Forgotten Comedians

[carni 10,094]

I was just thinking of some of the great comedians who seem to have been forgotten. Many were hugely popular in their day, people like Jimmy Edwards, Freddie 'Parrot Face' Davis, Hugh Lloyd, Ronald Fraser, Dave King etc. Some, like Arthur Haynes, thanks to Network DVD releases are now back in favour. I wonder what it is that makes some comedians like Max Miller last, whilst others like Rob Wilton are lost to the archives. Can any one else remember any comedy greats that have unfairly been consigned to the bin of history.

After waking to a lovely cup of tea and the sun shining and the birds singing away.I find my self day dreaming, and for some reason "I'll Smash your face in" popped into my thoughts! Then I thought about all of the old comics that we don't see anymore. Freddie 'Parrot Face' Davies, whose saying was that particular one, is one of those people. Funny what pops in to your mind, so i googled him and that's when I realised how many names, I had forgotton. Can you remember any more and the sayings we know them by.

Sorry if this had been done before, I typed it on a Whim.

PS don't know why it's come up highlighted?

[benjamin1945 16,139]

Them 'whims' can be uncomfortable carnie'

[carni 10,094]

benjamin, You are Awful, But I Like you...........Oooh Betty

[benjamin1945 16,139]

'Say no more' .............'.open the cage and let me out'...............who said them?

[DAVIDW 1,681]

One that died out before most of us were born was "Meredith , we're in" and it has Nottingham connections.

It was used by a comedian called Fred Kitchen who was part of Fred Karnos touring vaudeville act .Fred Karnos real name was Frederick Westcott who was born in Nottingham in 1866. He discovered Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel.

The catchphrase came from a sketch called The Bailiffs where two hapless bailiffs tried all sorts of crazy ruses to gain access to a house to seize goods . Whatever idea was suggested Fred Kitchen would always end it with ...."and then... Meredith we're in ".

From Kitchens wiki :

He was the lead comedian with Karno's company from 1897 to 1910 . Charlie Chaplin, managed by Karno, was influenced by Kitchen's comic style, his splayed walk and scruffy costume.Chaplin commented "A part of the [tramp] character was inspired by Fred Kitchen, an old fellow-trouper of mine in vaudeville. He had flat feet." The sketch that Karno and Kitchen co-wrote, entitled " The Football Match " made Kitchen's name.

He was known for the catchphrase "Meredith, we're in!" from The Baliffs (1907), a sketch which toured the country for many years.The catchphrase's popularity was helped by the fact that footballer Billy Meredith (1874-1958), had transferred from Manchester City Football Club to Manchester United. The line was carved on his tombstone and was used in common parlance well beyond his lifetime.

[plantfit 7,569]

Was it Bernie Winters who said "I'll smash your face in"? don't matter anyway, Mike and Bernie Winters were a good double act, Never liked Bob Monkhouse when I was younger but now I'm old and senile I think his brand of comedy was great,a good all round comedian who could find humour in any subject as can Ken Dodd

Rog

[catfan 14,793]

Arthur Askey "Hello Playmates".

[carni 10,094]

Yup plantfit,

Parrot Face used to say "Sick Sick Sick Up To Here"! I Think! What A Plonker Carni

[FLY2 10,108]

Couldn't stand Arthur Askey at any price. I found him an arrogant little pip squeak, too in your face. The epitome of the little man with an inferiority complex.

Bernie Winters, funny, my God, no way!

[Fynger 841]

I must get a little hand on this watch.......have yer been .....

[catfan 14,793]

I must get a little hand on this watch.......have yer been .....

Hilda Baker !

[catfan 14,793]

Couldn't stand Arthur Askey at any price. I found him an arrogant little pip squeak, too in your face. The epitome of the little man with an inferiority complex.

Bernie Winters, funny, my God, no way!

I hated Arthur Askey, he really was irritating, Bernie Winters amazed me how he could be called a comedian & then he brought his dog "Snorbitz" or some other stupid name, god awful.

[Cliff Ton 10,449]

What seems to be apparent is that a lot of these forgotten "comedians" of the 1950s and early 60s became forgotten for a very good reason. They weren't actually funny.

Nostalgia tells you they were funny, but if you see their material now, you wonder "what on earth did we see in that?"

[catfan 14,793]

What seems to be apparent is that a lot of these forgotten "comedians" of the 1950s and early 60s became forgotten for a very good reason. They weren't actually funny.

Nostalgia tells you they were funny, but if you see their material now, you wonder "what on earth did we see in that?"

Spot on !

[FLY2 10,108]

I liked Jimmy Edwards, he always made me laugh.

[Mess 614]

I was born in 1950 and grew up reading the Dandy and Beano.

I started collecting the comics and annuals about 25 years ago and in pursuit of these I regularly come across Film Fun, Radio Fun and TV Fun comics and annuals which I was aware of as a kid but took little interest in.

They feature a huge range of very well drawn caricatures of comedians ranging from Charlie Chaplin,Laurel & Hardy through Arthur Askey, George Formby (Turned out nice again), The Crazy Gang,Tommy Trinder (You lucky people) Terry Thomas, (I say and You’re an absolute shower), Jimmy Clitheroe, Cardew Robinson, Frankie Howerd, Benny Hill, Bruce Forsyth, Tommy Cooper, Tony Hancock and Jimmy Edwards to name just a few.

I think Bruce Forsth is the only one of the above still with us.

When he compered Sunday Night at the London Palladium his catchphrase was “I’m in charge”. I don’t think he started saying “Nice to see you to see you nice” until he started on The Generation Game

When I Googled Terry Thomas I came across a very sad clip of him on YouTube in his final months when he was suffering from Parkinsons. It made me cry. He was brilliant as the villain Ivan in Tom Thumb (1958) and he also did the voice of Sir Hiss in Disney’s Robin Hood (1973). Wonderful English upper crust accent

[Mess 614]

What seems to be apparent is that a lot of these forgotten "comedians" of the 1950s and early 60s became forgotten for a very good reason. They weren't actually funny.

Nostalgia tells you they were funny, but if you see their material now, you wonder "what on earth did we see in that?"

Sorry but Tony Hancock, Morecambe and Wise and Tommy Cooper were and still are IMHO funny.

Humour is such a personal thing.

Arthur Haynes and Mike & Bernie Winters never made me laugh.

Harry Worth was bloody awful (IMHO)

[Merthyr Imp 729]

Here's a few from me.

Will Hay - My 13-year-old son's favourite comedy film is 'Oh, Mr Porter!' and he thinks he's great. I've got a boxed set of Will Hay films, but they never appear on TV these days.

Old Mother Riley (Arthur Lucan) - Remember those films were a staple of TV in the early 1960s? I used to like them then, but I suspect they're deservedly forgotten these days.

Sid Field - He was a big star in the 1940s on stage, and is often praised as one of the best ever by such as Eric Sykes, Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Bob Hope, but is probably forgotten now because he only made a handful of films. He originated the phrase 'What a performance!'

From my young days, how about Cardew 'The Cad' Robinson? He always seemed to be on 'Workers Playtime' and was popular enough to have his own comic strip in 'Radio Fun'.

And Bill Fraser and Alfie Bass - They were very big in the early 60s in 'The Army Game', then continued the same characters in 'Bootsie & Snudge'.

[catfan 14,793]

One of my old favourites from the 70s was Charlie Williams the black comedian with the broad yorkshire accent, "Me Old Flower" was his catchphrase.

Interestingly he was the first black british pro footballer playing for Doncaster Rovers & finishing his football career with Skegness AFC.

He rose to fame after appearing on the TV program "The Comedians" which launched the careers of many other comedians, Too many to list.

[benjamin1945 16,139]

Saw him play against County once and he wer'nt bad,wife shared a train journey with him in the 80s and said 'what a nice man' he was.

[LizzieM 9,504]

I hated Arthur Askey, he really was irritating, Bernie Winters amazed me how he could be called a comedian & then he brought his dog "Snorbitz" or some other stupid name, god awful.

I couldn't stand Mike and Bernie Winters either but Shnorbitz was my sister-in-law's dog, she lent / hired him to Bernie for his show and then Bernie loved him so much that he adopted him.

[Bazza 123 34]

Max Wall and his funny tights he wore with oversize shoes

[Bazza 123 34]

Tommy Cooper one of the best, actually died on stage as the curtains drew to a close you could see his feet sticking out from the curtains.

[katyjay 5,090]

Here's a list from Wikipedia, I'm sure it's not complete, my dad loved a comedian in the early days of telly, Freddy ?, hung round a lamp post like he was drunk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_comedians

[Rob.L 1,086]

Sounds like Freddie Frinton.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Frinton