The son of a solicitor, Le Mesurier was educated at Sherborne School, and began to study acting at the age of 20, using his mother's maiden name (common in the Channel Islands) Le Mesurier (pronounced 'Le Measurer') as his stage name. He served in World War II in the Royal Armoured Corps, reaching the rank of captain.Le Mesurier appeared in over 100 films, including Private's Progress (1956), Brothers in Law (1957), Carlton Brown of the FO (1959), I'm All Right Jack (1959), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), Doctor in Love (1960), The Pure Hell of St Trinian's (1960), The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963), The Pink Panther (1963), Our Man in Marrakesh (1966), The Wrong Box (1966), The Italian Job (1969), and The Alf Garnett Saga (1972). In Ben-Hur (1959) he has an uncredited cameo role as a doctor. He also appeared in most of Tony Hancock's films and many episodes of his television series. His final film was with Peter Sellers in The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu in 1980. In most of his performances, he presented an impression of good-natured vagueness, which acquaintances claim was close to his true personality.Le Mesurier's most popular TV (and radio) role was as the upper-class Sergeant Arthur Wilson in Dad's Army from 1968 to 1977. He accepted that role after finding out Clive Dunn, with whom he had worked in the Players' Theatre, would be playing the part of Corporal Jones. He gave a memorable performance in Dennis Potter's play Traitor (1971) which won him a Society of Film and Television Arts "Best Television Actor" award. Following the success of Dad's Army, Le Mesurier recorded several wartime songs as singles; A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square / Hometown (the latter with Arthur Lowe) on the Warner label in 1975 and There Ain't Much Change From A Pound These Days / After All These Years with Clive Dunn on KA Records in 1982.From the mid-1960s until his death he provided the original voice for the animated TV commercial character "Flour Grader Fred", a little man in a bowler hat who advertised Homepride Flour and related products. (The character continues, voiced by other actors). In 1975 Le Mesurier narrated Bod, an animated children's programme from the BBC about a boy named Bod, his aunt Flo and their friends and their rather strange adventures (like falling into a manhole and finding a giant strawberry).On radio he reprised the role of Arthur Wilson in It Sticks Out Half a Mile, and played The Wise Old Bird in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1980) and Bilbo Baggins in the BBC's 1981 radio version of The Lord of the Rings (1981).Elsewhere Le Mesurier played a minor role in Granada TV's adaptation of Brideshead Revisited in 1981 and guest starred in episodes of the British comedy television series The Goodies and Doctor in the House.
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