Actors - Eric Morecambe

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	Actors - Eric Morecambe

Eric Morecambe OBE was the stage name of John Eric Bartholomew (May 14, 1926 – May 28, 1984), part of the double act of Morecambe and Wise with Ernie Wise. In the UK he is widely considered to have been a "comic genius".

Eric took his stage name from the seaside resort of Morecambe in Lancashire, England, his home town. He and Ernie were both teenagers when they teamed up in 1941, and had still to face national service during World War II when he was a Bevin Boy, conscripted to work in a coal mine.

Before his sudden death, Eric had already suffered a massive heart attack in November 1968 which had forced him to put his career on hold. It was an experience he often talked about publicly. He had a second heart attack in March 1979 which led him to have a heart bypass in June 1979.

Eric's final appearance was in a live, solo stage performance, at Stan Stennet's theatre in Tewkesbury. He collapsed with a final, third heart attack in the wings after leaving the stage following six curtain calls. He died at Cheltenham General Hospital at 4am.

In his leisure time, Morecambe was a keen birdwatcher, and the statue of him at Morecambe shows him wearing his binoculars. He was also an enthusiastic football fan and a director of Luton Town F.C.. Morecambe also had a love of Long John Silver impressions, which never left him through his life (one can be seen in the 'Monty on the Bonty' sketch with Arthur Lowe).

In 1981 Morecambe published Mr Lonely, a tragicomic novel about a stand-up comedian.

Early life and childhood career

Eric was born to parents George and Sadie Bartholomew. His mother, Sadie, was determined to see her only child make a success of his life, and took work as a waitress to raise funds for his dancing lessons. Eric did not enjoy these lessons at the time, although they were to come in handy during his later life.

During this period, Eric Bartholomew (the John having been dropped more or less from birth) won numerous talent contests, most notably in Hoylake in 1939, the prize for which was an audition with Jack Hylton. Also present was another young talent named Ernest Wiseman, already a familiar voice from Arthur Askey's radio series "Bandwagon". This was the first meeting of what was to become one of Britain's most loved comedy partnerships, although it was to be a further two years before they would team up.

Three months after the audition, Hylton invited Eric to join a revue called "Youth Takes A Bow" at the Nottingham Empire, where, once more, he encountered Ernie. The two soon became close friends, and, under Sadie's encouragement, started to develop a double act. When the two were eventually allowed to perform their double act on stage (in addition to their solo spots), Hylton was impressed enough to make it a regular feature in the revue.

Eric and Ernie

After the war, they made their name on radio, before arriving on television in 1955. They appeared together in many series such as Two of A Kind. There were also a number of Christmas specials. They were well-regarded and their reputation enabled them to garner a number of prestigious guests including Angela Rippon, Princess Anne, Cliff Richard, Glenda Jackson, Tom Jones, Elton John and even the then Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Des O'Connor was frequently the butt of their humour.

The celebrities were generally humiliated by the pair, and especially by Eric's playful insults, undermining the status of the celebrities, joking that they're "Rubbish" and pretending not to recognise them. Generally, the greater the quality of the celebrities, the greater the humiliation. A fine example is their exchange with the Beatles.

(Ernie is talking to the band when Eric enters) Morecambe: Yeah-eh! It's the Kay sisters, they've come! Great! Fabulous! Wise: The Kay sisters?! This is... Morecambe: Look, they've dyed their hair! Wise: ...this is the Beatles! Morecambe: Hello, Beatle! Where is he? Wise: "Where is he?" Morecambe: There he is! Hello, Bongo! Hey. Wise: That's Ringo! Morecambe: Oh, is he there as well? ... John: Me dad used to tell me about you, you know. Morecambe: You've only got a little dad have you? Yer dad used to tell yer, that's a bit strong, innit? Alright, Bonzo? Wise: That's Ringo! Morecambe: Yeah, him as well!

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Eric Morecambe ]

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