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Morecambe and WiseDateline: 28th March, 1999 The death of Ernie Wise on 21st March at the age of 73 marked the end of a piece of British entertainment history. If ever there was a British equivalent of Laurel and Hardy - although, come to think of it, Stan Laurel was British! - it was Morecambe and Wise. Eric Morecambe died in May 1984, bringing to an end the most successful comedy partnership in Britain - ever. Ernie Wise lived on for a further fifteen years bar a couple of months, but the halcyon days were over. Together, as Des O'Connor says, they were brilliant, but on their own they were average comedians. They first began working together in 1941 as young lads, and stayed together for 43 years. They first worked the variety houses and theatres, did radio and and then TV, but their first TV show was a disaster. Panned by the critics and virtually ignored by the public, they wanted the BBC to withdraw it after the second show, but the BBC refused. You'll find a very good, albeit fairly brief, summary of their careers on Tim Lomas' Morecambe and Wise Homepage. The duo made three forays onto the big screen - The Intelligence Men in 1965, That Riviera Touch in 1966 and The Magnificent Two in 1967 - but, although reasonably well received by the fans, they were nowhere near as popular as their TV series. In fact, there was at least one series of Morecambe and Wise TV shows on British TV screens each year from 1961 to 1983. They did 67 shows for ATV from '61 to '68, mainly of 30-35 minutes, although there were ten which were one hour long. In 1968 they returned to the BBC, where they stayed until 1977, producing 69 shows, including eight Christmas Specials. In 1977 they swapped channels again, going to Thames Television where they did 33 shows (including six Christmas Specials) until Eric's death.
It is perhaps for the nine BBC series and Chrismas Specials of '68-'77 that they are best remembered, for, although the first series was written by Sid Green and Dick Hills who went with them from ATV, it was not until they started working with writer Eddie Braben that they became a national institution, a status they enjoy even today. Eric Morecambe had his first heart attack after the first series and Green and Hills went back to ATV, fearing an end of the Morecambe and Wise show, where they signed an exclusive contract. It was with Braben as the writer that they produced their greatest comedy. Even early in their TV career they attracted star names with work with them: the Beatles appeared singing By the Light of the Silv'ry Moon with them in one memorable show, but with Braben the stars were really queuing up to work with them: Shirley Bassey was prepared to have her performance ruined by their antics, Andre Previn (Andrew Privet) was mocked, and Glenda Jackson played Cleopatra to Ernie's Antony. How she must have relished that wonderful line - "What makes men mad is having beauty like what I have got"! Morecambe and Wise were not actors, they were comics. They were at their best with the sketch format, which is why their films were less successful, but with sketches they were supreme. For the theatre-lover, it is perhaps Ernie's plays "wot I wrote" which are the most enjoyable of all their work. Everyone has their favourite sketch, even their favourite line, and some of the catchphrases - "Short fat hairy legs", for instance, or "Get out of that without moving!" - will be common currency for decades to come. I still fall around at this piece of dialogue (from Ernie's play about Napoleon): Have you got the scrolls?Well, perhaps you need to see it! But perhaps the biggest tribute ever to Eric and Ernie was the audience for their 1977 Christmas Special. It was watched by over 27.5 million people - around half the population of the UK at that time. The Morecambe and Wise era really came to an end with Eric Morecambe's death in 1984: Ernie Wise' death simply drew a line beneath it. It is, I think, right for us to look back and rejoice at the work of two people who brought joy into the lives of so many for so long. It's not theatre in the narrowest definition of the word, perhaps, but the plays wot Ernie wrote surely have their place in the world of British theatre in its broadest sense. Articles Indices: |
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