Trivia

On his death in 1981, aged 85, his coffin was borne by officers from Paddington Green police station where Dixon of Dock Green (1955) creator Ted Willis had done much of his initial research for the show in 1955, and where Dixon was stationed in The Blue Lamp (1950).

His arthritis meant his character had to stop walking the beat and become a desk sergeant. The condition was treated with bee stings.

After the Huggett films, he continued playing the character in the radio series 'Here Come the Huggetts' which ran for many years.

He was made an OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to drama.

Was a fully qualified automobile engineer. Prior to World War I, he worked in Paris as a car mechanic and went on to wartime service in France as a driver attached to the Royal Flying Corps.

He played Glady's Henson's husband in 3 of the 4 films they made together - Captive Heart (1946), Train of Events (1949), and The Blue Lamp(1950). The 4th film was Those People Next Door (1953).

In the film, The Blue Lamp (1950), his character of George Dixon was killed off after 21 minutes. The character was brought back for the TV series of Dixon of Dock Green (1955) and he played the role for 21 years.

Holiday Camp, which was set in the summer, was filmed in the winter at the beginning of 1947.

Considered The Captive Heart was one of the best films that he made.

According to Warner's autobiography, Jack of All Trades, Queen Elizabeth II once visited the television studio where his series was made, and told Warner that "she thought Dixon of Dock Green had become part of the British way of life".

Warner's success as Dixon was well received by police forces. He was made an honorary member of both the Margate and Ramsgate Police Forces in the 1950s.

He made his first public appearance at the age of 9 dressed in a kilt.

In 1933, Warner married company secretary Muriel Winifred ("Mollie"), daughter of independently wealthy Roberts Peters. The couple had no children.

Warner said of Dixon of Dock Green: "It has been a very good meal ticket for twenty-one years - although the taxman has never been far behind.".

He acquired a working knowledge of French which stood him in good stead throughout his life; an imitation of Maurice Chevalier became a part of his repertoire.

He was over thirty before he became a professional entertainer.

During the First World War, he served in France as a driver in the Royal Flying Corps and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 1918.

For a number of years, British film exhibitors voted him among the top ten British stars at the box office via an annual poll in the Motion Picture Herald.

After leaving school, he studied automobile engineering at the Northampton Institute (now part of the City University, London) but, being more practical than academic, he left after a year to work at the repair facilities of F.W. Berwick and Company in Balham, where he started by sweeping the floors for 2d per hour. Frederick William Berwick became a partner in the Anglo-French automobile manufacturing company Sizaire-Berwick and in August 1913, Warner was sent to work as a mechanic in Paris.

In 1973, he was made a Freeman of the City of London. Warner commented in his autobiography that the honour "entitles me to a set of 18th century rules for the conduct of life urging me to be sober and temperate". Warner added, "Not too difficult with Dixon to keep an eye on me!".

Warner first became known to the general public in music hall and radio. By the early years of the Second World War, he was nationally known and starred in a BBC radio comedy show, Garrison Theatre, invariably opening with "A Monologue Entitled...".

Was godfather of Jenny Hanley, owing to a longstanding friendship with her father Jimmy Hanley.

The regard in which Warner's portrayal of a fictional policeman was held was seen at the actor's funeral at Margate Crematorium on 1 June 1981. Six Margate constables stood as guards-of-honour outside the chapel while delegations of officers attended (some coming from Wales and Newcastle upon Tyne), including 16 from the Metropolitan Police, led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner George Rushbrook and Commander John Atkins.