Spanish Eyes

Don Estelle

Don Estelle (22 May 1933 – 2 August 2003) was a British actor and singer best known as Gunner "Lofty" Sugden in It Ain't Half Hot Mum. Born Ronald Edwards in Crumpsall, Manchester, Lancashire, he was brought up in a house on Russell Street, Crumpsall. During the Second World War, at the age of eight, he was evacuated to Darwen, Lancashire, twenty miles from his home, to escape the German bombing of the city. It was there he found his voice as a treble at the local Holy Trinity Parish Church, and on returning home after the war, he continued singing at St Mary's Church, Crumpsall. He later joined a charity group, the Manchester Kentucky Minstrels, and performed with them the Mario Lanza hit "Granada" in the talent show What Makes a Star? in 1954 at BBC Radio's… more »