¡Adios, Manuel!

'Uno, dos, tres'

Andrew Sachs in 2004

7 April 1930 - 23 November 2016 [Wikipedia]

The death of Andrew Sachs was announced today. He had been suffering from dementia for the last four years. He played Manuel, a Spanish waiter from Barcelona, in the twelve episodes of Fawlty Towers, six made in 1975 and six in 1979. 'Manuel' is one of the funniest characters ever to appear on TV and, I would venture, in the whole of literature. He was put-upon by his employer, Basil Fawlty, but everyone was on his side.

The Uno, dos, tres clip above is one of my favourites, as I have a smattering of Spanish. And, as an Irishman, I really enjoyed the episode below involving the 'Orally men', men working for a cheap, corner-cutting Irish builder named O'Reilly, doing some 'repairs' to Fawlty Towers, a small hotel located in Torquay in the south-west of England.

I remember watching the first series of Fawlty Towers with my late Dad in 1976 while at home in Dublin from the Philippines for the first time. That must have been the first of countless re-runs as it came out in 1975.

'Orally men'

¡Adios, Manuel/Andrew! You brought, and continue to bring, joy into the lives of so many people. ¡Adios! - 'To God!' - in the very fullest meaning of that beautiful greeting. May the joy of heaven be yours.

'Manuel' [Wikipedia]