Jack Haig

Who was Jack Haig?

Jack Haig was a British actor who specialised in supporting roles, mainly in TV comedy.

Haig was the son of music hall actors Bertha Baker and Charles Coppin, whose act went under the name "Haig and Esco". He was seen in a long list of British TV favourites: Hugh and I, Dad's Army, Are You Being Served?, Terry and June and others. He was in the Crossroads soap opera as occasional character Archie Gibbs from 1967 to 1982 and a couple of cinema films. He achieved his greatest success as Monsieur LeClerc in BBC's 'Allo 'Allo!, a role he played until his death. His last appearance was in the final episode of series 5, where he impersonated a Spanish guitarist, alongside Kenneth Connor, who had an Enigma code machine hidden in his accordion. He is remembered for his signature line, "It is I, LeClerc!"

His earlier TV work included a regular spot as a comic on The One O'clock Show and Happy Go Lucky a children's TV show during the 1960s. The One O'Clock Show was shown every weekday in the Tyne Tees area of ITV. He usually appeared in sketches as 'Wacky Jackie', generally playing the fool in a music hall comedy style.

In 1989, Haig became too ill to work and later died of cancer. His wife was revue actress Sybil Dunn, who had died the previous year, two days before their golden wedding anniversary. They had one daughter.