Biography

A former police officer and pilot, Talbot Rothwell had an unorthodox entry into show business: as a prisoner of war in a German POW camp during WW II, Rothwell, out of boredom (and also to cover the noise of prisoners digging escape tunnels), got involved in camp entertainment shows, writing comedy sketches with fellow prisoner Peter Butterworth (who later worked with him in the "Carry On" series). After the war Rothwell continued with his comedy writing, eventually achieving a degree of success in radio and on stage.

Rothwell joined the "Carry On" series in 1963 with Carry on Cabby (1963), a script that wasn't originally supposed to be an entry in the series, but producer Peter Rogers liked it so much he used it for the "Carry On" gang and offered Rothwell a job as staff writer. Rothwell stayed with the series for an additional 19 films, retiring in the late 1970s. In 1977 he was awarded the OBE for his work in the film industry. He died in 1981, at age 64.
- IMDb mini biography by: frankfob2@yahoo.com

He was terrible at school, failing in all subjects. However, he excelled at games, being in the 1st fifteen at rugby and the 1st eleven at cricket. On leaving school, he spent three months as a clerk at Brighton Town Hall, then joined the Palestinian police force for two years before transferring to the RAF. When WWII broke out, he was a pilot officer in Coastal Command in Scotland. In June 1940, he was flying a Lockheed Hudson on a bombing raid over Norway when he was shot down, captured and imprisoned in Stalag Luft 3. He started writing plays and comedy skits for the revues staged in the camp theatre, partly as entertainment and partly for the din provided by the productions and the audience, which helped mask the noise of fellow prisoners tunnelling their way out. Two of his fellow prisoners were actors Rupert Davies and Peter Butterworth. Prior to writing scripts for the Carry on films, he had written scripts for The Crazy Gang and for radio and TV shows, featuring Terry Thomas, Arthur Askey and Ted Ray. After the war, he continued writing. His first play, 'Queen Elizabeth Slept Here', opened at the Strand Theatre in London in November 1949, starring Tommy Handley and Kenneth Connor. His television break came when he and his writing partner, Sid Colin, were asked by Terry-Thomas to beef up his sketch series 'How Do You View?' , the impact of which put Talbot and Sid in demand for other top comedians. From 1952, they scripted the Arthur Askey BBC sketch show 'Before Your Very Eyes' (1957-58), 'The Ted Ray Show'(1955-58), 'The Jimmy Wheeler Show (1956). Alone, Talbot contributed to the Crazy Gang's successful revues at the Victoria Palace and wrote for Richard Hearne's character 'Mr Pastry', Michael Bentine's sketch show 'It Pays to be Ignorant', the last series of 'The Army Game' and 'The Dick Emery Show'. However, it was 'Up Pomeii' that was his biggest sitcom success. While being hugely successful, it was Frankie Howerd's reluctance to continue and Talbot's work overload that saw the show curtailed after 14 episodes. Thereafter, it was Carry On for Talbot, although his last credit was producer David Croft's 1975 special revival show 'Further Up Pompeii'.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tonyman5