Morecambe & Wise
| Morecambe and Wise | |
|---|---|
Morecambe & Wise in their classic "skip dance" pose, performed to "Bring Me Sunshine"
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| Born |
John Eric Bartholomew 14 May 1926 Morecambe, Lancashire, England Ernest Wiseman 27 November 1925 Bramley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 28 May 1984 (aged 58) Cheltenham General Hospital, Gloucestershire, England 21 March 1999 (aged 73) Wexham, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Medium | Film, television, stand-up, music, books |
| Years active | 1941-1984 |
| Genres | Observational comedy, musical comedy, satire |
| Subject(s) | Marriage, everyday life, current events, pop culture |
Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (also Eric and Ernie), were an iconic British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984. The show was a significant part of British popular culture, and they have been described as "the most illustrious, and the best-loved, double-act that Britain has ever produced".
In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, The Morecambe and Wise Show was placed 14th. In September 2006, they were voted by the general public as number 2 in a poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars and in 2011 their early career was the subject of the television biopic Eric and Ernie. In 2013, the two were honoured with a blue plaque at Teddington Studios where their last four series were recorded.
Morecambe and Wise's partnership began in 1941 when they were each booked separately to appear in Jack Hylton's revue, Youth Takes a Bow at the Nottingham Empire Theatre. War service broke up the act but they reunited by chance at the Swansea Empire Theatre in 1946 when they joined forces again. They made their name in variety, appearing in a variety circus, the Windmill Theatre, the Glasgow Empire and many venues around Britain. After this they also made their name in radio, transferring to television in 1954. Their show, Running Wild, was not well received and led to a damning newspaper review: "Definition of the week: TV set—the box in which they buried Morecambe and Wise." Eric apparently carried this review around with him ever after and from then on Eric and Ernie kept a tight control over their material. In 1956 they were offered a spot in the Winifred Atwell show with material written by Johnny Speight and this was a success. In 1959 they topped the bill in BBC TV's long running variety show The Good Old Days in a Boxing Day edition of the programme. In later years the pair would become a Christmas TV Institution in their own right.
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