Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Lowe, rotund and professionally indefatigable, rightly gained acclaim as an accomplished comedy character actor; fondly remembered as the irascible "Captain Mainwaring" in the Home Guard comedy series Dad's Army (1968-1977), and as Coronation Street (1960)'s "Leonard Swindley". The only child of a Derbyshire railworker, Lowe gained valuable experience by organising shows for a British army field entertainment unit, in the Middle East, during World War Two, before commencing his professional acting career, at the age of 30, in 1945, upon joining the "Manchester Repertory Theatre Company".

In between endless tours for repertory and in major stage performances, Lowe utilised his character actor status - which writers identify as being aided by his bald head - in bit-parts for films including: the inspired "Ealing" black comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and The Green Man (1956). Later, whilst gathering fame - with the reputedly observational realist soap opera Coronation Street (1960) - he cemented a professional relationship with maverick film director Lindsay Anderson; using left-wing sensibilities for some of his films: including If.... (1968) and several characters in the avant-garde O Lucky Man! (1973) (the latter earning Lowe an SFTA Award, for best supporting performance).

As his son, and biographer, Stephen Lowe, intimated, finances governed and perpetuated his career, in the final stages of his life, in the 1970s; appearing in over 100, and possibly very lucrative, television advertisements and, not surprisingly, a surfeit of comedies including the sit-com Potter (1979) (1979-1983), the ribald film No Sex Please - We're British (1973) and to rave reviews for his stage performance as "Stephano", in "The Tempest" (1974), at the "National Theatre". Although Lowe received excellent notices for straight roles and appearances in plays such as John Osborne's "Inadmissible Evidence" (1963) at the "Royal Court", Dad's Army (1968) assured Lowe enduring appeal, as his character acting skills seamlessly compliment the show's comfortable sit-com structure.

Acting must be scaled down for the screen. A drawing room is a lot smaller than a theatre auditorium.

An actor is an actor is an actor. The less personality an actor has off stage the better. A blank canvas on which to draw the characters he plays.

Quotes

Arthur Lowe

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