Hitler, Fawlty Towers… and a very scandalous phone call
There were only 12 episodes over two series, but 35 years on, Fawlty Towers remains a comedy classic. And what would this hotel, so prone to mishaps, and which became a byword for shoddy service and farcical management, have been without the ever-faithful Manuel, its scatterbrained Spanish waiter?
The role transformed Andrew Sachs, now 83, into a much-loved comedy icon. But in 2008, he was thrust back into the spotlight, and for all the wrong reasons.
The episode, dubbed Sachsgate, saw radio presenters Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand leave a number of lewd and abusive messages on the actor’s answer phone. The prank caused a national furore, even then – Prime Minister Gordon Brown criticised the presenters.
So how does Sachs feel about it five years on? ‘My wife was much more affected by it. In a way, I couldn’t be bothered,’ he explains.
Andrew’s father, Hans Sachs and his mother, Katarina…
‘I was upset about it for my wife’s sake. It was pretty awful, but I don’t think about them [Ross and Brand]. They’re not in my life.
‘They still go on about it sometimes, it’s not talent. Yet they are often on television and people laugh at their rude and selfish stuff.
‘I’m trying to find someone who doesn’t laugh at them. I know I’m one.’
Despite having just come out of hospital following an operation, Sachs is on fine form, talking animatedly about his time as the well-meaning Manuel (yes, he does do the voice for me) and reflecting on his childhood in Nazi Germany.
He was born Andreas Siegfried Sachs in Berlin in 1930. His father was Jewish, so as Hitler’s power grew, the family was forced to flee the country, escaping to England in 1938 as one of approximately 40,000 Austrian and German Jews who sought refuge in Britain.
‘We had to leave because Hitler had just appeared on the scene, which wasn’t very beautiful,’ he says in a triumph of an understatement.
‘I remember learning about Hitler at school. I just took it in my stride, I wasn’t upset or anything, I just thought we had to do what our teacher told us; that Hitler was doing wonderful things, that the future was going to be great. I took to him a bit. But I slowly grew up.
Andrew’s first week at school aged 6, During National Service, With dog Robbie and wife Melody
But his father had a different point 0f view. ‘My father kept telling me to be careful of thinking that everything is going to be great. I had an aunt who said it would only last three days, or three weeks, that’s all. She thought he [Hitler] was an idiot. So there were mixed feelings about it.’
He has now published his memoirs, I Know Nothing! (after Manuel’s Fawlty Towers catchphrase), and says that writing has long been a family trait. ‘I had always wanted to write because I had relatives [who did]. My mother’s father was a very popular novelist in Austria, in the Tyrol. Some of that must have rubbed off.’
But he is the first to admit that his first forays into the written word were not up to much.
‘When I first started writing, I wrote plays for radio and so on, which I loved doing, but they were terrible, absolute rubbish. Some of them were recorded for the BBC and I very gradually got better until I was writing plays that were really much more successful.’
He was rather more confident about the acting game. ‘I thought I’ll be in Hollywood in three weeks,’ he laughs. ‘If you ever meet someone from Hollywood, give them my phone number, won’t you? I’ve got the body for it, although you know I’m not telling the truth now… I wish I did have the body for it.’
Of course, it’s hard for any actor to escape a character as popular and widely known as Manuel. ‘Generally speaking, it’s done so well, I still get fan mail,’ he says. ‘It was a beautiful, brilliant script by John Cleese and Connie Booth [who was John Cleese’s wife at the time and plays waitress and general helper Polly Sherman]. I’m very lucky I got to be a part of it.’
Manuel suffered daily at the hands of the relentlessly rude Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese (who is still firm friends with Sachs), usually because of some silly blunder. But Sachs confesses that he also had a few on-set mishaps of his own.
With Melody and their grandchildren
In one episode, Fawlty tries to explain to his guests the difference between the fire and burglar alarms, prompting Manuel accidentally to set fire to his white waiter’s jacket. Trouble is, Sachs actually managed to burn himself.
‘I was shown what to wear and told that it would be warm but not hot, nothing dangerous. But during the dress rehearsal, the gloves I was wearing seemed to get a little bit warmer than I thought they might.
‘It got more and more painful until I had to stop and get out of the kitchen. It all had to stop. John Cleese got so angry when he found out that the jacket I was wearing was boiling hot. When I took it off, my right arm was red and burnt. The doctor said I’d have the scars for life – but he was wrong, thank God.’
How did he cope with the relentless ribbing from John Cleese’s Basil Fawlty? ‘He was evil to me but because it was John I was just so happy to work with him and be in it and admire the talent. I just pretended to be angry.
‘I did complain to him once, though. But he just said, “What’s the matter with you Andrew? It’s not a long run in the West End, you’re doing it once in your whole life. Just pull yourself together.” Then he gave me another Babycham and a big kiss – and our loving relationship went on.’
It is shame that such a successful comedy ran for only 12 episodes, but John Cleese and Connie Booth did have their reasons. ‘They did consider doing more,’ says Sachs, ‘but they decided not to because John was parting from Connie. It would have been quite nice. Maybe they thought they couldn’t do it a third time.’
The last episode featured Andrew’s wife Melody (who played Mrs Taylor) and, of course, Basil the ‘hamster’ – or rather rat, as we discover. It turns out that Manuel has been keeping the rat as a pet, which causes havoc when it runs amok during a Health and Safety inspection. Audiences still love the show’s swansong, but emotions must have run high on set.
With John Cleese
‘We were pleased we’d done it, and if we’d done it well we were even more pleased. But we did hope there would be a third series. Sadly, that didn’t happen.’
Throughout our conversation, it’s heart-warming how often Melody, his wife, pops up in conversation. ‘I’m very proud of her,’ he says. ‘She had a very dramatic childhood, not very happy and very difficult, but she is terrific now. It took her a long time to find herself, but I’m so proud of her.’
Andrew Sachs has said that Manuel is a successful man because he is happy. Is that something he believes to be true of his own life? ‘It is in my case. I’m extremely happy because I have my wonderful wife. We’ve been married for 54 years now.
‘I’m getting older and older and she seems to be getting younger and younger. ‘I’ve also been happy working. The idea of doing it well is almost nicer than being successful. If others think I’ve done it well then that is, of course, very nice. That’s what I aim at.’
I Know Nothing! by Andrew Sachs, is published by The Robson Press, priced £20.
The role transformed Andrew Sachs, now 83, into a much-loved comedy icon. But in 2008, he was thrust back into the spotlight, and for all the wrong reasons.
The episode, dubbed Sachsgate, saw radio presenters Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand leave a number of lewd and abusive messages on the actor’s answer phone. The prank caused a national furore, even then – Prime Minister Gordon Brown criticised the presenters.
So how does Sachs feel about it five years on? ‘My wife was much more affected by it. In a way, I couldn’t be bothered,’ he explains.
Andrew’s father, Hans Sachs and his mother, Katarina…‘I was upset about it for my wife’s sake. It was pretty awful, but I don’t think about them [Ross and Brand]. They’re not in my life.
‘They still go on about it sometimes, it’s not talent. Yet they are often on television and people laugh at their rude and selfish stuff.
‘I’m trying to find someone who doesn’t laugh at them. I know I’m one.’
Despite having just come out of hospital following an operation, Sachs is on fine form, talking animatedly about his time as the well-meaning Manuel (yes, he does do the voice for me) and reflecting on his childhood in Nazi Germany.
He was born Andreas Siegfried Sachs in Berlin in 1930. His father was Jewish, so as Hitler’s power grew, the family was forced to flee the country, escaping to England in 1938 as one of approximately 40,000 Austrian and German Jews who sought refuge in Britain.
‘We had to leave because Hitler had just appeared on the scene, which wasn’t very beautiful,’ he says in a triumph of an understatement.
‘I remember learning about Hitler at school. I just took it in my stride, I wasn’t upset or anything, I just thought we had to do what our teacher told us; that Hitler was doing wonderful things, that the future was going to be great. I took to him a bit. But I slowly grew up.
Andrew’s first week at school aged 6, During National Service, With dog Robbie and wife MelodyBut his father had a different point 0f view. ‘My father kept telling me to be careful of thinking that everything is going to be great. I had an aunt who said it would only last three days, or three weeks, that’s all. She thought he [Hitler] was an idiot. So there were mixed feelings about it.’
He has now published his memoirs, I Know Nothing! (after Manuel’s Fawlty Towers catchphrase), and says that writing has long been a family trait. ‘I had always wanted to write because I had relatives [who did]. My mother’s father was a very popular novelist in Austria, in the Tyrol. Some of that must have rubbed off.’
But he is the first to admit that his first forays into the written word were not up to much.
‘When I first started writing, I wrote plays for radio and so on, which I loved doing, but they were terrible, absolute rubbish. Some of them were recorded for the BBC and I very gradually got better until I was writing plays that were really much more successful.’
He was rather more confident about the acting game. ‘I thought I’ll be in Hollywood in three weeks,’ he laughs. ‘If you ever meet someone from Hollywood, give them my phone number, won’t you? I’ve got the body for it, although you know I’m not telling the truth now… I wish I did have the body for it.’
Of course, it’s hard for any actor to escape a character as popular and widely known as Manuel. ‘Generally speaking, it’s done so well, I still get fan mail,’ he says. ‘It was a beautiful, brilliant script by John Cleese and Connie Booth [who was John Cleese’s wife at the time and plays waitress and general helper Polly Sherman]. I’m very lucky I got to be a part of it.’
Manuel suffered daily at the hands of the relentlessly rude Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese (who is still firm friends with Sachs), usually because of some silly blunder. But Sachs confesses that he also had a few on-set mishaps of his own.
With Melody and their grandchildrenIn one episode, Fawlty tries to explain to his guests the difference between the fire and burglar alarms, prompting Manuel accidentally to set fire to his white waiter’s jacket. Trouble is, Sachs actually managed to burn himself.
‘I was shown what to wear and told that it would be warm but not hot, nothing dangerous. But during the dress rehearsal, the gloves I was wearing seemed to get a little bit warmer than I thought they might.
‘It got more and more painful until I had to stop and get out of the kitchen. It all had to stop. John Cleese got so angry when he found out that the jacket I was wearing was boiling hot. When I took it off, my right arm was red and burnt. The doctor said I’d have the scars for life – but he was wrong, thank God.’
How did he cope with the relentless ribbing from John Cleese’s Basil Fawlty? ‘He was evil to me but because it was John I was just so happy to work with him and be in it and admire the talent. I just pretended to be angry.
‘I did complain to him once, though. But he just said, “What’s the matter with you Andrew? It’s not a long run in the West End, you’re doing it once in your whole life. Just pull yourself together.” Then he gave me another Babycham and a big kiss – and our loving relationship went on.’
It is shame that such a successful comedy ran for only 12 episodes, but John Cleese and Connie Booth did have their reasons. ‘They did consider doing more,’ says Sachs, ‘but they decided not to because John was parting from Connie. It would have been quite nice. Maybe they thought they couldn’t do it a third time.’
The last episode featured Andrew’s wife Melody (who played Mrs Taylor) and, of course, Basil the ‘hamster’ – or rather rat, as we discover. It turns out that Manuel has been keeping the rat as a pet, which causes havoc when it runs amok during a Health and Safety inspection. Audiences still love the show’s swansong, but emotions must have run high on set.
With John Cleese‘We were pleased we’d done it, and if we’d done it well we were even more pleased. But we did hope there would be a third series. Sadly, that didn’t happen.’
Throughout our conversation, it’s heart-warming how often Melody, his wife, pops up in conversation. ‘I’m very proud of her,’ he says. ‘She had a very dramatic childhood, not very happy and very difficult, but she is terrific now. It took her a long time to find herself, but I’m so proud of her.’
Andrew Sachs has said that Manuel is a successful man because he is happy. Is that something he believes to be true of his own life? ‘It is in my case. I’m extremely happy because I have my wonderful wife. We’ve been married for 54 years now.
‘I’m getting older and older and she seems to be getting younger and younger. ‘I’ve also been happy working. The idea of doing it well is almost nicer than being successful. If others think I’ve done it well then that is, of course, very nice. That’s what I aim at.’
I Know Nothing! by Andrew Sachs, is published by The Robson Press, priced £20.
Did you know?
- John Cleese nearly knocked Andrew Sachs unconscious with a heavy saucepan while filming Fawlty Towers – Sachs had a headache for two days.
- The BBC paid him damages after his jacket, which was chemically treated to look as if it was on fire, scarred his arm.
- Andrew Sachs has recorded numerous audio books, including novels by Charles Dickens, Evelyn Waugh and George Eliot.
- He ‘wrote’ a 30-minute play that has no dialogue. It was broadcast in 1978 on BBC Radio 4.
- In May 2009, he joined Coronation Street as Norris’s brother, Ramsay. He left four months later after featuring in 27 episodes.
- He has released four singles as Manuel, including a cover of Shaddap You Face.