John Le Mesurier (1912–83) was an English actor perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC situation comedy Dad's Army between 1968 and 1977. He debuted on stage in 1934, and became one of television's pioneering actors when he appeared in The Marvellous History of St Bernard in 1938. From there, Le Mesurier had a prolific film career and appeared in over 120 films across a range of genres, normally in smaller supporting parts in comedies; his roles often portrayed figures of authority such as army officers, policemen and judges. He took a relaxed approach to acting and described himself as a "jobbing actor", a term he used for the title of his autobiography. On one of the few occasions he played the lead role in his career, he received a British Academy of Film and Television Arts "Best Television Actor" award for his performance in the Dennis Potter television play Traitor. He later said that his parts he played were those of "a decent chap all at sea in a chaotic world not of his own making". After his death, critics reflected that for an actor who normally took minor roles, the viewing public were "enormously fond of him".

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Le_Mesurier

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1831:

The Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England, collapsed, reportedly owing to a mechanical resonance induced by troops marching over the bridge in step. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broughton_Suspension_Bridge

1910:

The SMS Zrínyi, one of the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, was launched. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Zr%C3%ADnyi

1961:

Aboard Vostok 3KA-3, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to enter outer space, completing one orbit in a time of 108 minutes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin

1968:

Six thousand sheep were killed on ranches near Dugway Proving Ground in Utah as a result of the U.S. Army spraying a nerve agent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugway_sheep_incident

2007:

The canteen of the Council of Representatives of Iraq building was attacked by a suicide bomber, killing one Member of Parliament and wounding 23 other people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Iraqi_Parliament_bombing

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

ungulate: Having hooves. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ungulate

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The basic drive behind real philosophy is curiosity about the world, not interest in the writings of philosophers. Each of us emerges from the preconsciousness of babyhood and simply finds himself here, in it, in the world. That experience alone astonishes some people. What is all this — what is the world? And what are we? From the beginning of humanity some have been under a compulsion to ask these questions, and have felt a craving for the answers. This is what is really meant by any such phrase as "mankind's need for metaphysics."   --Bryan Magee https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bryan_Magee