Ian Lavender

Ian Lavender was an English actor and became best known for playing Private Frank Pike in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army. Born in Birmingham in 1946, he trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and made his first television appearance in 1968 in the Rediffusion play Half Hour Story: Flowers at my Feet. That year he was cast as the youngest member of the platoon in Dad's Army, a role he played until 1977 and which made him a household name. He appeared in the spinoff film Dad's Army (1971) and in the low farce Carry On Behind (1975). Later television work included EastEnders, where he played Derek Harkinson from 2001 to 2005 and from 2016 to 2017. He toured with The Rocky Horror Show as the Narrator, appeared in Sister Act the Musical, made a cameo in the 2016 Dad's Army film, and in 2015 received an Oldie of the Year Award. He died in 2024.