Michael Pleasant

Michael Alejandro Gerald Pleasant, MBE, (24 September 1934 - 1 October 1994) was an Irish-born British actor, comedian and singer who had a career spanning exactly four decades between 1954 and 1994. Pleasant hit fame with his role in the 1960s sitcom ', and later moved onto host his own show ' from the late-1960s to the late-1980s. He also featured in the 1970s sitcoms ' and '.
In the mid-1980s, Pleasant began playing a supporting in the sitcom ', but was famously fired from the show by Channel 4 bosses due to his alcohol problems in 1988. Two years later Pleasant entered rehabilitation, and despite kicking his habit, Pleasant was unable to get back his role in One For All, and in 1994, following years dogged by alcohol, Pleasant died from a fatal heart attack.
Early Life and Career
Pleasant was born in Lifford, County Donegal, Ireland. His mother's side of the family originate from Ireland while his father's side originate from the West Midlands, England. When Pleasant was three-years-old, his and his younger brother Albert (born 1936), moved with their parents Joanne and Patrick to Birmingham in the West Midlands of England, where Pleasant was brought up and educated.
When he was seventeen, Pleasant left school and travelled to Bath, Somerset, England, where he began attending the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to become an actor. When he turned to the age of twenty, Pleasant left the Guildford as a professional actor, and he travelled to Bristol and became a respected member of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Pleasant left the Bristol Old Vic a year later in 1955, and travelled around the United Kingdom and became members of several theatrical groups such as the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, the Royal National Theatre, London and the Royal Court Theatre, London. Pleasant's first screen role was in a guest appearance in a 1957 episode of The Adventures of Robin Hood. By the end of the 1950s, Pleasant had become a respected member of London's West End theatre.
Film and Television Work
Pleasant struck gold on screen in the early-1960s, when he debuted as his role of Tommy Weary in the sitcom ' in 1962. Co-stars of Pleasant on the show included Harry Secombe, Mollie Sugden, Vanessa Redgrave, David Hemmings, Christopher Hewett and Peter Cook. The show brought Pleasant to fame and made him a comic icon. Pleasant also befriended co-star Peter Cook, who was also a comedian. During his time on the show, their were several points in his personal life which were his divorce from first wife Rosa Stanley in 1962 and his marriage to Marion Warden the next year in 1963. Pleasant, while playing the role of Tommy on the show, resided in Clapham, South London, as the studio where The Wise and the Weary was being filmed was in London. The show ended in 1965, following the end of its fourth series.
Having enjoyed his new career in comedy, Pleasant began starring in a string of comedy films which were ' (1968), ' (1971), ' (1972), ' (1973), ' (1976), ' (1977) and ' (1979). In 1967, Pleasant began hosting his own show, ', inwhich every episode three celebrities were invited on to be interviewed by Pleasant. In the very first episode, the three celebrities were musicians Cliff Richard and Adam Faith and actress Lynn Redgrave (who is the younger sister of Pleasant's The Wise and the Weary co-star Vanessa Redgrave). The show ran throughout the remainder of the 1960s, the 1970s and in the early-1980s, and celebrities invited onto the show included Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton, Michael Caine, Edward Woodward, Richard Attenborough, Faye Dunaway, Dean Martin, Eric Clapton, Stanley Kubrick, Rick Wakeman, Peter Falk, Jimmy Savile, David Bowie and many others.
Also in the 1970s, Pleasant had two other sitcom stints, both of them starring roles. The first in the early 1970s from 1971 to 1973 where he played Marty Gascoine in ', and the second being from the mid to late-1970s from 1975 to 1979 where he played the title character of Jim Glover in '. Both sitcoms were average success, About Jim even more so than Working Class, and both of them sidestepped from The Michael Pleasant Show.
Later Years
As his career progressed into the 1980s, ', ended in 1984, the three celebrities in the final episode being actor Sean Connery, Madonna and Roy Orbison. Following the end of the show, the following year of 1985, Pleasant began playing the supporting role of John Harding in the sitcom '. Pleasanet remained in the sitcom for its first four seasons, but in 1988, he was famously sacked from the show by Channel 4 producers. The reason being Pleasant's alcohol problems, which were causing him to turn up late for rehearsals due to hard drinking sessions the previous nights. Pleasant was sacked and vowed to go into rehabilitation. Eventually, in 1990, with support from his wife Georgia Flockton, he went into rehabilitation and kicked the habit. However, he made attempts to sign a new contract to producers of the show to return to playing the character, but Channel 4 bosses disallowed producers of the show to sign Pleasant a new contract, therefor denying Pleasant access for a place back into the show.
During the 1980s, Pleasant starred in a string of three more comedy films: ' (1983); ' (1986); and ' (1987). Also, in the last four years of both his career and his life between 1990 and 1994, he starred in one more comedy film, ', and made several television appearances. His last appearance was in an episode of Coronation Street in 1994, where he played lawyer Gordon Fletcher.
In 1989, Pleasant was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II at the New Year's Honours List.
Personal Life
Marriages and Family
During his life, Pleasant was married four times and had five children:
* His first marriage was to Rosa Stanley in 1959. The pair shared two children, Henry (born 1960) and Ernest (born 1961). However, their marriage ended in 1962 when Stanley had an affair with her fiancial boss. They divorced in August 1962, and in the court case, Stanley was denied access to her and Pleasant's children over Pleasant's disgust over her affair with her financial boss.
* His second marriage was to Marion Warden in 1963, only a year after his divorce from Rosa Stanley. Plesant and Warden shared one child, William (born 1965). In 1967, Pleasant and Warden divorce, but they parted on good wills, and remained in contact for the sake of their son.
* His third marriage was to Felicity Boothroyd in 1970, and this marriage would become his longest lasting. With Boothroyd he shared two children, Paula (born 1972) and Joseph (born 1975). Pleasant and Boothroyd's marriage was on the rocks for several years before their finalised divorce, and they first began to struggle when Pleasant began drinking in the late 1970s. Eventually in 1983, the pair decided to divorce, and they finalised their divorce in 1984. Pleasant is allowed access to Paula and Joseph.
* His fourth and last marriage was to Georgia Flockton in 1988, and they shared no children. Flockton was a former domestic abuse victim at the hands of her first husband, whom she shared one child with and divorced from in 1970. Pleasant shared no children with Flockton, but Flockton supported Pleasant when he went into rehabilitation to sort out his drinking habits. Pleasant and Flockton remained married until Pleasant's death from a heart attack in September 1994.
Alcohol Problems
Plesant's alcohol problems originated in the late-1970s, in a period between 1977 and 1979 when he and his wife at the time Felicity Boothroyd were struggling to pay his tax fee. However, at that time his alcohol problems did not damage his career in any shape or form, but it first began to damage his career in the 1980s.
In the early 1980s, he began to struggle handling his fame, leading to the demise of ' in 1984. He almost fell into depression, and by 1986, he had become a full heavy drinker. In 1987 and 1988, throughout the third and fourth seasons of ' he began turning up late for rehearsals, the reason being that he had had sessions of heavy drinking the previous nights.
His alcohol problems also damaged his private life, the major damage being his divorce from Felicity Boothroyd in 1984. It also lead to fueds between him and his parents Joanne and Patrick, between him and his brother Albert, between him and other relatives and between him and friends. He was reported to have stopped talking to his family all together, and did not attend his father Patrick's funeral in 1987 following his sudden death from heart failure. He only accepted support from his children, whom he confided in.
Rehabilitation
In 1990, following his Georgia Flockton encouraged him to enter rehabilitation in order to fix himself and his family life up. With support from Flockton, his children, and other relatives and friends, Pleasant entered rehabilitation. His psychiatrist was the well known Doctor Peter Barnes. Pleasant recieved support and encouragement for his rehabilitation for seven months between March and September. Pleasant's alcohol problems first began to show signs of improvement in May, and by July he had almost fully recovered. On September 2 1990, Pleasant was discharged from the clinic he was recieving rehabilitation from, having finally recovered from his alcohol problems. In an interview, Pleasant stated in an interview "I Vow not to drink again until I'm sure I'm not going back".
Death
On the 1 October 1994, at around 2:43 pm, an ambulance was called to Pleasant's house in Bingham, Nottinghamshire, by his wife Georgia Flockton. Flockton stated during the call that Pleasant was still conscious but was struggling to breath and was writhing on the floor clutching his chest in pain. By the time the ambulance had arrived, Pleasant had lost consciousness. Paramedics put Pleasant on the ambulance and put him on life support. However, on the way to the hospital, Pleasant stopped breathing, and despite attempts by the paramedics to revive him, he was pronounced dead at arrival at the hospital.
Doctors believed that the cause of death was most notably from a heart attack. This was finally proven during an examination by doctors. In an interview, Doctor Peter Barnes, Pleasant's doctor during his rehabilitation, stated "It is a tragic story indeed, because despite the fact that Mr Pleasant kicked his drinking habit, it seems that his years dogged by alcohol came back to haunt him". Pleasant's body was released from the hospital on the 11 October 1990, and his funeral took place at the Church of St. Mary and All Angels, Bingham on the 13 October 1990.
Pleasant was burried in Bingham, and a statue of him was built at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, in Bath, Somerset, where he trained to become a performer.

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