    ian gillett carmichael, obe (18 june 1920 &ndash; 5 february 2010 ) was an english film, stage, television and radio actor. ian carmichael also spent much time in recording audio books: three men in a boat and three men on the bummel by jerome k. jerome, and most of the lord peter wimsey books by dorothy l. sayers. ==early life== carmichael was born in hull, in the east riding of yorkshire. the son of an optician, he was educated at scarborough college and bromsgrove school, before training as an actor at rada. he made his stage debut as a robot at the people's palace in mile end, east london in 1939. with the outbreak of world war ii his acting career was interrupted by service with the royal armoured corps as a commissioned officer in the 22nd dragoons. he served in the normandy campaign, losing the tip of one finger to an accident with the turret hatch of a valentine tank, and reached the rank of major before leaving the army in 1947. ==career== the young actor left his family's shopkeeping business in hull to attend the royal academy of dramatic arts, and to sing in talent contests at the hammersmith palais de danse. he portrayed serious characters in betrayed (1954), starring clark gable and lana turner, and in the colditz story (1955), but he made his name playing in a series of fil
1920_births 2010_deaths Alumni_of_the_Royal_Academy_of_Dramatic_Art British_Army_personnel_of_World_War_II English_male_film_actors English_male_radio_actors English_male_stage_actors English_male_television_actors Graduates_of_the_Royal_Military_Academy_Sandhurst Male_actors_from_Kingston_upon_Hull Male_actors_from_Yorkshire Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire People_educated_at_Bromsgrove_School People_educated_at_Scarborough_College Royal_Armoured_Corps_officers