Peter Brough
| Peter Brough | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Peter Brough 26 February 1916 Shepherd's Bush, London, UK |
| Died | 3 June 1999 (aged 83) England |
| Occupation | Actor, ventriloquist |
Peter Brough (26 February 1916 – 3 June 1999) was an English radio ventriloquist who became a well-known name to audiences in the 1950s. He is associated with the puppet Archie Andrews.
Born in Shepherd's Bush, London, Brough began his radio career in 1944 in ventriloquism but in 1950 he debuted Archie, a mischievous child who domineered his mentor. Archie's chief characteristics were his Savile Row-tailored blazers and manic eyes. Archie followed in the tradition of the American ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy.
His radio series based around the character - Educating Archie - featured in support the likes of Dick Emery, Freddie Sales, Benny Hill, Tony Hancock, Hattie Jacques, Bruce Forsyth, Harry Secombe, Max Bygraves, Beryl Reid and even a young Julie Andrews as the girlfriend of Archie; Eric Sykes was one of the series' main writers in the early 1950s. The show often averaged 15 million listeners, and a fan club had 250,000 members.
Because of the success of his radio show, Brough made his debut on television in 1956 in the BBC sitcom Here's Archie which co-starred Irene Handl and Ronald Chesney. The show was written by the latter and Ronald Wolfe, who would later team up on British sitcoms The Rag Trade and On the Buses.
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