Leslie Phillips, the British actor known for his roles in the Harry Potter and Carry-On franchises, died Monday following a long illness. He was 98, Deadline reports.
According to the report, dis agent Jonathan Lloyd confirmed that Leslie Phillips died peacefully in his sleep.
Leslie Phillips began acting back in the 1930s and went on to have a glittering stage and screen career, appearing in several of the British Carry-On comedies of the 20th century and as the voice of the Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter films.
Leslie Phillips was nominated for a BAFTA and won a British Independent Film Award for his role in Hanif Kurieshi’s Venus in 2006, in which he starred opposite Peter O’Toole, and received the London Critics Circle’s Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film in 2007.
Phillips also appeared with Angelina Jolie in 2001 feature Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
Born in 1924, Phillips’ distinctive voice and roles as smooth upper-class British characters would make him famous in the UK and U.S., along with his saucy catchphrases “Ding Dong”, “Heee-llo” and “I Say” from films such as Carry On Teacher, Carry On Columbus and Carry On Nurse.
He made his film debut in 1938 in Lassie from Lancashire and went on to appear in hundreds of theatrical and TV roles, before taking on his role in the Harry Potter films toward the end of his career.
Phillips became an OBE in 1998 and was promoted to CBE in 2008.