Editing John Fortune

{{Short description|English actor and writer (1939–2013)}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = John Fortune
| image       = John Fortune (1939–2013).jpg
| birth_name  = John Courtney Wood
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1939|06|30|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Bristol]], England
| death_date  = {{death date and age|2013|12|31|1939|06|30|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Hampshire]], England
| occupation  = {{dotlist|Actor|writer}}
| spouses     = {{ubl|{{marriage|Susan Fry Waldo, aka Susannah Waldo Wood|1962|1976|end=divorce}}|{{marriage|Emma Burge|1995}}}}
| children    = 3
}}

'''John Courtney Fortune''' (born '''John Courtney Wood'''; 30 June 1939 – 31 December 2013) was an English actor, writer and satirist, best known for his work with [[John Bird (actor)|John Bird]] and [[Rory Bremner]] on the television series ''[[Bremner, Bird and Fortune]]''.<ref name="BFI">{{cite web | url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/32481 | title=Bremner, Bird and Fortune | publisher=[[British Film Institute]] | work=Film & TV Database | access-date=31 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101142653/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/32481 | archive-date=1 January 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Early life ==
Fortune was born John Courtney Wood in [[Bristol]] on 30 June 1939.<ref name="Kennedy">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/31/john-fortune-dies-at-74 | title=John Fortune dies at 74 | newspaper=[[The Guardian]] | date=31 December 2013 | access-date=31 December 2013 | author= Kennedy, Maev | author-link= Maev Kennedy }}</ref> He was educated at [[Bristol Cathedral School]] and [[King's College, Cambridge]], where he was to meet and form a lasting friendship with John Bird.<ref name="Kennedy"/>

== Career ==
Fortune's early work included contributions to [[Peter Cook]]'s [[The Establishment (club)|Establishment Club]] team<ref name="Kennedy"/> in 1962, and as a regular member of the cast of the BBC-TV satire show ''[[Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life]]'', both alongside [[Eleanor Bron]] and [[John Bird (actor)|John Bird]]. Fortune and Bird also worked together on the TV show ''A Series of Birds'' in 1967, and Fortune and Bron wrote and performed a series of sketches for TV in ''[[Where Was Spring?]]'' in 1969. In 1971, with [[John Wells (satirist)|John Wells]], he published the comic novel ''[[A Melon for Ecstasy]]'', about a man who consummates his love affair with a tree. He appeared with [[Peter Sellers]] in a [[Barclays Bank]] television commercial in 1980, shortly before Sellers' death.

Along with writing several series for the [[BBC]], in 1982 Fortune appeared in an episode of the BBC sitcom ''[[Yes Minister]]'', as an army officer who brings the minister's attention to British-made weapons getting into the hands of terrorists.  In 1999, he starred with [[Warren Mitchell]] and [[Ken Campbell (actor)|Ken Campbell]] in ''[[Art (play)|Art]]'' at [[Wyndham's Theatre]] in [[West End theatre|London's West End]].<ref name="Kennedy"/> He also appeared in the films ''[[Take a Girl Like You (film)|Take A Girl Like You]]'' (1970), in which he shared a TV debate with John Bird, [[Kenny Everett]]'s horror spoof ''[[Bloodbath at the House of Death]]'' (1984), ''[[England, My England]]'' (1995), ''[[Maybe Baby (2000 film)|Maybe Baby]]'' (2000), and ''[[Saving Grace (2000 film)|Saving Grace]]'' (2000), and had a guest part in the sitcom ''[[Joking Apart]].'' 

In 1993, Fortune and Bird began co-starring with [[Rory Bremner]] in the sketch show ''Rory Bremner...Who Else?'' on [[Channel 4]]. In 1999, the show changed its name to ''[[Bremner, Bird and Fortune]]'' and continued until 2010, receiving several [[BAFTA]] nominations along the way.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bafta.org/awards/television/nominations/?year=2002|title=BAFTA Television Awards|work=bafta.org|date=31 July 2014 |accessdate=10 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bafta.org/awards/television/nominations/?year=2001|title=BAFTA Television Awards|work=bafta.org|date=31 July 2014 |accessdate=10 March 2015}}</ref>

Fortune's other work with John Bird included their series of satirical sketches ''The Long Johns'', in which one interviewed the other, the latter being in the guise of a senior figure such as a politician, businessman or government consultant. The sketches earned several BAFTA award nominations, winning the Television Light Entertainment Performance award in 1997.<ref name="BAFTA1997">{{cite web|url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1997/television/light-entertainment-performance|title=BAFTA Awards – Television {{!}} Light Entertainment Performance in 1997|publisher=[[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]]|access-date=1 January 2014}}</ref> In one episode, they were two of the very first to predict the [[2008 financial crisis]] during an episode of ''[[The South Bank Show]]'' broadcast on 14 October 2007.<ref name=Prophecy>{{cite web|url=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/james22| title=The Marx Renaissance|publisher= Project Syndicate|author= James, Harold |date= 25 December 2008|access-date= 31 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/the-south-bank-show/the-last-laugh-john-bird-and-john-fortune/episode/1157860/reviews.html |title=The Last Laugh: John Bird and John Fortune Reviews |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604120231/http://www.tv.com/the-south-bank-show/the-last-laugh-john-bird-and-john-fortune/episode/1157860/reviews.html |archive-date= 4 June 2011 }}</ref> In Fortune's latter years, he featured in the [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]] sitcom ''[[Ed Reardon's Week]]'', playing the head of a literary agency and as theatrical agent Mel Simons in a 2008 episode of ''[[New Tricks]]''.

Fortune died on 31 December 2013, aged 74.<ref name=SkyNews/><ref>{{Cite news | title=Comedian John Fortune dies aged 74 | url= http://www.itv.com/news/update/2013-12-31/comedian-john-fortune-dies-aged-74/ | work=[[ITV News]]|date= 31 December 2013| access-date=5 May 2020}}</ref> His agent Vivienne Clore said he died peacefully, with his wife Emma and dog Grizelle at his bedside.<ref name=SkyNews>{{cite news|title=Comedian John Fortune Dies Aged 74 |url=http://news.sky.com/story/1188861/comedian-john-fortune-dies-aged-74 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131231175655/http://news.sky.com/story/1188861/comedian-john-fortune-dies-aged-74 |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 December 2013 |publisher=[[Sky News]] |date=31 December 2013 |access-date=31 December 2013 }}</ref>

== Filmography ==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1970|| ''[[Take a Girl Like You (film)|Take a Girl Like You]]'' || Sir Gerald Culthorpe-Jones ||
|-
|1982|| ''[[The Missionary]]'' || Schoolmaster's voice || Voice
|-
|1984|| ''[[Bloodbath at the House of Death]]'' || John Harrison ||
|-
|1987|| ''[[Hardwicke House]]'' || Educational psychologist in Episode 3, "Interview Day" || Only the first two episodes of the series were shown, with the last five pulled. It was scheduled to be screened on ITV on 4 March 1987. In 2019, all seven episodes were uploaded to [[YouTube]].
|-
|1995|| ''[[England, My England]]'' || Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon ||
|-
|1999|| ''The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka: The Mystery of Chopin'' || Second official ||
|-
|2000|| ''[[Saving Grace (2000 film)|Saving Grace]]'' || Melvyn ||
|-
|2000|| ''[[Maybe Baby (2000 film)|Maybe Baby]]'' || Acupuncturist ||
|-
|2001|| ''[[The Tailor of Panama (film)|The Tailor of Panama]]'' || Maltby ||
|-
|2003|| ''[[Calendar Girls]]'' || Frank ||
|-
|2005|| ''[[Match Point]]'' || John the Chauffeur ||
|}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{Cite book|title=Melon for Ecstasy|author1=Wells, John  |author2=Fortune, John|year=1971|publisher=Prion |isbn=978-1853754708}}
*{{Cite book|title=The Long Johns|author1=Bird, John  |author2=Fortune, John|publisher=Hutchinson|location=London|year=1996|isbn=978-0-09-180216-5}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb name|0287432}}
* [https://archive.today/20130209030400/http://www.vivienneclore.com/articles/John_187807_28.html John Fortune] at Vivienne Clore
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060925042331/http://www.psa.ac.uk/awards2003/bremner_bird_fortune.htm Bremner, Bird and Fortune, "Best Political Satire -Television, 2003"] – Political Studies Association Awards 2003
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091003031800/http://www.bafta.org/learning/webcasts/bird-and-fortune,698,BA.html Bird and Fortune: A Life in Television] [[BAFTA]] filmed event, March 2009
* [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/john-fortune-comedian-and-author-best-known-for-collaborations-and-sketches-that-poked-fun-at-the-powerful-and-selfimportant-9032043.html Obituary] in ''The Independent'' by [[Marcus Williamson]]

{{British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune, John}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English novelists]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Best Entertainment Performance BAFTA Award (television) winners]]
[[Category:English male comedians]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:English male radio actors]]
[[Category:English male stage actors]]
[[Category:English male television actors]]
[[Category:English male writers]]
[[Category:English satirists]]
[[Category:People educated at Bristol Cathedral Choir School]]
[[Category:Male actors from Bristol]]
[[Category:Comedians from Bristol]]