Leslie Phillips, an English actor best known for his roles in the Carry On and Harry Potter film series as well as the BBC radio comedy series The Navy Lark, died at the age of 98.
His agent, Jonathan Lloyd told NBC News, “He died yesterday morning peacefully in his sleep.”
The official Twitter handle of the Harry Potter films shared an image of Phillips and captioned it, “We are incredibly sad to hear of the passing of the wonderful Leslie Phillips who voiced the Sorting Hat with such inimitable wit and style in the Harry Potter films.”
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Over the course of his 80 year career, Phillips gave Sorting Hat’s voice in Harry Potter movies and appeared in over 200 films, TV shows, and radio productions.
Who was Leslie Phillips?
Leslie Philips was an English actor, voice artist, and author born on April 20, 1924, in Tottenham, England. He was the third child of Frederick Samuel Phillips and Cecelia Margaret who worked for Edmonton-based manufacturer Glover and Main.
His father died when he was just 10-years-old and he attended the Italia Conti Academy after his formal education. There he specialized in theater and dancing.
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Leslie Phillips married actress Penelope Bartley on May 30, 1948, and the couple had four children. After his wife’s death, he married Scoular in 1982 and she died ten years after their marriage.
Leslie Phillips’s Career
Leslie Phillips made his debut in 1937 as a wolf in Peter Pan alongside Anna Neagle at the London Palladium. In the very next year, Phillips made his film debut in the musical comedy Lassie from Lancashire. He further made cameo appearances in two of the earliest Pinewood Studios productions, Climbing High (1938) and The Mikado (1939).
Phillips worked for Binkie Beaumont and H.M. Tennent on the West End for Theatre Royal Haymarket during the early years of the Second World War. He was called to the British Army in 1942 and Phillips advanced to the rank of lance-bombardier in the Royal Artillery. Phillips was chosen for officer training at Catterick because of his acquired upper-class accent, and he was subsequently commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in 1943. In the very next year, he was diagnosed with a neurological disorder and had to leave the army.
He resumed his acting career and made appearances in films like Anna Karenina and Powell and Pressburger’s The Red Shoes. He earned major recognition with his first lead role in the television sitcom series My Wife Jacqueline which was released in 1953.
Thereafter he appeared in films and series like Les Girls, Carry On Nurse, No Kidding, and Doctor in Love.
Apart from acting, Phillips was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1998 Birthday Honors and was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 New Year Honors. His autobiography, Hello, was published by Orion in 2006.
