Don Estelle Pickfords man in one episode (1969) and an ARP Warden called Gerald in three more (1970). He eventually landed the role of Gunner "Lofty" Sugden in the British sitcom, "It Ain't Half Hot Mum" which was first broadcast in 1974 and ran until 1981. Windsor Davies often took the micky out of Lofty in the episodes. The character was given the ironic nickname of "Lofty" because of Estelle's short stature. Estelle had a powerful tenor voice, and had a Number 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1975 with a semi-comic version of "Whispering Grass", followed by a cover
Don Estelle of "Linda Smith's A Brief History of Timewasting" as "Little Don" of the "East End Art Mafia". In his autobiography "Sing Lofty: Thoughts Of A Gemini", Estelle was extremely bitter about modern-day entertainment, attacking those who refused to rerun "It Ain't Half Hot Mum" as "tight-crutched, white-trousered morons". According to his obituary in "The Independent", "in recent years Estelle cut a slightly sorry figure, dressed in his "Lofty" outfit, setting out a stall of his tapes and singing to passers-by in shopping centres. He played a dirty old man in the promotional video for "The Sun" Page Three Girl Jo