Trivia

He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1978 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to television.

When WWII broke out in 1939, he was too young for the army and volunteered for the local Home Guard. He drew on this experience to create Dad's Army (1968). He was called up in 1941 and sent to Burma, where he was part of a Royal Artillery Concert Party to entertain the troops.

British screenwriter (and occasional actor), usually in collaboration with David Croft with whom he created the classic sitcom Dad's Army (initially titled "The Fighting Tigers").

Following his death, he left £1.3m to his wife Gilda, and £500,000 to Mary Husband, with whom he had a long-term relationship.

Brother-in-law of Diane Holland

After the war, he trained as an actor at Rada, funding his studies with stints as a Redcoat at Butlin's holiday camps.

He was the youngest of seven.

He was a bombardier in the Royal Artillery in India. After the end of the war he had to stay on in India and ran concert parties (for five years), using his experiences at the Deolali base in writing It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974). He was also a Redcoat at Butlins at Filey and Phwelli, thereby generating stories for Hi-de-Hi! (1980) along the way.

With wife Gilda, ran the Watford Palace Theatre as actor/manager.

Perry co-wrote the theme tune of Dad's Army, "Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr. Hitler?" along with Derek Taverner, for which Perry received an Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in 1971.