{{short description|English actor (1918–1970)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Jimmy Hanley | image = leonardparry.jpg | caption = Hanley as Leonard Parry in ''Little Friend'' (1934) | birth_date = {{birth date|1918|10|22|df=y}} | birth_place = Norwich, England | death_date = {{death date and age|1970|1|13|1918|10|22|df=y}} | death_place = Fetcham, England | years_active = 1933–1968 | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Dinah Sheridan|1942|1952|end=divorced}} * {{marriage|Margaret Avery|1955}} }} | children = 6, including Jeremy Hanley and Jenny Hanley }} '''Jimmy Hanley''' (22 October 1918 – 13 January 1970) was an English actor who appeared in the popular Huggetts film series, and in ITV's most popular advertising magazine programme, ''Jim's Inn'', from 1957 to 1963.<ref name="obit" />
==Early life== Born in Norwich, Norfolk, Hanley began his career as a child actor before becoming popular in juvenile roles.<ref name=allmovie/> He was groomed by the Rank Studio system during his teenage years and earned film stardom as a "boy-next-door" type.<ref name=allmovie>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/jimmy-hanley-p30155|title=Jimmy Hanley | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos|website=AllMovie}}</ref> The young actor attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts and whilst he was studying there, made his stage debut at age 12 at the London Palladium, as John Darling in ''Peter Pan''.<ref name=screenonline/> He began to make films in his teens.<ref name=britishpictures>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishpictures.com/stars/Hanley_Jimmy.htm|title=Jimmy Hanley|website=www.britishpictures.com}}</ref>
==Career== During the Second World War he served as an officer with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, and in a commando raid in Norway he was wounded in the leg and was invalided out of the service.<ref name="obit" /> He returned to films, including ''Salute John Citizen'' (1942), ''Henry V'' with Laurence Olivier (1944), ''For You Alone'' (1945) and the Huggetts films.<ref name=bfi>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f390ab7|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520030634/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f390ab7|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 May 2016|title=Jimmy Hanley|website=BFI}}</ref> He later worked on radio and TV, appearing in several television series and hosting the ITV series ''Jim's Inn'' from 1957 to 1963, which combined advertising messages with the plot of a soap opera, where he and his wife Maggie played the hosts of a pub where customers discussed bargains and new products whilst drinking.<ref name=screenonline>{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/1140359/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Hanley, Jimmy (1918-1970) Biography|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref><ref name=unforg>{{cite magazine|magazine=TV Times|edition=Unforgettables!|year=1988|title=Jimmy Hanley|page=26}}</ref> The series finished when advertising magazine programmes were banned.<ref name=unforg/>
==Personal life== Hanley was married twice:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nndb.com/people/015/000091739/|title=Jimmy Hanley|website=www.nndb.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/nov/25/dinah-sheridan|title=Dinah Sheridan obituary|first=Dennis|last=Barker|date=25 November 2012|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l_p1DwAAQBAJ&dq=jimmy+hanley+married+Margaret+Avery&pg=PA374|title=Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company|first=Howard|last=Maxford|date=17 December 2018|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476670072}}</ref> * Dinah Sheridan 1942–1952 three children, including Jenny Hanley and the Conservative politician Sir Jeremy Hanley. The third died in infancy. * Margaret Avery (1955–1970, three daughters: Jane, Sarah and Katy)
Hanley died from pancreatic cancer in Fetcham, Surrey, on 13 January 1970, at the age of 51.<ref name=bfi/><ref name=britishpictures/>
==Selected filmography== {{div col}} * ''Red Wagon'' (1933) - Young Joe Prince * ''Those Were the Days'' (1933) - Boy with bicycle (uncredited) * ''Little Friend'' (1934) - Leonard Parry * ''Wild Boy'' (1934) - Boy With Message (uncredited) * ''Royal Cavalcade'' (1935) - Newsboy * ''Boys Will Be Boys'' (1935) - Cyril Brown * ''Brown on Resolution'' (1935) - Ginger * ''The Tunnel'' (1935) - Geoffrey McAllan * ''Landslide'' (1937) - Jimmy Haddon * ''Cotton Queen'' (1937) - Jack Owen (uncredited) * ''Night Ride'' (1937) - Dick Benson * ''Housemaster'' (1938) - Travers * ''Coming of Age'' (1938) - Arthur Strudwick * ''There Ain't No Justice'' (1939) - Tommy Mutch * ''Gaslight'' (1940) - Cobb * ''Salute John Citizen'' (1942) - Ernest Bunting * ''The Gentle Sex'' (1943) - 1st Soldier * ''The Way Ahead'' (1944) - Pte. Geoffrey Stainer * ''Henry V'' (1944) - Williams - Soldier in the English Army * ''Kiss the Bride Goodbye'' (1945) - Jack Fowler * ''29 Acacia Avenue'' (1945) - Peter Robinson * ''For You Alone'' (1945) - Dennis Britton * ''Murder in Reverse'' (1945) - Peter Rogers * ''The Captive Heart'' (1946) - Pte. Mathews * ''Holiday Camp'' (1947) - Jimmy Gardner * ''Master of Bankdam'' (1947) - Simeon Crowther Jr. * ''It Always Rains on Sunday'' (1947) - Whitey * ''Nothing Venture'' (1948) - Introduction to serial version * ''It's Hard to Be Good'' (1947) - Captain James Gladstone Wedge VC * ''Here Come the Huggetts'' (1948) - Jimmy Gardner * ''The Huggetts Abroad'' (1949) - Jimmy Gardner * ''Don't Ever Leave Me'' (1949) - Jack Denton * ''Boys in Brown'' (1949) - Bill Foster * ''The Blue Lamp'' (1950) - PC Andy Mitchell * ''Room to Let'' (1950) - Curly Minter * ''The Galloping Major'' (1951) - Bill Collins, Bus Driver * ''Radio Cab Murder'' (1954) - Fred Martin * ''Views on Trial'' (1954) - Nicholas Diabolus/Garble/Budgenot/foreman/machinist * ''The Black Rider'' (1954) - Jerry Marsh * ''The Deep Blue Sea'' (1955) - Dicer Durston * ''Satellite in the Sky'' (1956) - Larry * ''The Lost Continent'' (1968) - Patrick, the Bartender {{div col end}}
===Television series=== * ''Jim's Inn'' (1957–1963, ITV advertising programme) - host * ''Five O'Clock Club'' (1963–1966, ITV children's programme) - host * ''Futurama'' (1964, ITV children's science programme) - host * ''Crossroads'' (1966, ITV soap) - Jimmy Gudgeon, old friend of central character Meg Richardson (played by Noele Gordon)
==References== <references>
<ref name="obit"> {{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Mr Jimmy Hanley - Film and TV actor |department=Obituaries |date=14 January 1970 |page=12 |pages=57767 |column= }}</ref>
</references>
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0360085}} * {{Screenonline name|1140359}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanley, Jimmy}} Category:1918 births Category:1970 deaths Category:King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry officers Category:20th-century English male actors Category:English male stage actors Category:English male film actors Category:English male television actors Category:British Army personnel of World War II Category:British Army Commandos officers Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in England Category:Military personnel from Norwich Category:Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts