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Thread: RIP Andrew Sachs - Manuel from Fawlty Towers

  1. #1
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    RIP Andrew Sachs - Manuel from Fawlty Towers

    Noooooo!! I speak English - I learn it from a book...

    https://www.google.com/amp/www.bbc.c...?client=safari

    Definitely didn't picture him as being 86!

  2. #2
    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    Wow, that's sad. Had no idea he was nine years older than Cleese. Very funny man -- saw an interview with him a number of years ago and was astonished that he didn't really have an accent! That's talent.

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    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    Member jake's Avatar
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    Remarkable guy and a bit of an avant-gardist - I remember he wrote and performed a play on BBC Radio Three which was completely wordless and consisted only of sound effects.

    edit - Holy shit - I just found a recording of it

    https://soundcloud.com/bronaanorb/an...hs-the-revenge

  5. #5
    R.I.P.

    Interesting how many people assumed he was actually Spanish, yet not only had he done tons of TV and some films for years before, he was actually born in Germany.
    I only clicked on it because I thought it was going to be something more interesting...

  6. #6
    The episode with the rat is a classic. I have all 12 episodes and that one gets me every time.

    RIP
    "The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"

  7. #7
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    Maybe this is the inappropriate response, but my sadness only lasted a second literally at which point I started thinking about specific episodes and events and started laughing. I have to revisit that show again. It's been a while.
    "The woods would be very silent if the only birds that sang were those who sang best..." - Henry David Thoreau

  8. #8
    First learned about Fawlty Towers when we were on a trip to England back in the early 80's and saw an episode (Waldof Salad) laughed so hard. When the TV series was available on VHS it was one of the first we bought.

  9. #9
    Insect Overlord Progatron's Avatar
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    Sorry to see him go, and sad to read his wife (who looked after him with his dementia condition) say that her "heart broke every day".

    Oddly enough, Prunella Scales (Sybill Fawlty) also has a form of dementia now. As does Cleese's Python mate Terry Jones. Sad...

    I've loved Fawlty Towers my whole life, and I've still never tired of it. Probably watch them all a couple of times a year on average.

    RIP Manuel! Breakfast is finished! Bye bye, please! Bye bye!
    Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.

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  10. #10
    The radio has been full of clips all day, you can't help but laugh in spite of the sadness.

    Manuel was a brilliantly imagined role, and one that he had input into beyond the vision of Cleese and Booth. John Cleese said earlier that acting against Andrew Sachs was like playing tennis with someone of an equal skill level, it just brought the best out of you and ensured you had to raise your game time after time. Apparently he originally was sceptical that he could pull off the Spanish accent and asked if he could do it as a German, but Cleese said no way, as they would never be that disorganised!

    Isn't it funny that with such a long and distinguished career, he will always be remembered for that role, that comedy moustache and those live forever catch phrases, and yet it was only 6 hours of TV in total.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Sunlight Caller View Post
    Isn't it funny that with such a long and distinguished career, he will always be remembered for that role, that comedy moustache and those live forever catch phrases, and yet it was only 6 hours of TV in total.
    That was my first thought scanning this thread too. It's no surprise Fawlty was the main thing so many of us remember, but also a bit unfair.

    The only other thing I actually know (off the top of my head) is his voice work for a handful of Doctor Who audio plays. I didn't recognize him at all at first, but he was always impressive.

  12. #12
    Fawlty Towers is a very good example of ensemble comedy acting at its best. It's gratifying to see writers recognise the comic potential in their actors and give them great lines and plenty to do, rather than hog all the best lines for themselves.

    Sachs became a veritable institution because of this role and rightly so.

    My favourite bit of business would be when he is alone in reception and bending down behind the counter, and he is practising his English. Basil has left a moose head on the counter to mount on the wall, and at that moment the Major walks past...the rest, of course, is history...
    I only clicked on it because I thought it was going to be something more interesting...

  13. #13
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    I know nothing... I am from Barcelona!


  14. #14
    All Things Must Pass spellbound's Avatar
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    I got a lot of laughs from that ingenious character performance. Rest in peace, Andrew.
    We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
    It won't be visible through the air
    And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973

  15. #15
    Wow, I just showed my girlfriend an episode a few days ago. She had never seen the show and we were laughing hysterically. It was the one with the dead body and burnt sausages. He was brilliant.

  16. #16
    Member Jerjo's Avatar
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    "He not rat - he HAMSTER!"

    What a great character, played to perfection. RIP Mr Sachs.
    I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart

  17. #17
    Member rapidfirerob's Avatar
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    I watched the Mrs. Richards episode on YouTube last night. It was an amazing show. Timeless. Sachs killed on that show.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  18. #18
    Progdog ThomasKDye's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spiral View Post
    The only other thing I actually know (off the top of my head) is his voice work for a handful of Doctor Who audio plays. I didn't recognize him at all at first, but he was always impressive.
    He also had brief walk-on roles in "The Revenge of the Pink Panther" (as Hercule Poirot) and as a French peasant in "History of the World Part 1" ("She is right! She is right! We all talk like Maurice Chevalier! Ho ho ho!")
    "Arf." -- Frank Zappa, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (live version)

  19. #19
    Progdog ThomasKDye's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rapidfirerob View Post
    I watched the Mrs. Richards episode on YouTube last night. It was an amazing show. Timeless. Sachs killed on that show.
    FAWLTY: "You know the horse?"
    MANUEL: "Eh... Dragonfly or Nitwit?"
    FAWLTY: "Dragonfly! There isn't a HORSE called Nitwit! YOU'RE the nitwit!"
    MANUEL: "What is 'witnit'?"
    FAWLTY: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Oh, I could spend the rest of my life having this conversation. Please, please try to understand before one of us DIES."

    Totally classic.
    "Arf." -- Frank Zappa, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (live version)

  20. #20
    Insect Overlord Progatron's Avatar
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    Watched him a few years ago in a nice little film called Quartet, with a major all-star British cast.

    I'll be watching some more Fawlty today. Perhaps The Builders episode:

    Manuel: Good Morning!
    Fawlty: What did you say?
    Manuel: I said Good Morning!
    Fawlty: (to person on phone) : One moment please.
    Fawlty: Well, what are you going to do now then?
    Manuel: Que?
    Fawlty: WHAT. YOU. DO. NOW!
    Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.

    *** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***

  21. #21
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    35+ years watching rhe same dozen episodes and still a classic with much thanks to Andrew Sachs. Perfection in comedic timing and craftsmenship in writing. Peerless.

  22. #22
    Estimated Prophet notallwhowander's Avatar
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    Yeah. Everyone on Towers had impeccable comic timing. Also, you know you are watching a classic sitcom when, halfway through the episode, you start laughing when a character just enters the scene, before any gags are executed. You just know that things will explode with hilarity: always true with Manuel.

    R.I.P.
    Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world.

  23. #23
    Progdog ThomasKDye's Avatar
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    This is funny. I re-watched "Basil the Rat," and I now know the song Manuel is singing in his room... it's "She"! And I only know that because I just got Jeff Lynne's "Long Wave" album. Thanks, Jeff!
    "Arf." -- Frank Zappa, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (live version)

  24. #24
    Member progholio's Avatar
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    "Don't mind him he's from Barcelona"

    RIP

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rogue Mail View Post
    My favourite bit of business would be when he is alone in reception and bending down behind the counter, and he is practising his English. Basil has left a moose head on the counter to mount on the wall, and at that moment the Major walks past...the rest, of course, is history...
    "HHHalllO!

    "Oh, oh, oh, h-h-h-hello there."

    "HHHow are YOU?

    "Veddy fine, veddy fine."

    "AS you can see, I speak.... HHHINGLISH!"

    "So you do, old man, so you do"

    "I have laearnt it frrrrrom a BOOOK!"

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