Arthur Haynes
| Arthur Haynes | |
|---|---|
| Born |
14 May 1914 London, England, UK |
| Died | 19 November 1966 (aged 52) Ealing, London, England, UK |
| Occupation | Comedian |
| Years active | 1946–1966 |
Arthur Haynes (19 May 1914 – 19 November 1966) was an English comedian and star of The Arthur Haynes Show, a comedy sketch series produced by ATV from 1956 until his death from a heart attack in 1966. Haynes also appeared on radio and in films.
Arthur Haynes was born in London, the only child of a Fulham baker. He started off in a number of odd jobs, doing painting (he was very proud of his painting in later years), plumbing and joinery until the Second World War broke out. He then became an entertainer while serving with the Royal Engineers during the war. Fellow comedian Charlie Chester related a story where they were waiting outside Caen and Haynes pointed to a trench full of mud and a million tiny frogs and said nothing would get him into that. Just then a German aircraft started firing near them and Haynes dived straight into the trench and afterwards emerged covered in mud and frogs.
With Charlie Chester he was part of the British Army's concert party troupe Stars in Battledress. He continued to work with Chester after the war in the BBC Radio series Stand Easy (1946–49) Chester had not originally wanted to feature him as he had a full cast but once he heard Haynes give a high pitched laugh, he knew he could use it and found a place for him. They became a double act in the show where Chester wrote the scripts. Much later, the comedian returned to BBC radio with The Arthur Haynes Show (1962–65) which ran over four series. He also recorded Arthur Again. Both series were scripted by Johnny Speight.
On 21 February 1956, Haynes appeared in the first edition of ATV variety series Strike a New Note, which was supposed to air talent for the new independent television station. Nicholas Parsons (in "That Reminds Me", April 1999) said the show was awful, but he was offered a role after the first few episodes and joined it. A few more shows and there was a clearout and everyone but Haynes and Parsons went. After several appearances in this show, written by Dick Barry and John Antrobus along with Johnny Speight who had been sending in sketches for Haynes. The show was soon renamed Get Happy. Haynes who had been a stand up comedian was given his own series later in the year and Parsons who had been an all rounder found himself cast as his straight man.
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