Comedy actor Jack Douglas, best known for his appearances in the Carry On film series, died yesterday of pneumonia.

Douglas (81) had been ill for a few years but died at 7.15am yesterday on the Isle of Wight, where he lived with his partner Vivien Howell.

He made his name as the nervous and fidgety Carry On character Alf Ippititimus with his famous “Phwaay!” catchphrase.

In later life, he was a regular on the theatre and pantomime circuit.

His agent and friend Phil Dale said: “Jack was one of those lovely people who came from the world of comedy and understood comedy timing in the sense of the old British tradition of farce, which is seldom done these days.”

Douglas was born in Newcastle upon Tyne and worked in the theatre before appearing in the last seven Carry On films of the original series, including Carry On Matron, Carry On Abroad, Carry On Girls, Carry On Dick, Carry On Behind, Carry On England and Carry On Emmanuelle.

His role grew from a cameo with one line of dialogue in Matron to a leading role in Emmanuelle.