Warren Mitchell obituary: Alf Garnett and much more

BBC ^ | 11/14/2015

[Borges]

Warren Mitchell never completely distanced himself from his most famous character, Alf Garnett. It was a role he relished and he often returned to it over a period of four decades. He was a consummate character actor who took on a wide variety of roles on stage, screen and television. And despite playing Johnny Speight's infamous creation for such a long time, he managed to avoid being typecast as Britain's favourite bigot. War

[Borges]

This guy may not be known in America but the show he was was in was adapated by Norman Lear as 'All in the Family'.

[Churchillspirit]

Very funny guy. His character in "TDUDP" was indeed a bigot, but also a staunch Conservative (Republican).

RIP Warren.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Unfortunately, as with his counterpart in America, Archie Bunker, these were leftist attacks and caricatures of White working class and their Christian values. If anything, it backfired in their faces. Mitchell may have been a talented actor, but was another bigoted leftist atheist boor. Prayers for his soul.

[Borges]

Aren’t all sitcoms caricatures? Was Ralph Kramden a caricature of working class whites?

[fieldmarshaldj]

The question goes to motivation. Kramden was a caricature, but there was no political axe to grind. Garnett & Bunker were explicitly leftist political attacks on Conservative White working class men in an attempt to shame them and turn them into "enlightened liberals" like the son-in-law by using comedy as the medium.

I look at it as a slander on people like my grandfather, who although a generation older than Archie (born in 1897), was a working-class immigrant from Scotland, British Army WW1 vet (who was in it for the entire haul, not just a year as the Americans were), and he identified with the character (perhaps not realizing it was attacking him and his values system).