On this day in history : 2nd November 1954 – BBC radio comedy ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’ makes its debut….
Tony Hancock – Fair use
The very first episode ‘The First Night Party’ – with special guest appearances from Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Moria Lister and Bill Kerr – sees Hancock throw a party to celebrate his new radio show….having hired a venue from Sid…. Of course, things don’t go according to plan….
Approximately 100 episodes of Hancock’s Half Hour were made for radio broadcast….following Hancock’s adventures as an actor and comedian finding it hard to make his way in his chosen career…. In 1956 it made its first appearance on television, paving the way for the traditional sitcom….
Tony Hancock (right) and Sid James – Fair use
Writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson had met in 1948 whilst both in a sanatorium recovering from TB…. Later Hancock, Galton and Simpson went on to create Steptoe and Son for the BBC….
On this day in history : 3rd June 1971 – The premier in London’s West End of the longest-running comedy in history ~ “No Sex Please, We’re British”….starring Michael Crawford….
Written by Alastair Foot and Anthony Marriott and directed by Allan Davis the farcical play opened at the West End’s Strand Theatre….
Strand Theatre (2007) – Turquoisefish CC By 3.0
The plot centred around Bank Manager Peter Hunter and his new wife, Frances, who live in a flat above the bank…. Frances sends away for some Scandinavian glass – but when it arrives it turns out to be not glass at all….but Scandinavian pornography…. A flood of photographs, books and films begins to arrive and the couple, along with the bank’s chief cashier, Brian Runnicles, desperately try to find a way to get rid of it…. Matters are complicated by Peter’s interfering mother, his boss, a bank inspector and a police superintendent….
The part of Brian Runnicles was at first played by Michael Crawford and later by David Jason…. Crawford used the character of Runnicles for his persona of Frank Spencer in “Some Mother’s Do ‘Ave ‘Em”…. He was offered the part of Frank after the success of “No Sex Please, We’re British” but had not been the first choice for the hit sit-com…. the part had been offered to Ronnie Barker and then Norman Wisdom – but both had turned it down…. However, it has to be said Michael Crawford made Frank Spencer his own….
Michael Crawford in Sydney, 2012 – Eva Rinaldi CC BY-SA 2.0
The character of Frances Hunter in “No Sex Please, We’re British” was initially played by Belinda Carroll…. The comedy ran until 1987, playing at full houses at three West End theatres:- The Strand, The Garrick and The Duchess, giving a total of 6,761 performances…. However, it did not enjoy the same level of success in America, closing after only sixteen performances on Broadway in 1973….
Also in 1973 a film version starring Ronnie Corbett as Brian was released with with changes to names, script and elements of the plot….
On this day in history : 4th May 1984 – Diana Dors, film actress, singer and writer, the English equivalent to Hollywood’s blonde bombshell, dies of cancer….
Diana Dors on the Rudi Carrell Show 1968 – Public domain
Born Diana Mary Fluck on the 23rd of October 1931 in Swindon, Wiltshire, Diana knew from an early age that she wanted to be an actress…. Her passion as a young girl being the cinema – her heroines Hollywood actresses such as Veronica Lake, Jean Harlow and Lana Turner….
As a girl Diana was mature for her age, looking older than her years…. At the age of 14 she was offered a place at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art….making her their youngest ever student….
She made her film debut in 1947, a small uncredited role in ‘The Shop at Sly Corner’…. On signing the contracts she was asked to change her name from ‘Fluck’ – and she opted for her maternal grandmother’s maiden name of ‘Dors’….
Also in 1947 she had a small part in the comedy drama ‘Holiday Camp’ and a walk-on part in ‘Dancing with Crime’ starring Richard Attenborough…. 1948 saw her in a further 6 films including the role of Charlotte in ‘Oliver Twist’….
At the age of 16 she signed with the Rank Organisation and in 1949 landed her first leading role in the period drama ‘Diamond City’, set in 19th century South Africa…. In May 1956 she signed with RKO and left England for a career in Hollywood….
Diana Dors and Phil Silvers 1958 – CBS Television – Public domain
In 1951 Diana had married Dennis Hamilton, five weeks after meeting him on the film set of ‘Lady Godiva Rides Again’…. Hamilton, although a charmer, was a controlling, violent man who exploited her and took over her business affairs…. He also reportedly involved Diana in sex parties and introduced her to the likes of the Kray twins who he counted amongst his friends…. Incidentally, Diana became friends with Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Great Britain, whom she had also met on the set of ‘Lady Godiva’…. Ellis had a small part in the film….
It was at a party held for Diana that scandal broke out…. Diana, Hamilton and two others were posing for a poolside photo shoot when the Press surged forwards, knocking the four into the pool…. Hamilton was beyond furious; he exited the water and punched the nearest photographer, knocking him to the ground…. Hamilton then repeatedly kicked the man in the head until he lost consciousness….
Feeling she had to get away, Diana returned to England…. The end of her marriage left her financially crippled; Hamilton had forced her to sign over all her assets….
Diana resumed her career in Britain and throughout the 1950s her popularity increased…. She also started to do cabaret with her ‘The Diana Dors Show’…. In 1959 she married comedian Richard Dawson and had two sons, Mark and Gary…. However, the marriage ended in 1966….
Diana Dors in ‘I Married A Woman’ 1958 – John Irving via Flickr
She remarried in 1968, this time to actor Alan Lake and had another son, Jason…. Lake was a reputed alcoholic and the marriage was stormy….
It was during this period of time that she recorded her album ‘Swingin’ Dors’…. Continuing to work Diana began to diversify in her career – in 1978 her first book ‘For Adults Only’ was published and was an instant bestseller…. She also became Agony Aunt for the Daily Star….and was later to become a TV agony aunt…. She even appeared as the fairy godmother in the Adam and the Ants music video for ‘Prince Charming’….
Diana Dors and Phil Silvers 1958 – CBS Television – Public domain
To celebrate her 50th birthday a special edition of the Russell Harty show was filmed at her home…. But tragically, unbeknown, Diana’s life was drawing to a close…. For the last two years of her life she battled ovarian cancer…. In March 1984 she started work on her last film, ‘Steaming’ – but sadly lost her battle in May…. Diana died at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Windsor…. Having converted to Catholicism in 1973 she was buried at the Sunningdale Catholic Cemetery….
Devastated, Lake took his own life a few months later….16 years to the day of when they had first met….
Diana is claimed to have left a fortune to their son….details of which were given to the family in code… A code only Lake knew how to decipher….it is thought around £2 million was hidden in banks across Europe…. However, its whereabouts to this day remains a mystery….
In her autobiography ‘Dors by Diana’ she said of her life that she “enjoyed the whole absurd mess to the highest possible degree”….
On this day in history : 6th March 1917 – The birth of Francis Alick Howard – who was better known to us as comedian and comic actor Frankie Howerd….
The son of a soldier, Howerd was born in York – and was educated at Shooter’s Hill Grammar School, London…. His first stage appearance was at the age of 13…. However, after failing to get into RADA a career in serious acting was not to be…. It was whilst serving in the army during WWII that he began to entertain….and it was also at this time that he changed his name to Howerd – apparently ‘just to be different’….
He began his professional entertainment career in 1946, in the touring show ‘For the Fun of It’…. He made his radio debut in December of the same year and his first screen role was in the film ‘The Runaway Bus’ in 1954, in which he starred opposite Petula Clark….
Portrait by Allan Warren 1978 – CC BY-SA 3.0
With a mixture of jokes, impressions, comical songs and monologues Howerd hosted his own series of TV shows in the 1950s…. Known for his risqué double entendres he came across as a larger than life figure – however, this couldn’t be further from the truth in reality….
Howerd suffered from acute stage fright – (his close friend Cilla Black once said of him – ‘that it made him physically ill’)…. He was a painfully shy man, lacking in self confidence and prone to severe depression…. He was also terrified of his sexuality becoming common knowledge…. At a time when homosexuality between men was illegal (until 1967 in England and Wales and 1981 in Scotland) it would have ruined his career….
He met his partner, Dennis Heymer – 12 years his junior – in 1958. Heymer also became his manager and helped him to revive his flagging career during the 1960s…. The couple were together for over 30 years – until Howerd’s death on the 19th of April 1992, after suffering heart failure due to a respiratory illness…. Always their relationship remained discreet outside of their immediate circle…. Howerd is buried at St. Gregory’s Church, Weare, Somerset – Heymer, who died in May 2009, is buried close by….
Frankie Howerd Blue Plaque, York – Image credit: Peter Hughes via Flickr
On this day in history : 22nd December 1909 – The birth of BAFTA award winning actress Patricia Hayes – who appeared in so many much loved radio and television comedy shows….
Fair use
Patricia was born in Streatham, London…. Her father, George Frederick Hayes, was a civil service clerk and her mother, Florence Alice, was a school teacher…. After attending school in Hammersmith Patricia joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the age of 18 – having already made her stage debut when she was just 12 years old…. After her training she was to spend the next ten years in the repertory theatre….
She married actor Valentine Brooke in 1939 and they were to have three children, two daughters and a son, the actor Richard O’Callaghan…. Patricia and her husband were to divorce in 1951, she never remarried….
During the 1940s she appeared in numerous films, including Went the Day Well? in 1942 and Nicholas Nickleby in 1947 – but during the 1950s it was radio and TV comedy that she was to become well-known for…. Her work included Hancock’s Half Hour, The Benny Hill Show, The Arthur Askey Show and Till Death Us Do Part…. She was frequently cast in the roles of Cockney characters…. She would still occasionally undertake film work, appearing in films such as The Bargee in 1964, The NeverEnding Story in 1984, A Fish Called Wanda in 1988 and Willow in 1988….
Theatrical release poster for The NeverEnding Story
But it was in 1971 that Patricia took on a very different role to her usual comedy characters, when she stared in Jeremy Sandford’s Play for Today Edna, the Inebriate Woman…. Her powerful portrayal of the drunk and troubled Edna won her a BAFTA…. After this it would have been easy to alter the path of her career to follow a route of more serious roles – but Patricia chose to return to the comedy she did so well….
She was awarded with an OBE in 1987…. She continued acting well into the 1990s with appearances in ITV’s The Bill and the BBC’s Lovejoy…. Patricia died on the 19th of September 1998 in the Surrey village of Puttenham and is buried in Watts Cemetery, Compton…. Her last film Crime and Punishment was released posthumously in 2002….
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