Gordon Kaye

Rene

Gordon Fitzgerald Kaye was born 7 April 1941 and is best known for his role as René Artois in the British sitcom 'Allo 'Allo! He first became known to the public as Elsie Tanner's nephew Bernard Butler in Coronation Street in 1969, he later made an impression on producer/writer David Croft following memorable guest roles in It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Are You Being Served? and Come Back Mrs Noah.

In 1982, Croft sent Kaye the script for the pilot episode of 'Allo 'Allo! inviting him to play the central character of René Artois. He accepted and went on to appear in each of the show's 85 episodes and many productions of the hit stage version.

Kaye suffered a serious head injury in a car accident during the Burns' Day storm on 25 January 1990. Although he cannot remember any details of the incident, he still has a scar on his forehead from a piece of wooden advertising boarding that smashed through the car windscreen.

Gorden Kaye returned as René Artois in a 2007 one-off television revival of 'Allo 'Allo and in a stage show in Brisbane, Australia at the Twelfth Night Theatre in June and July, alongside Sue Hodge as Mimi Labonq and Guy Siner as Lieutenant Gruber. The other characters were portrayed by various famous Australian actors including Katy Manning, Steven Tandy, Chloe Dallimore, Jason Gann, Tony Alcock and David Knijnenburg.

He is currently appearing in a second UK tour of the play There's No Place Like a Home