LONDON — Peter Rogers, producer of all 31 “Carry On” films, has died at age 95, Pinewood Studios said today.
Rogers died Tuesday at his home in Gerrards Cross, 20 miles northwest of London, the studio said.
He produced all of the innuendo-laden “Carry On” films, starting with “Carry On Sergeant” in 1958, and continued working at Pinewood Studies until early this year.
His last credit was as a co-producer of “Blood and Chocolate,” a made-for-television horror/romance film in 2007.
“He was an institution at the film studios and a prolific film producer,” said Ivan Dunleavy, chief executive of Pinewood Shepperton PLC.
The “Carry On” series was enormously popular and lucrative, though the humor based on leering references to breasts and bottoms was the despair of highbrow critics.
“We did have a wonderful time in those days but we weren’t paid wonderful money,” said Leslie Phillips, 84, an actor in the series.
That complaint was shared by other actors, but Rogers shrugged it off. “I do my best to make a film on time and under budget, that’s all,” he was quoted as saying in “Mr. Carry On,” his authorized biography.
When the late Kenneth Williams demanded a car to ferry him to work, Rogers said the cost would come out of Williams’ salary.
“We all argued about the money he (Rogers) paid us but I am in a fortunate position and I could move on,” Phillips said.
“Some of the others, who have died, weren’t able to and if they were alive today I would be interested to see what they would say.”
Rogers loved animals, Philips said, “and he would always send a bouquet of flowers to my dog so he was terribly generous in some ways.”
Rogers’ wife, film producer Betty Box, died in 1999. The couple had no children.
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