Biography
Alfie Bass was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; their parents had fled persecution in Russia. He began his career on stage at the Unity Theatre in the late 1930s and appeared in a variety of stage, film, television and radio productions.
Bass made his film debut in the 1940s and is known for roles including Shorty Fisher in The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), Harry Clamacraft in Alfie (1966), the Gatekeeper in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), Mr Goldberg in Are You Being Served? (1972), Shagal in The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), and a waiter in Brief Encounter (1945). He also appeared in Moonraker (1979) and Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978). On television he played Private Montague 'Excused Boots' Bisley in The Army Game (1957–1961) and its spin-off Bootsie and Snudge.
