Mike and Bernie Winters

Mike & Bernie Winters were English brothers who formed a comedy double act, consisting of Mike Winters, born Michael Weinstein (15 November 1926 – 24 August 2013) and Bernie Winters, born Bernard Weinstein (6 September 1930 - 4 May 1991). The act was very popular in the United Kingdom from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s.

The Winters brothers were born in Islington. Their father Samuel Weinstein was a Jewish atheist. Their mother Rachel was part of the famous Blumenthal family. Her brother Jack was the light middleweight and heavyweight champion of Great Britain, the British Empire, and holder of the Lonsdale belt. Her other brother fought for the world middleweight title unsuccessfully. Her mother was from the Breuenzlean family, originally from Bari, in southeastern Italy.

When Bernie was three the Weinstein family moved to a house in Tottenham, across the road from George Marks, who later became Harrison Marks, the glamour photographer. Mike recalled that it was with George that he mounted his first 'promotion'. "We would dress up in whatever clothes we had managed to scrounge from our parents and put on shows in our garden." Bernie's friend was Danny Sewell, younger brother of George who went on to star in such shows as Special Branch and UFO. Danny was the local heavy and used to look after Bernie. "If anybody said anything nasty to me, he (Danny) hit them."

Mike won a scholarship to Tottenham Grammar School but was evacuated to Wiltshire with his younger brother where he eventually ended up at the City of Oxford High School for Boys. At 15 Mike won a scholarship and grant to the Royal Academy of Music to study clarinet, where he was one of the founders of the Royal Academy of Music Jazz Quintet. Who's Who on Television. Independent Television Publications 1970 Bernie moved along the apprenticeship route, getting a job at the Regency Club in London's Soho where he played the ukulele and performed as a stand-up comedian.

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