Written by Archie Duncan’s Great Niece
Archie Duncan was my great uncle (my grandmothers brother) and I have some lovely memories of times spent in his company as a child. He lived in a flat which was on the top floor of a large victorian property and would often recieve his guests while in bed wearing a burgandy velvet smoking jacket. He was a kind and generous man and always made me feel special, taking me backstage at the London Palladium for example and obtaining autographs of various actors and actresses for myself and my friends. Archie never married or had children though I think he had a long term relationship with an actress called Betty Cardinew (I’m not sure if that’s the correct spelling).
After his death I inhereted what I consider to be a unique piece of television history. It comes in the form of a get well message sent to him by cast and crew of the 1950’s series The Adventures Of Robin Hood following his accident on set when he prevented a horse from bolting into a crowd of onlookers. For this act of bravery he was awarded the Queens Medal for Gallantry. The message is on parchment paper and contains signatures of about 30 people including Richard Greene . There is a poem too, describing with humour the events which took place on that day and the subsequent chaos as shooting schedules were disrupted.
Hello. I’m actually doing some research on Mr. Duncan for a project — any way you could get in touch with me? Many thanks.
Julia, Thanks for your comment – I will send an email on the address shown. Neil
I saw Archie Duncan quite often during the second half of the 1960s, when I was a young library assistant in Leytonstone very close to his home. He was a frequent library user, and usually took out his full quota of books on each visit. Although he popped up on television occasionally and had one or two small film parts, plus some theatre engagements, I always had the impression that he was not overburdened with work at this period. I found him to be invariably polite, if a trifle reserved, but with an unexpectedly ready smile. He wore his success lightly and did not court attention.
Very interesting David. It seems he must have lived nearby though – I did know he had lived in London quite a while with his acting career mainly being down there but not sure where. Nice to hear of him as a quiet but pleasant man which I am sure that he was !! Thanks for your comment which is very much appreciated.
When Robin Hood finished in 1958.he went over to America and worked on western tv series the first being the Alaskans with Roger Moore.I have some episodes of this series but sadly not the one with Archie in.
Until you mentioned it, I had no idea that Archie Duncan had left these shores but looking it up he seemed to be in Hollywood for a few years. I remember him best as Red Gill but he was Dr Watson and of course Little John in the famous Television series.
Slightly late comment , I’m afraid, but just seen a 1960 western on Talking Pictures and Archie played a roll in that. Not sure of the episode. It was the voice that I recognized.
Patricia Driscoll also went over to America after the series finished with her husband and starred in some of there tv series one being Hawaiian Eye.
I recently watched an episode of Sherlock Holmes in which I believe Archie Duncan dubbed the voice of another character. It was the “Case of the Thistle Killer” Can anyone confirm that?
Did he dub the lines of the Superintendent?