Leslie Phillips had a more unusual career in furniture sales, though he was more recognized for his catchphrase “Ding Dong!” and for portraying lecherous bounders.
The 98-year-old veteran actor was best known for his roles in the Carry-On and Harry Potter movies. He also contributed to the establishment of a family-run furniture store in south Wales.
When you answered the phone when he called, you would hear his renowned “hello,” according to Rhian Francis.
The actor was reportedly connected to the company for more than 50 years, according to the owner of The Place for Homes in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan.
Even during her wedding, he made a speech that naturally started with the “hello…” He was a gorgeous man, very much the English gentleman, she remarked.
Along with Ms. Francis’s father, Graham Nelson, the comedy Casanova was one of the store’s early creators in the 1970s, and it has remained significantly connected in the industry ever since.
Leslie was an integral part of the team, Ms. Francis said on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast. “We would have monthly board meetings that he would attend, and any form of long-term planning was made as a family, with Leslie, he was very much part of the team.”
The friendship between Mr. Nelson and the Bafta-nominated actor developed after Mr. Nelson joined the company in which the actor served as director.
The Place For Homes was the moniker Phillips came up with for their eventual company venture.
Over the years, according to Ms. Francis, he grew to be a member of the family and called practically weekly to speak to her father.
Hello, sweetheart.
“He would call, you would pick up the phone, and you would hear that well-known “hello,” which would say, “Hello lovely, how are you? May I speak to your dad please?”
So, we were accustomed to hearing that term frequently.
Leslie was “always very gracious, he would stop and accept the autograph (requests),” she said, adding that many of the staff members who had worked in the store over the years had met him.
“He was a lovely, lovely man. He was always very generous in the way he would speak to people and interact with them.”
She recalled how he and his late wife, Angela Scoular, attended her wedding as one of her favorite memories.
“He approached the top table, put his hand on my father’s and my shoulders, and then started to speak.
One of my favorite memories of him is how he began the speech with the well-known “hello,” which set the tone for the entire speech.
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