Trivia

He is the son of Katharina (Schrott-Fiecht) and Hans Emil Sachs. His father was Jewish and his mother was Catholic, and of part Austrian descent. He escaped Nazi Germany as a boy - after his father, who had been arrested by the Nazis, was released just days before Kristallnacht.

On the set of Fawlty Towers (1975), he was nearly knocked out with a frying pan by John Cleese during an episode of the show. The prop department on the BBC took the effort of taking a frying pan, padding it down and painting it. But during filming, it was dark and Cleese accidentally grabbed a pan that was un-padded. Sachs suffered a headache for weeks. Cleese apologized by buying Sachs bottles of his favorite perry.

There is a wax figure of him as "Manuel", from Fawlty Towers (1975), in Madam Tussaud's in London.

He was paid damages by the BBC after an incident filming Fawlty Towers (1975), where a jacket was treated with acid by the special effects department to look as if it was on fire, and really did burn through to his skin. Contrary to popular belief, he did not bare the scars from thereon in. They peeled over time.

A private man by nature, Andrew Sachs found himself at the center of unwanted media attention in 2008. This was courtesy of Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand having left obscene messages on Sachs's answering service. According to sources, Andrew Sachs never forgave Ross and Brand for their actions.

He supported CIWF (Compassion In World Farming) and other animal charities.

He turned down the role of Victor Meldrew in One Foot in the Grave (1990), as the first few scripts hadn't impressed him. He later regretted that decision.

His father, an insurance broker, was Jewish; his mother, a librarian, was Catholic of part-Austrian ancestry. His father was arrested by the Nazi authorities in 1938, but was later released after intervention by a friend in the police force. The family fled Germany, and settled in London.

Sachs was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2012, which eventually left him unable to speak and forced him to use a wheelchair.

He was the father of Kate Sachs and grandfather of her daughter Georgina Baillie. He was also the adopted father of his wife's sons from her previous marriage, William Sachs and John Sachs.

He recorded children's books on tape and classics like Charles Dickens, Evelyn Waugh, George Eliot etc.

Both he and John Cleese were nominated for a BAFTA for "Best Light Performance" for "Fawlty Towers". Cleese won and Sachs agreed he deserved it.

Such was the distress caused him and his family during the incident with Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross, Mrs. Andrew Sachs was the one describing the experience in her husband's memoirs.

He auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but only had enough money to attend two terms. He was hired as an assistant stage manager at a theater in East Sussex, and subsequently the Liverpool Playhouse and the Globe theatre in London.

His favorite alcoholic drink was "Babycham," a sparkling perry very popular in the U.K.