John Hewer

Published Tuesday 6 May 2008 at 13:20 by Patrick Newley

Actor John Hewer won worldwide fame playing Captain Birdseye in the long-running fish finger TV commercials.

He played the role from 1967 until the late 1980s. The jovial, bearded naval captain outlasted the Milky Bar Kid and Ronald McDonald to become the longest running ‘brand personality’ since food advertising began.

A poll in 1983 named Captain Birdseye as the most recognised captain in the world after Captain Cook and the character was often the butt of comedians. The Goodies parodied the adverts as Captain Fishface and ended with the line: “Captain Fishface has your children. If you want them back send 2000 wrappers from Fishface Cod Pieces (after all, ye don’t know what goes into my rissoles, do ye?)”. Spoofs of the commercials featuring ‘Captain Fishy, the man with the fishy fingers’ were featured by DJ Steve Wright on BBC Radio 1.

After Hewer was dropped from the commercials, he was replaced by a younger actor and Captain Birdseye was seen as a dark-haired man with designer stubble, the advertisers believing that the older white-bearded man would not have the same appeal to children. This version did not last long, however, and the better-known older version soon returned, although not played by Hewer.

Born in Leyton, London, on January 13, 1922, Hewer also had an equally successful stage and screen career. He appeared in the original Broadway production of Sandy Wilson’s The Boy Friend, opposite Julie Andrews, and he was in the London production of the Noel Coward musical Sail Away, with Elaine Stritch.

For many years he was a stalwart of the Players Theatre in London and he also went into management presenting music hall shows on Southend Pier in association with the bandleader Henry Hall.

His TV credits included The Great Detective and the mini-series Nicholas Nickleby.

He died in Brinsworth House, the actors’ retirement home in Middlesex, on March 16. His wife predeceased him.