree, the British spy posing as a French police officer with a poor grasp of French pronunciation, was among those paying tribute.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He told the Advertiser: “I was very sorry to hear the news of Gorden Kaye’s death.

“We worked closely together on ’Allo ’Allo! for many years, on television and on stage. Gorden and the other members of the cast were a very important part of my life for a long time.

“He brought so much energy to the part of Rene and, like me, was something of a perfectionist when it came to comedy.

“It takes more than one person to make a comedy scene or a laugh line work, and he always gave me a great ‘feed’ or ‘cue’ for my funny lines, but then was able to create more comedy by just a look or facial reaction to what I, or another character had said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“As well as being a very clever and funny comedy actor, he was also often very witty off-stage. I know that he will be missed.”

Mr Bostrom is just starting rehearsals for the UK tour of Ray Cooney’s comedy Out of Order, including a stop at Birmingham.

Related topics: