Trivia

He served alongside James Bond author Ian Fleming in a special division of British Intelligence in World War II. Among others there was future British Prime Minister James Callaghan, who served tea. As a result, Pertwee is rumoured to have been one of the inspirations for James Bond alongside fellow actor Christopher Lee and Fleming's colleague, Sir William Stephenson.

According to Pertwee's biography, "Moon Boot and Dinner Suits", as a young boy he played with the son of the gamekeeper on the family estate. The gamekeeper was A.A. Milne, and his son was Christopher, the inspiration for Milne's later tales of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh.

During WW2 he served in the RNVR as an officer. He was appointed to HMS Hood from which he was extremely fortunate to be returned to shore shortly before that vessel was sunk by the Bismarck.

He was a lifelong fan of cartoons.

He was told several times when he was young that he would never become a successful actor, due to such problems as a partial lisp and a close resemblance to the American actor Danny Kaye - whom he would actually double in the London location work for Knock on Wood (1954).

He was a founder member, along with his brother Michael Pertwee, of The Waistcoat Club (of which he had a large collection, some dating back 300 years) which was set up in 1953 to counter the drabness of men's dress. Peter Cushing, who would play the film version of the Doctor in Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965), was a fellow member.

He became close friends with his Doctor Who (1963) co-stars Nicholas Courtney, Roger Delgado and Katy Manning. Delgado's death in 1973 hit him very badly and it was a contributory factor to his decision to leave the series in 1974.

Following the instructions in his will, he was cremated with an effigy of the bumbling scarecrow Worzel Gummidge (Worzel Gummidge (1979), his favorite role), attached to his casket. As the casket slid between the curtains, the effigy fell off and landed on the floor, leading one mourner to call out, "That's Jon for you. Always playing it for laughs". The mourners all broke into laughter.

He was known as a comedy actor until he was cast in a dramatic and action role as the Third Doctor in Doctor Who (1963). Outgoing producer Peter Bryant cast him thinking that he could bring more comedy to the part than predecessor Patrick Troughton. However, on the advice of the Head of BBC Drama Shaun Sutton, Pertwee decided to play the part as himself.

He was a very good friend of Spike Milligan, but later on in his life the two would have arguments over who was the bigger Aladdin (1992) fan. He also considered Milligan's Goon colleague, Peter Sellers, a friend.

Like Patrick Troughton, his predecessor as the Doctor, he died of a heart attack while visiting the United States.

Pertwee was very self-conscious about the size of his nose. As a result, Doctor Who (1963) script editor Terrance Dicks deliberately added a line to an episode of the series (The Time Warrior: Part Three (1973)) in which the Doctor is described as "a longshank rascal with a mighty nose".

On learning of the departure of Patrick Troughton from Doctor Who (1963) in 1969, his friend and "Navy Lark" colleague Tenniel Evans recommended to him that he should put his name forward for it. Pertwee didn't think he would be wanted for it but took Evans' advice anyway. He then found out to his surprise that he was the producer Peter Bryant's second choice to play the Doctor after Ron Moody, who turned it down.

He was a top class Scuba Diver.

He suffered from vertigo for many years.

He was a talented water-skier and had a passion for fast cars and motorbikes. He carried on riding his last bike, a Honda VT500E, until he was 74, two years before his death.

He loved action films. His trademark fight scenes and martial arts as the Doctor (explained in the series as Venusian Aikido) were added because of this. Unfortunately, because of his bad back, the stuntman Terry Walsh usually doubled for him in most moves. Walsh was also the regular stuntman for his successor, Tom Baker, and doubled for the film star Michael Caine as well.

His favorite aliens in Doctor Who (1963) were the Draconians from the 1973 story Frontier in Space: Episode One (1973). In particular, he liked the quality of the half-masks that were designed for them by John Friedlander, which allowed for more expressive performances from the actors than was often able to be the case with full face masks. Pertwee was known to dislike the series' most popular monsters, the Daleks, which he described as "silly" despite starring in three serials with them. Pertwee's Third Doctor was the only incarnation during the original series' run never to encounter the Cybermen during his tenure, although he later had a scene with them when he returned in The Five Doctors (1983).

He considered Aladdin (1992) to be the greatest animated film of all time, as well as one of the greatest films of all time.

The 60 year old actor added pop star to his repertoire in 1980 when 'Worzel's Song' reached the top 33 in the UK and stayed in the chart for seven weeks.

Of the 24 Doctor Who (1963) stories he starred in, he named "The Dæmons" as his favourite.

His favourite song was "Georgia on My Mind" by Ray Charles.

He worked hard to bring the character of Worzel Gummidge (1979) to the television screen and counted it as his favourite role. He had been offered the part in the mid-70s for a film version which was never made and persuaded the writers Willis Hall and Keith Waterhouse to pen a TV pilot instead. Pertwee was very disappointed that the series ended when Southern Television lost its franchise and no other company picked it up. He also hoped that it would become big in America, which it never did.

He died in his sleep of a heart attack while he and his wife were on holiday in the USA, staying with actor Richard Neilson and his wife at their house in Timber Lake, Connecticut.

He had a reputation as a great raconteur, comedian and impressionist, making him a popular guest on talk shows, game shows and at Doctor Who (1963) conventions. He was also the only actor to play the Doctor in the TV series to be interviewed on the original run of the BBC's most celebrated talk show, Parkinson (1971), although his appearance on the series was in 1980, six years after he left the role. Parkinson did eventually interview another TV Doctor, David Tennant, in 2007.

He was the oldest living Doctor from the death of William Hartnell on April 23, 1975 and the earliest living Doctor from the death of Patrick Troughton on March 28, 1987 until his own death on May 20, 1996. With his death, Tom Baker became both the oldest and earliest living Doctor. He is the second longest-lived actor to have played the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963). He was surpassed in this regard by his immediate successor, Tom Baker, on December 5, 2010, who became the first Doctor to reach the age of 77 on January 20, 2011.

He came from a very successful theatrical family. He was the son of Roland Pertwee, the younger brother of Michael Pertwee and the first cousin of Bill Pertwee. He was also the father of actor Sean Pertwee and actress Dariel Pertwee.

His final screen appearance was in a Doctor Who (1963)-inspired advertisement for Vodaphone in 1996, shot a week before his death.

A rebellious youth, he was expelled from multiple private schools, including one for swinging from lavatory chains in a Tarzan imitation. He was also expelled from RADA (the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Arts) after refusing to play the wind in a production.

Prior to his first appearance as the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963) in 1970, he was already a household name for his role in the long-lived and hugely popular BBC radio comedy series "The Navy Lark", where he played the role of Chief Petty Officer Pertwee (plus Vice-Admiral "Burbly" Burwasher, Commander Weatherby and The Master) from 1959 to 1977.

Pertwee was considered for the role of Captain Mainwaring in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army (1968), which eventually went to Arthur Lowe. He claimed that he refused it as he was working on Broadway at the time, and didn't know what he was being offered back home. In We're Doomed! The Dad's Army Story (2015), Pertwee turns down the role because he's not being offered enough money.

He appeared once on BBC television's team quiz show Quiz Ball (1966) as a last-minute substitute for comedian Jimmy Logan, and found himself playing for Scotland. They won.

He knew legendary thespian Laurence Olivier personally when he was a young man because he was a family friend.

His experience of serving in the British Navy during the Second World War inspired him to conceive the popular BBC radio comedy "Navy Lark, The". He was a star of the series for many years and provided the voices for many of the diverse characters.

He was a friend of the osteopath Stephen Ward, a key figure in the John Profumo political scandal in the UK in the early 1960s. Although Ward's reputation was destroyed by the scandal and he committed suicide, Pertwee defended his friend's reputation until his dying day. Ward was the subject of the film Scandal (1989) and a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

According to fellow Doctor Who actor Peter Davison, there was a mutual dislike between Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker whenever they were in the same room.

He appeared in three films co-written by his elder brother Michael Pertwee: Trouble in the Air (1948), Ladies Who Do (1963) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966).

He was Steven Spielberg's choice for the role of Alfred Penyworth opposite Harrison Ford in the title role of an adaptation of the DC Comics character Batman that Spielberg had considered making. Jon's son Sean would later play the role of Alfred in Gotham (2014).

He was delighted when his wife passed him the message that he had been invited to appear in "the new Columbus film" and that the script was being sent over. He would wryly recall that his hopes of working with Gérard Depardieu in 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) were quickly dashed when he received the script of Carry on Columbus (1992).

He gave advice to David Jason when he was just starting his acting career, which Jason gratefully acknowledged in his autobiography.

His closest friend in later life was the broadcaster David Jacobs.

He was originally meant to star in The Baby and the Battleship (1956) with George Cole but was replaced when Cole walked out.

He was the original choice for the role of Elliot Hoover in Audrey Rose (1977).

He appeared in two comedy film set in ancient Rome: Carry on Cleo (1964) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966).

Doctor Who: The Movie (1996) included a dedication to his memory as it was broadcast just a week after his death.

The death of Roger Delgado and the departure of Katy Manning, both in 1973, dented his enthusiasm for playing the Doctor, although he did get on with new companion Elisabeth Sladen and was later reunited with her for the 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors (1983).

He was considered for the roles of Dr. Hans Fallada, Dr. Armstrong and Sir Percy Heseltine in Lifeforce (1985).

He owned a house in Spain in the mid 1960s.

He was approached to replace Roger Moore in the musical Aspects of Love. He declined.

He was greatly amused by the many ways his surname had been misspelled over the years.