John Barron: John Barron, who has died at 83, was an actor of serious mien who extracted the maximum humour from an extensive range of stuffy or superior television characters - most famously as Leonard Rossiter's boss in The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin (BBC, 1976-79).
CJ's recurring pronouncement that 'he hadn't got where he was today' by failing in whatever way Reggie was failing - in his view - became a national watchword.
A Londoner, the son of a naval officer and an actress, Barron trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Among his film credits were support roles in Plateau Of Fear and The Day The Earth Caught Fire (1961), Sink The Bismarck! (1960) and To Catch A King (1984). But he will be remembered for his sitcom roles, from All Gas And Gaiters (1966) and The Scales Of Justice (1968) through The Glums (1978), Shelley (1979) and To The Manor Born (1979), to Whoops Apocalypse (1982) and Yes, Minister (1980).
John Barron: born December 24th, 1920; died July 3rd, 2004.