Jimmy Edwards
| Jimmy Edwards | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
James Keith O'Neill Edwards 23 March 1920 Barnes, Surrey, England, UK |
| Died | 7 July 1988 (aged 68) London, England, UK |
| Occupation | Comedy actor |
| Years active | 1946-1988 |
| Spouse(s) | Valerie Seymour (1958–1969) |
James Keith O'Neill Edwards, DFC (23 March 1920 – 7 July 1988) was an English comedy writer and actor on radio and television, best known as Pa Glum in Take It From Here and as headmaster "Professor" James Edwards in Whack-O!
Edwards was born in Barnes, Surrey, the son of a professor of mathematics. He was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School, at King's College School in Wimbledon and at St John's College, Cambridge.
He served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. He served with No. 271 Squadron RAF, based in Doncaster, which took part in the D-Day landings. His Dakota was shot down at Arnhem in 1944, resulting in facial injuries requiring plastic surgery—he disguised the traces with the huge handlebar moustache that became his trademark. He was a member of the Guinea Pig Club.
Edwards was a feature of London theatre in post-war years, debuting at London's Windmill Theatre in 1946 and on BBC radio the same year. His early variety act, where he first used the name Professor Jimmy Edwards, was described by Roy Hudd as being "a mixture of university lecture, RAF slang, the playing of various loud wind instruments and old-fashioned attack". He later did a season with Tony Hancock, having previously performed in the Cambridge Footlights review. He gained wider exposure as a radio performer in Take It From Here, co-starring Dick Bentley, which first paired his writer Frank Muir with Bentley's script writer, Denis Norden. Also on radio he featured in Jim the Great and My Wildest Dream.
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