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A.E. Matthews OBE (22 November 1869 - 25 July 1960) was an English actor who played numerous character roles on the stage and in film for eight decades.

Biography

Matthews was born in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Nicknamed "Matty", he was christened Alfred Edward Matthews. He was born in a small cottage, now demolished, which existed on the site of the current B&Q store in the town. He was affectionately regarded by the British public over his extraordinarily long career.

Matthews toured during World War I in The First Mrs. Fraser with Dame Marie Tempest and Barry Morse and later in the extremely popular films Carry on Admiral, Doctor at Large and Around the World in 80 Days, amongst many others. From World War II until his death he enjoyed renown as one of British cinema's most famous crotchety, and sometimes rascally, old men.

Matthews' other most well-known films include The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Million Pound Note (with Gregory Peck), Inn for Trouble, The Magic Box, The Ghosts of Berkeley Square and Just William's Luck.

He appeared on the TV programme This Is Your Life, a notable feature of which was at the end, where while regaling audience and viewers with his engaging reminiscences, he was faded out. He was working as an actor right up until his death in 1960 at the age of 90.

In his 89th year, Matthews made national headlines by sitting, for several days and nights, on the pavement outside his beautiful Georgian home near London, his purpose being to prevent the council from installing a new streetlight, the design of which he felt was totally out of keeping with the neighbourhood and which badly needed improvement. Spike Milligan penned an episode of The Goon Show entitled "The Evils of Bushey Spon" based on the incident. The programme, first broadcast on 17 March 1958, included a guest appearance by Matthews himself. He appeared only at the end of the episode, and this part of the show was ad-libbed because Matthews did not stick to the script.

In 2008 Greg Knight, the Member of Parliament for the East Yorkshire constituency, (which includes ‘Matty’s’ birthplace, Bridlington), launched a successful campaign to have his birthplace recognised with a blue plaque. A special ceremony to commemorate his life and career was held in the town on 22nd November 2008 organised and compered by Mr Knight. It was attended by ventriloquist Ray Alan, who knew 'Matty' and who spoke about his memories of him.

External links

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 '''A.E. Matthews''' [[OBE]] (22 November 1869 - 25 July 1960) was an English actor who played numerous character roles on the stage and in film for eight decades.
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 Matthews' other most well-known films include ''[[The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp]], [[The Million Pound Note]]'' (with [[Gregory Peck]]), ''[[Inn for Trouble]], [[The Magic Box]], The Ghosts of Berkeley Square'' and ''[[Just William's Luck (film)|Just William's Luck]]''.
-He appeared on the TV programme ''[[This Is Your Life (UK TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'', a notable feature of which was at the end, where while regaling audience and viewers with his engaging reminiscences, he was faded out. He was working as an actor right up to the time of his death aged 90.
+He appeared on the TV programme ''[[This Is Your Life (UK TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'', a notable feature of which was at the end, where while regaling audience and viewers with his engaging reminiscences, he was faded out. He was working as an actor right up until his death in 1960 at the age of 90.
-In his 89th year, Matthews made national headlines by sitting, for several days and nights, on the pavement outside his beautiful Georgian home near London, his purpose being to prevent the city council from installing a new streetlight, the design of which he felt was totally out of keeping with the neighbourhood and which badly needed improvement. [[Spike Milligan]] penned an episode of [[The Goon Show]] entitled "The Evils of Bushey Spon" based on the incident. The programme, first broadcast 17 March, 1958, included a guest appearance by Matthews himself. He appeared only at the end of the episode, and this part of the show was ad-libbed because Matthews did not stick to the script.
+In his 89th year, Matthews made national headlines by sitting, for several days and nights, on the pavement outside his beautiful Georgian home near London, his purpose being to prevent the council from installing a new streetlight, the design of which he felt was totally out of keeping with the neighbourhood and which badly needed improvement. [[Spike Milligan]] penned an episode of [[The Goon Show]] entitled "The Evils of Bushey Spon" based on the incident. The programme, first broadcast on 17 March 1958, included a guest appearance by Matthews himself. He appeared only at the end of the episode, and this part of the show was ad-libbed because Matthews did not stick to the script.
-In 2008 the Rt Hon [[Greg Knight]] MP, the Member of Parliament for East Yorkshire, (which includes ‘Matty’s’ birthplace, [[Bridlington]]), launched a successful campaign to have his birthplace recognised with a [[blue plaque]]. A special ceremony to commemorate his life and career was held in the town on 22nd November 2008 organised and compared by Mr Knight.
+In 2008 [[Greg Knight]], the Member of Parliament for the East Yorkshire constituency, (which includes ‘Matty’s’ birthplace, [[Bridlington]]), launched a successful campaign to have his birthplace recognised with a [[blue plaque]]. A special ceremony to commemorate his life and career was held in the town on 22nd November 2008 organised and compered by Mr Knight.
 It was attended by ventriloquist [[Ray Alan]], who knew 'Matty' and who spoke about his memories of him.