Jeremy Lloyd

John Jeremy Lloyd, OBE (22 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an English writer, screenwriter, author, poet and actor. He was the co-writer of several successful British sitcoms, including Are You Being Served? and 'Allo 'Allo!. Early years John Jeremy Lloyd was born in Danbury, Essex to a mother who had been a dancer, and a petroleum engineer father who served as an officer in the Royal Engineers at the beginning of World War II. As a child he was sent to live with his grandmother in Manchester and rarely saw his parents, who he claimed had seen him as a failure. His father withdrew him from a private preparatory school in 1943. Lloyd then worked as a junior assistant in the menswear department at Simpsons of Piccadilly and many of the characters depicted in Are You Being Served? were drawn from his recollections of his time there. He was also a travelling paint salesman and believed his early jobs gave him a better education than a university could have provided. Career Lloyd began his career as a writer in 1958 before making his film debut two years later in 1960 in School for Scoundrels, and appeared in numerous film and television comedies during the 1960s and 1970s. Notably, he was a regular performer on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In during the 1969–70 television season. Back in England, after he completed the season, he met actress Joanna Lumley. A decision had to be made as to whether he would return to the U.S. for the start of the new season or remain in the UK and marry Lumley. He never returned to the United States.