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20 iconic images of Eric Morecambe chart his incredible career

From meeting the Queen Mother, to appearing at Number 10, and on the set of his iconic films, Eric Morecambe's life in iconic pictures.

• 08:32, 9 JAN 2022

Images detailing the stunning career of Eric Morecambe have been found.

Archivists working for LancsLive have found mounds of pictures, dating back to the 1960s, telling the riveting tale of the Lancashire comedian's time in the spotlight.

Though Eric, who loved his hometown of Morecambe so much that he took it as his adopted surname, died back in 1984, he and his comedic partner, Ernie Wise, are remembered as two of the greatest laugh merchants in British history.

Our picture department have carefully selected 20 iconic images, many of them backstage, charting Eric Morecambe's extraordinary career.

Some of the most striking images show him, with Ernie Wise in tow, meeting Prime Ministers and even the late Queen Mother.

Another, from 1976, depicts the pair proudly showing off their recently awarded OBEs.

IYA Memory Lane

More images show the duo at various award ceremonies, rubbing shoulders with other celebrities and members of high society including Princess Anne.

They are also pictured with Maggie Smith, a great actor in her own right who has garnered plaudits throughout her career, most recently starring as Professor Minerva Mcgonagall in the Harry Potter films.

Morecambe and Wise began performing together, on stage and the radio, back in the 1940s before launching into the world of TV.

Though they fronted several successful shows none was so well received as the Morecambe and Wise Show which began on the BBC in September, 1968.

Eric and Ernie became the nation’s most popular double act and their show became unmissable television, culminating in the 1977 Christmas Day special, which was watched by 28 million viewers.

The pair returned to ITV for five years at the end of their career from 1978.

Blackpool's donkeys throughout the years in amazing black and white photos

Strictly Come Dancing: Past contestants from Lancashire who competed for the glitter ball trophy

Download the LancsLive app for free on iPhone here and Android here .

For the latest news and breaking news visit the LancsLive website .

Get all the latest news, sport and what's on stories sent to your inbox daily with the LancsLive newsletter here .

Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise at rehearsals for one of their famous Christmas specials in 1983

Morecambe and Wise are pictured with famous script writer Eddie Braben at the BBC Television Centre in West London, circa May 1970

Eric Morecambe promoting his book "Mr Lonely" in Birmingham, March 1981

Eric Morecambe and Tom Baker on location at Hever Castle where they shot their 1982 film the Passionate Pilgrim

Eric Morecambe with fellow comedian Des O'Connor in 1978

A Variety Club Lunch attended by Tommy Cooper, Dean Martin, Dickie Henderson, Judy Buxton Ernie Wise, Fiona Fullerton, and Eric Morecambe, circa 1983

Morecambe and Wise present Des O'Connor with a golden disc to mark 100,000 sales of his album Just For You on January 8, 1980

Eric Morecambe is named Pipe man of the Year, as judged by Tobacco & the rian Pipe Trade Association, pictured with a number of his pipes in December 1970

Comedians Morecambe and Wise show off their medals outside Buckingham Palace after being invested by Her Majesty The Queen with O.B.Es in November 1976

Morecambe and Wise prepare for their 1980 Christmas TV while on the tv set for Hamlet

Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise during a key interview by Cliff Davis in 1964

Elton John poses with Morecambe and Wise at BBC television centre in 1976

The Queen Mother meets Eric Morecambe Ernie Wise at the London Palladium

Princess Anne presents the award for best Television light entertainment show to Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise for their Morecambe and Wise Showin 1971

Luton Town director Eric Morecambe celebrates with his players after they win promotion to Division One in 1974

Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, visit Madame Tussaud's in 1972, eager to inspect their new waxworks

Morecambe and wise meet Prime Minister Harold Wilson at the United Nations 30th Anniversary Garden Party at 10 Downing Street, London, in May 1975

Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, about to star in a pantomime, celebrate their latest accomplishment a Joint Showbiz Award by the Variety Club of Great Britain, February 1965.

The TV and Film Awards of March 1970, held at the London Palladium, Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise with Maggie Smith

Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise pictured with Wanda Ventham, on set the of their new film 'The Intelligence Men', at Pinewood Studios, in November 1964

• Most Recent

Eric Morecambe (1926-1984)

IMDbPro Starmeter See rank

• 7 wins total

• 1972–1977 • 19 eps

• Eric Morecambe

• Fernando Torres

• Funny Uncle

• Various Characters
• 12 episodes

• Comedian (as Morecambe and Wise)

• Eric Simpson
• additional material
• 10 episodes
• 19 episodes

• performer: "Positive Thinking"

• performer: "Bring Me Sunshine"

• performer: "Moonlight Bay"
• performer: "Little Sir Echo" (uncredited)
• performer: "There's Something About You Baby I Like"
• performer: "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life?"
• performer: "A Couple of Swells" ...
• 25 episodes

Personal details

• 5′ 8½″ (1.74 m)
• May 14 , 1926
• Buxton Street, Morecambe, Lancashire, England, UK
• May 28 , 1984
• Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, UK (heart attack)
• Joan Morecambe December 11, 1952 - May 28, 1984 (his death, 3 children)
• Children Gary Morecambe
• Sadie Bartholomew
• 4 Biographical Movies
• 2 Print Biographies
• 4 Portrayals
• 1 Interview
• 1 Pictorial
• 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

• Trivia He collapsed and died on-stage at The Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury in May 1984, watched by his wife, immediately after appearing in a show with Stan Stennett .
• Quotes I know this great Doctor, if you're at Death's Door he'll pull you through!
• When did Eric Morecambe die?
• How did Eric Morecambe die?
• How old was Eric Morecambe when he died?

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Alastair James is the editor in chief for Memorable TV. He has been involved in media since his university days. Alastair is passionate about television, and some of his favourite shows include Line of Duty, Luther and Traitors. He is always on the lookout for hot new shows, and is always keen to share his knowledge with others.

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The Prelude of Mr Preview: How André Previn won over Morecambe & Wise

It is one of the all-time classic moments in British comedy: André Previn is trying to conduct a 'special pre-decimal arrangement' of Grieg's Piano Concerto, with Eric Morecambe as his soloist, and it is not going at all well.

Morecambe has already called him by the wrong name ('Ah, Mr Preview - how are you?'); insulted the members of his orchestra ('I've seen better bands on a cigar!'); made an ill-judged claim about his own musical credentials ('You're now looking at one of the few men who has actually fished off the end of Sir Henry Wood Promenade!'); lectured him on how to do his job ('In the second movement - not too heavy on the banjos'); asked him to lengthen the introduction 'by about a yard'; suggested that they phone Grieg himself in Norway for some musicological clarification ('Mind you, you might not get him - he could be out skiing'); and coaxed the conductor into leaping high up in the air so that his cue can be seen from over the lid of the piano.

Now, after a visibly-horrified Previn has pointed out that Morecambe is playing 'all the wrong notes', Morecambe has grabbed him by the lapels: 'I'm playing all the right notes,' he growls, 'but not necessarily in the right order'.

The sketch won Previn, already revered internationally in more specialist circles for his distinguished work as a composer, arranger and conductor, a whole new audience among lovers of so-called 'light' entertainment, turning him into a much-loved national celebrity in the process, but it could so easily have never happened. The fact that it did happen owes much to, of all things, a very loud marital row.

When Morecambe & Wise 's producer, John Ammonds , first had the idea of recruiting André Previn for the role, he was unsure that it would work. He had been booking unlikely famous figures to feature in the show for some time - the list included Peter Cushing , Edward Woodward , Eric Porter , John Mills , Glenda Jackson and Dame Flora Robson - and the surprise of seeing such 'serious' performers in comic situations had proved hugely popular. The producer, however, had no real proof that Previn, in particular, could cope as part of such an unusually ambitious and carefully-choreographed routine.

The reason why he was taking such a gamble was that he knew that the sketch, which was being revived and re-worked, needed something new, and something special, at its heart.

The Grieg routine had originally been performed in the early 1960s . A myth has since arisen that it was carefully crafted by Dick Hills and Sid Green . The truth is that it was conceived solely by Morecambe & Wise , and then co-written by them and Hills & Green .

It had never, however, been staged and scripted in such a way that, as far as Morecambe & Wise themselves were concerned, had realised its full potential. The basic routine, back then, featured Eric as the pianist, with Ernie as the conductor. It had several of the best lines already in place, but, with just the two of them, interacting in their usual way, it fell a little flat. It lacked any tension or believability.

They tried it again on record, and then again on another TV show, each one with minor alterations, but still, in their own eyes, it never really reached the heights for which they had hoped. It just seemed like just another sketch.

Their failure to get it right would niggle away at them for years after, which is why, when they saw a chance to re-make it for their 1971 Christmas special, they seized it. The main reason why they felt the time was right for a reprise was the fact that, in John Ammonds (pictured, with moustache), they now had a producer who was remarkably adept at helping them to make the most of each comic moment, and he seemed as keen as they were to finally see the sketch spark into life on the screen.

Three things, Ammonds believed, could elevate the routine to another level: one was the staging, the second was the inspired scriptwriting skills of Eddie Braben , and the other was the chance to change the dynamic by bringing in a special guest to replace the twosome with a triangle.

As far as the staging was concerned, Ammonds was determined to give the sketch the best 'look' possible, capturing every gesture and movement to maximise the impact on the screen. He was also prepared to take a risk with the budget: 'I'd decided the scene would feature the largest and most expensive orchestra I had ever used,' he told later me. 'I knew that my bosses might come down hard on me for that, because the conceit was that they were only going to actually play about eight bars because of all the interruptions - so they were basically getting paid for sitting there! But I wanted it to look suitably grand and impressive'.

Then came the re-writing of the routine. Eddie Braben 's role was firstly to take the bare bones of the original sketch and add some flesh. This could not just be any old flesh - this had to be Eric and Ern's flesh. The original routine, in truth, could have been played by any pair of performers. Braben, however, wrote such bespoke material for Morecambe & Wise that, as Ammonds knew, he could transform the routine into something so personalised that it could only have worked for Eric and Ernie .

Braben's second task was to reimagine the routine for three characters rather than two, and this was something he relished. Writing material that bounced briskly back and forth off the corners of a comic triangle was one of his specialities - it was something he had loved seeing happen when one of his favourite old comics, Jimmy James , interacted with his two stooges - and he knew exactly how to bind together the naïve optimism of 'Ern' and the slightly dangerous aura of 'Eric' with the growing bewilderment of the 'serious' special guest.

The outstanding problem, however, was finding the right special guest for the sketch. Morecambe & Wise pondered a number of possibilities, mainly on the basis of certain celebrities' known ability to play comedy, but Ammonds was convinced that they needed a 'proper' conductor, and a well-known one at that, to give the piece some weight and drama, and he had very rapidly reached the conclusion that it had to be André Previn .

The two stars were, to say the least, somewhat sceptical, but they trusted Ammonds enough to let him push ahead with his plan. 'I just had a gut feeling,' Ammonds would later explain to me. 'I didn't know it would work but I simply had to find out if it could work':

I knew this man, John Culshaw , who'd previously worked at Decca and was now the head of television music at the BBC , and he'd just done a series of orchestral music with André Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra [ André Previn's Music Night ], which I'd hugely enjoyed. So I sought him out - he was editing down in the dungeons at the BBC - and described the basic idea, and asked him if he thought that Previn might be interested. And luckily enough, John was having lunch with him the next day, so he promised to ask him about it. So sure enough, the next afternoon he rang me back and said, 'Yes, he's genuinely interested. Will you ring him direct at his home?' So I went ahead and rang him, and said who I was and what the programme was and all of that, and he said, 'Well, before you go any further, let me tell you: I think you've got a great show there'. So I said, 'Well, I'm glad you said that, because I'm going to ask you to be on it!' Then I explained what the routine was and how we wanted to do it, and he listened and then said, 'I like the sound of that. I'm interested'. So I asked if I could ring his agent to say he was interested, and he said, 'No, you can do better than that: you can ring him and say I'll definitely do it!' No mention of a fee or anything at all about money, he committed just like that!

The next step, therefore, was for Ammonds to call the agent: 'Previn's agent had the Dickensian-sounding name of Jasper Parrott . That really was his name: Jasper Parrott '.

The twenty-seven-year-old Stockholm-born Parrott was actually the co-founder (along with Terry Harrison) of the rapidly-expanding international agency HarrisonParrott , and was already regarded as one of the most attentive and imaginative managers of the careers of classical musicians.

Ammonds knew that he was in for something of a struggle:

Now, the main problem I was expecting to have with Mr Parrott, apart from agreeing a fee, had to do with the fact that Eric and Ernie really, really loved to rehearse - to the point of over-rehearsing. I'd found that very refreshing for people associated with light entertainment - you usually had to force them to rehearse! - but those two were, by this stage, in a league of their own when it came to preparation. They worked and worked and worked. And they expected their guests, no matter who they were, to rehearse like that as well. So that did cause problems with agents, whose usual response was: 'Oh my God! Surely you don't really want them for a whole week?' And, sure enough, Jasper Parrott reacted exactly the same way. When I said how long we'd want Previn for, there was a long silence at the other end of the phone - I thought he'd passed out from shock! And eventually he came back and said 'Did I hear you correctly? Did you actually say you want him for five whole days ? Because that is ridiculous! He's flying all around the world conducting orchestras, he's got lots and lots of other commitments, he's in studios, he's in concert halls - you just cannot have him for anything like that amount of time. It really is out of the question!'

There followed the usual circuitous process in such circumstances. The two men started haggling.

Parrott would later explain to me his position: 'I knew that I had to keep chipping away at expectations of availability until we could get to the minimum without losing the gig - which I certainly understood to be a game changer in terms of André's public recognition and his leverage in getting the sort of exposure for good quality uncut classical music which was achieved in his Music Night series, and which brought big fees and much fame to the LSO.'

Ammonds, in turn, would explain his own strategy: 'I just had to keep demanding more time. This was going to be a really high-profile sketch, the climax of the biggest Christmas show on the BBC , and every day - every hour - of rehearsal was going to be precious.'

Eventually, a compromise was reached. Parrott agreed to let Previn spend a maximum of three days with Morecambe & Wise .

Ammonds, though relieved to have secured anything more than a single day, was painfully aware of the fact that he was still going to face problems selling the deal to his two stars:

I knew that three days wasn't going to go down well with Eric and Ernie , and, sure enough, when I told them, Eric's face just fell. He really was a worrier anyway - a great perfectionist - and he knew that Previn had no background in comedy, there were no guarantees he was going to be able to do it to the standards Eric demanded, so there was definitely a bit of tension about this. But I did my best to reassure them it was going to be fine. I still wasn't absolutely sure myself, of course, but I needed to calm the two of them down as best I could.

Jasper Parrott was, at this stage, the only one involved, apart from Previn himself, who was absolutely sure that his client was 'up to the job,' because he, unlike the others, knew exactly what a special set of skills Previn possessed. He would tell me: 'It was hard for John or even for Eric and Ernie to understand how supremely professional and experienced André was about any such "entertainment" project he might be thrown into - after all, he had twenty-five years of Hollywood under his belt and a supreme confidence in himself in such situations, a confidence he did not always have in the often condescending classical music world around him.'

Ammonds, on the other hand, only knew that Morecambe & Wise were deeply dissatisfied with the prospect of spending 'only' three days working with a 'straight' and rather sombre-looking conductor on a comedy sketch. 'They were not at all happy,' he told me. 'And that meant there was a heck of a lot of pressure on me to prove to them that I was right.'

It was therefore with a sense of trepidation that the producer then travelled to Previn's home - a picturesque 17th Century cottage in the village of Leigh in the Mole Valley of Surrey - for their first face-to-face meeting. It had been arranged ostensibly merely to settle any outstanding contractual details and make plans for the rehearsals, but there was actually more to it than that.

What Ammonds was most keen to confirm, as discreetly as he could, was that Previn had a good enough aptitude for comedy, and especially a keen enough sense of comic timing, to make his performance work. If Ammonds was left unimpressed, then he knew that he was facing the humiliating task of reporting back to Morecambe & Wise , and Eddie Braben , admitting that his gamble had gone wrong, and then either cutting down Previn's contribution to the most risk-aversive minimum, or perhaps even scrapping the sketch entirely and finding something else for their special guest to do.

Once the meeting started, however, Ammonds was none the wiser. It was all very civil and polite, but there was little opportunity so far for him to discern what comic talent might be lurking inside Previn's somewhat serious-looking exterior.

Then something unexpected happened. Ammonds would recall:

There was the sound of a door banging open upstairs, and then this increasingly loud stomp-stomp-stomp sound coming from the stairs, and then, suddenly, the door to this room that we were in burst open with another loud bang, and in came Previn's wife of the time, Mia Farrow ! Well, I don't know what specifically had happened, but there had obviously been some kind of blazing row before I'd arrived, and it had obviously been festering in her head after she'd gone upstairs, because she walked right past the rest of us as if we weren't there and went straight up to Previn and launched into this really angry tirade, a real verbal hairdryer of an attack on him, with all kinds of expletives flying out of her mouth. 'You effing this and you effing that!!!' All of that sort of stuff. The air turned blue. Then she marched back out of the room, slamming the door shut with another great big bang. Then you heard her going up the stairs again - stomp-stomp-stomp - then yet another loud bang, like a clap of thunder, as she slammed that door shut. And then there was nothing but silence.

It was as if, he would say, that time had stood still. All of the figures present seemed frozen:

We didn't know what to do! You know, there was this horribly awkward silence, and we just stared at the carpet for a bit, and then, when we finally looked up at André again, he took one beat, then another, and then, with a completely calm expression, utterly deadpan, he nodded in the direction of the door and said, 'Gentlemen: the lady wife'.

Ammonds was ecstatic: 'It was the most perfectly-timed reaction, and we all fell about laughing our heads off! And that's the moment - that's when I knew, "This man understands comedy all right, and he's got great timing - he's going to be brilliant!"'

He drove back to London and, with a strong sense of triumph, told Morecambe & Wise that it was going to be great. They had, he assured them, a real star on their hands.

Eric Morecambe , however, was still unconvinced. The three day limit on rehearsal time had really been bothering him. 'How's he going to learn it?' he asked. 'Well, Eric,' Ammonds replied, 'he's not bad at learning. He probably knows every note of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony or whatever, so I doubt he'll have that much trouble with about twelve pages of dialogue!'

Morecambe's mood improved after Previn duly turned up for the first day of rehearsal and performed extremely impressively during the read-through. The second morning, however, Previn failed to show up.

' Jasper Parrott phoned me up,' said Ammonds, 'and said he was very sorry but André had had to fly to America because his mother was ill. So I said, "Well, when is he coming back?" And he said, "The evening before the show". I thought to myself, "Oh dear!"'

When he broke the news to his stars, there was gloom in the rehearsal room. Eric looked sick. Ernie seemed dazed.

Eric's first spoken response, once a trace of colour had crept back into his cheeks, was to propose reverting to the original version: 'Sod 'im then,' he said of the absent Previn, 'we'll do without him. We'll use Ernie as the conductor instead.'

Ammonds, however, was having none of it. 'Look, Eric,' he snapped, 'it's taken me a long time to get hold of this fellow, and I'm convinced it's going to be a very, very funny routine. I'll get a BBC car to meet him at the airport when it lands at 5pm. I'll get him to come straight to Television Centre, we'll have a room booked for us and we'll go through the script for about four hours'.

That is what happened. Previn learnt the script by torch light in the back of the car from the airport to the studio. 'And every time we did it,' Ammonds would recall, 'he was word perfect - and hysterically funny.'

When the recording started, therefore, the mood was good. Ammonds (who was joined up in the gallery by a now-smiling Mia Farrow ) was very upbeat and confident, Ernie Wise was his usual cheerful self, and even Eric Morecambe was cautiously optimistic. It would take one more thing, however, to drive all of Morecambe's lingering doubts away.

One of Previn's first lines was something Eddie Braben had written for him to say just before the routine started, when Eric and Ernie were standing in front of the curtains and their special guest walked on to be introduced. Having been rudely disabused of the belief that he was there to conduct Yehudi Menuhin playing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto (a telegram revealed that the great artiste could not make it because he was 'opening at the Argyle Birkenhead in Old King Cole ' instead), a scowling Previn was ready to walk off:

PREVIN: Good night. ERNIE: No, no, no, don't go, Mr Preview! ERIC: Privet! PREVIN: Previn! ERNIE: I can assure you that Eric is more than capable! PREVIN: Well...all right. I'll get my baton. ERNIE: Please do that. PREVIN: It's in Chicago.

Eric Morecambe , upon hearing this exquisitely timed response, spins around, punches the air with his fist and cries out: 'POW! He's in! I like him! I LIKE him!' There has arguably never been another moment on camera when a great comedian so visibly relaxes with delight as a fellow performer gets it right.

Michael Grade , who was a friend of Morecambe & Wise , later told me about this delightful epiphany:

You can see the tension evaporate in that moment. Eric's face lights up as if to say, 'Oh yes ! This is going to be great !' [ Eric and Ernie had] both been pretty nervous, I think, because they both knew that if Previn had lost his nerve, or fumbled his lines, the entire thing would've fallen flat on its face. But Previn was superb - rock-solid - and so you can see Eric mentally rubbing his hands together and thinking, 'Can't wait to get to the piano now. This is going to be a ride!' Wonderful, wonderful moment.

They then went through the whole sketch. There were the exchanges - the jumping, the staring, the innocent question ('something wrong with the violins?'), the sneering response ('No, no, there's nothing wrong with the violins'), the even more sneering response ('That's only your opinion!'), the glare, the grimace, the clutching of the lapels, the intervention of Ernie ('That sounded quite reasonable to me...'), the swapping of positions, Eric's response to Previn's piano playing ('...Rubbish!'), the change of heart, and the improbable but wonderful coming together.

At the end of it, as André played and Eric and Ernie danced, there were just three friends on the stage, having the most wonderful fun together. Right up to today, it is one of the most uncomplicatedly joyous, moving and beautiful comic sights one can see on a television screen.

Everyone congratulated Previn once it was over as if it had all been a foregone conclusion. John Ammonds , however, had known all the doubts that had dogged his decision, and could not help but feel vindicated at the end of the experience: 'I said to him afterwards, "You know, with timing like that, you really could have been a comedian!" To which he replied, "Oh, I think I'm happier with a stick, John, if you don't mind!"'

Then he was gone, back to his world, leaving the others in theirs. The magic that they had shared, however, was safely stored for eternity.

It had been, and would remain, one of the most special and precious occasions in British comedy - and, without the explosive intervention of André Previn 's angry wife, it might never have actually happened.

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Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Eric Morecambe

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1. Eric took his stage name from the oceanside retreat of Morecambe in Lancashire.

2. he accepted dance examples as a kid., 3. he was hitched to joan bartlett., 4. eric had significant medical conditions..

5. He was extremely skilled.

6. eric and ernie, 7. before his unexpected passing, eric had proactively experienced a huge cardiovascular failure..

Image: Pixabay

8. His work was exceptionally famous

9. hilson delivered a personal history on him., 10. the morecambe sculpture.

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Biography Online

Eric Morecambe Biography

John Eric Bartholomew OBE (14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984)

“My neighbour asked if he could use my lawnmower and I told him of course he could, so long as he didn’t take it out of my garden.”

Short Bio – Eric Morecambe

Eric Bartholomew was born in the northern seaside resort of Morecambe. From an early age, he won local talent competitions and became enamoured of becoming a professional comedian and entertainer. He left school in 1940, aged only 14, and with a young friend – Ernest Wise – they began a double act on stage in the Nottingham Empire. Their performance was viewed as a success, but it was split up due to their commitments to national service during World War II. Eric was one of the Bevin Boy’s working down a mine in Accrington. However, the first signs of ill health which were to dog him through the rest of his life led to him being invalided out of national service after 11 months.

After the war, a chance meeting with his former partner – Ernie Wise, led them to restart their double act. They worked on various stage and radio productions before gaining their first TV series ( Running Wild ) in 1954. It was not a critical success, but, it didn’t hamper their progress. In 1961, they were given a tv series at ITV – Two of A Kind . The show became increasingly popular and attracted a variety of celebrities onto the show. It was during this period that Eric married his wife – Joan Bartlett in December 1952, they had two children Gail and Steven.

It was their move to the BBC in 1968, which really pushed them to the top of the ratings, making Morecambe and Wise the most popular entertainers on TV. Generally, it was Morecambe who was seen as the funniest, with Wise playing his role as the straight man. Like Tommy Cooper , Morecambe had the ability to make people laugh just by the simplest of body actions or smiles. His endearing qualities and image of clean cut humour made the show the star attraction at Christmas Time. The 1977  Morecambe & Wise , Christmas Special receiving a record 28 million viewers.

“I always take my wife morning tea in my pyjamas. But is she grateful? No, she says she’d rather have it in a cup.” – Eric Morecambe

Yet, although Morecambe appeared to be spontaneously funny, he actually went to great lengths practising and preparing his acts. Indeed his wife, Joan Bartlett, said that Eric Morecambe would begin worrying about the Christmas special by June. Morecambe had exacting standards, and the great success of the programmer only made him more determined to keep find better jokes and better ways of doing the show – such standards became increasingly stressful to maintain, and Morecambe’s health suffered as a result.

His first major heart attack occurred in 1968. He was saved by a passer-by who rushed him to hospital in his car. Later Morecambe heard that his ‘rival’ Des O Connor had heard about his heart attack on and asked his audience on live TV to pray for his recovery. When Morecambe later heard he thanked O’Connor and said: “It was the prayers of those six or seven people which made all the difference.” – Des O’Connor was frequently the butt of jokes by Morecambe and Wise, though Des was quite happy and used to even write his own self-deprecating jokes.

Another feature of the Morecambe and Wise shows was the many great celebrities who were guests on the show. But, in his own style, Morecambe would fail to recognise the stars and gently insult them. For example, calling Ringo Star of the Beatles – Bongo.

In 1979, Morecambe had another heart attack and only survived thanks to pioneering heart surgery by Magdi Yacoub. Following this, Morecambe increasingly strived to pursue a solo career – having grown somewhat tired of his double act. It was perhaps loyalty to his partner Ernie Wise that kept it going. Nevertheless, despite his ill-health, he managed to write screenplays and his own novels.

In 1984, Eric Morecambe collapsed after a performance on stage, suffering a third and this time fatal heart attack. He died later at Cheltenham General hospital aged 58.

He was voted one of the greatest top 100 Britons and also the favourite British Comedian, ahead of John Cleese and Tommy Cooper . A larger than life statue in his home-town of Morecambe is a prominent feature of the prom.

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. “Biography of Eric Morecambe”, Oxford, www.biographyonline.net, Published 25/4/2009

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Morecambe and Wise - "Bring Me Sunshine"

Contribution of Morecambe and Wise to British Heritage.

Early Years and Rise to Stardom

Breakthrough on television, the "golden triangle" years, signature sketches and catchphrases, christmas specials and record audiences, recognition and legacy.

• Morecambe and Wise en.wikipedia.org

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The stuff of dreams ... Ian and Jonty first met at drama school in Birmingham in 1983 where they became firm friends. Even back then people would ask ‘are you a double act?’ to which the boys would answer, in unison, ‘No’. Little did they know where this shared sense of humour and bond of friendship would take them. Jonty is a brilliant mimic and Eric Morecambe was one of many impressions he would perform from an early age. Eric was his hero and remains so to this day. Jonty is a self confessed Morecambe and Wise anorak and it was  his knowledge and love of the boys that proved to be the bedrock of their story. In 2002 both Ian and Jonty were now jobbing actors and members of The Stage Golfing Society and every year the stage would put on a review/show for its host club, Richmond Golf Club . This particular year the theme was comedy through the ages. Jonty was asked to ‘do’ Eric. All that was needed was an Ern. Looking across the bar he spied his little friend Ian who when asked to ‘do’ Ern replied ‘Oh alright, but I look nothing like him, I’m more of a Robert Redford than an Ern’. They performed a five minute sketch that went very well, but it wasn’t until they were asked to revive the piece some years later in 2013 that things really changed. This time they added some of their own material and it was after the show at a golf dinner at John O’Gaunt Golf Club that the boys listened to the chorus of ‘you must do something with this’. It has to be said by now nature had taken its course with Jonty’s hair and Ian had fully developed the short fat hairy legs! At the function that night, amongst others, was Mick Flinn of The New Seekers . He asked the boys to perform at his over 40’s night at a club in Rickmansworth where he said he would introduce someone who may be able to help them. His name was Martin Clarkson and he also was a huge Morecambe and Wise fan and someone who was to prove hugely important in the future of Ian and Jonty’s ambitions to put on a play based on the lives of their heroes. Martin backed the boys to put on a small tester show of 35 minutes at the 503 Theatre in London. To an invited audience, the boys tried out their own material and the basis of the play Eric and Little Ern along with some original Morecambe & Wise material. The response was overwhelming. Now the work began in earnest. Martin introduced the boys to a theatre producer, James Seabright who also saw the potential and backed the show to go to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013. The play was directed by Owen Lewis and after a few preview’s in London, the play opened at The Edinburgh Fringe, to rave reviews and a sell out run. During the run, a certain Gary Morecambe saw the show and loved it. He met the boys afterwards and is now a firm friend as is Gail his sister and Eric’s wife Joan. Support and approval from the family were massively important to Ian and Jonty and continues to be so. The show then went on a hugely successful tour, which culminated in its first West End run in the Christmas of 2013 at the Vaudeville Theatre , again to rave reviews and standing ovations. “Eric and Little Ern” written and performed by Ian Ashpitel and Jonty Stephens was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2014. Another tour and a Christmas run at the St James Theatre London followed. Along the way the boys appeared on several TV and radio shows and have recently appeared on The One Show with two other comedy icons Des O’Connor and Jimmy Tarbuck . After putting Eric and Little Ern to bed for a while, the boys are currently developing a concert style show 'Eric and Ern' and performing on the P & O’s flag ship Britannia as well as several shows for   Warner Holidays . The whole adventure has been the stuff of dreams. Ian and Jonty continue to shine a light on the talents of Britain’s best loved comedy duo to audiences who knew and loved them and also to those who may not have known just how brilliant they were.

The real Eric and Ern - just in case you didn't know who they were...

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 a 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. 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.

© 2020 Eric and Ern

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'The story of Morecambe and Wise as only family can tell it'

New book of reminiscences about the classic comedy double act

Eric Morecambe’s son has written what’s described as the ‘definite story’ of his father’s double act with Ernie Wise .

Forever In The Sunshine – which is out later this month – is the fifth book Gary Morecambe has written about the enduring comedy pair .

Subtitled ‘the story of Morecambe and Wise as only family can tell it’, the book promises never-before-seen photographs. of the duo. 

Publisher Sphere say: ‘Gary reveals what it was like behind the scenes, with touching and hilarious stories of life in the Morecambe and Wise family homes, along with memories from Eric's wife Joan and his daughter (and Ernie's goddaughter) Gail, who has never written about her father before.

‘Sweet and funny, touching and poignant, these untold stories and anecdotes let us get to know the two men who became the biggest British comedy act of all time, with the authority that only family can. This is the ultimate book for Morecambe and Wise fans, celebrating their days in the sunshine, now and forever.’

Gary previously wrote Eric Morecambe : Life's Not Hollywood It's Cricklewood in 2003; You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone: The life and work of Eric Morecambe in 2009;  The Treasures Of Morecambe And Wise in 2013 and Morecambe & Wise: 50 Years of Sunshine in 2018. 

 Speaking to trade website The Bookseller, he said: ‘I’d been toying with the idea of writing a final book that encompasses the whole of the magical Morecambe and Wise story. 

‘It occurred to me that I’d never written anything from within the family before – having my sister, Gail, on board, and being able to interview my mother at length, was key to making this book the definitive word on my father and Ernie’s remarkable careers.’

The 317-page book will be published next Thursday. It is available from Amazon , priced £21.79, or from Bookshop.org, which helps independent bookstore, below.

Published: 3 Oct 2023

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Eric Morecambe's widow Joan dies aged 97

Eric Morecambe's widow Joan has died "peacefully" on her 97th birthday following a short illness, her family has announced.

She married the famed Lancashire comedian, known for his double act Morecambe and Wise alongside Ernie Wise, in Margate in 1952.

Joan was described as a "devoted wife" to Eric until his death 40 years ago in May 1984 at the age of 58.

The couple had three children - a daughter Gail and sons Gary and Steven.

A statement issued on behalf of her children said: "It is with great sadness and the heaviest of hearts that we must share the news that our mother, Joan, has passed away peacefully at the age of 97 after a short illness

"Our family kindly requests some privacy during this time while we grieve our sad loss."

Born on 26 March 1927, she died on her 97th birthday on Tuesday.

In 2015, Joan was made an OBE for charitable services in the Queen's New Year's Honours List.

She was also the founder and president of the Lady Taverners, part of the Lord's Taverners youth cricket and disability sports charity, from 1987 to 1992.

In 2016, thieves targeted her home when she travelled to Blackpool , more than 200 miles away from her property at the time in Hertfordshire, to unveil a statue in memory of her husband and his comic partner Ernie Wise.

Morecambe and his partner Wise, who died in 1999 aged 73, are among the most popular and enduring comedy stars in British TV history.

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A decade late, but finally a statue with short, hairy legs for Ernie

When the larger-than-life statue of Eric Morecambe was unveiled by no less a person than Her Majesty the Queen, all agreed it a most fitting tribute to one of Britain's great comic geniuses.

Immortalised in bronze and cast in his trademark pose, it has drawn hundreds of thousands of fans to the Lancashire seaside town in which he grew up, and whose name he adopted.

But what of 'Little Ern', his steadfast sidekick, the one with the 'short, fat, hairy legs', the other half of arguably the nation's most successful double act and a Christmas staple? Now, almost 10 years after his death, The Observer can reveal that Ernie Wise is at last to get his own statue, though not exactly on the same scale, and paid for by his widow.

For Ern has fallen victim to the credit crunch and to the curse of 'the straight man'.

While Eric glories as the central feature of a £120,000 art project on Morecambe's promenade, Ernie will find himself in the Yorkshire town of Morley, carved out of stone and carrying an £8,000 price tag.

The fact that Morley's plans to honour its home-grown hero have eventually come to fruition is down to the generosity of his widow, Doreen, who last week came to the rescue and agreed to foot the bill as local fund raising faltered. Morley Murals Committee, which had been trying to raise the money, is delighted.

But once more, it seems, Eric is destined to overshadow Ernie. It is the lot of the stooge, the fall guy, the one who sets up the gags but never gets to deliver them.

'Yes, it's a thankless job because they get all the glory,' admits Syd Little, the thin, quiet half of duo Little and Large who prospered until poor health forced partner Eddie Large to quit. 'It never bothered me. But now I'm on my own, it is nice when people come up and say, "Oh, I much prefer you on your own. I never liked that fat fella",' added Little, currently starring in Cinderella at Southsea and working the cruise-ship circuit. 'The funny one gets all the recognition. But Ernie was just fantastic. No one better. And it's great he's getting a statue. The straight man fights back - at last. But I don't suppose they'll be erecting one of me in Fleetwood.'

Tommy Cannon, of Cannon and Ball, agrees. 'No one knows how hard it can be being the straight man. And Ernie excelled at it. He instinctively knew how to feed Eric, then stand back for Eric to take over. It's a great art,' said Cannon, who with Bobby Ball is starring in Jack and the Beanstalk in St Albans.

Ernie was originally to be cast in bronze, too. Morley, the nearest town to the village of East Ardsley, where he grew up, was desperate to honour its half of a comic act whose popularity was such that their 1977 Christmas Day special attracted 28 million viewers. It was in Morley that, as a child, he 'worked' the workingmen's clubs with his father, Harry, a railway lamp man and part-time singer.

Last year a fan, Paul Cockcroft, 42, an NHS electrician, approached Morley Murals Committee to suggest a statue to mark the 10th anniversary of Ernie's death in March next year. They needed £38,000. But a lottery fund application was knocked back. Then Cockcroft considered a nationwide appeal for people to donate old horse brasses and copper kettles to trade at the Morley Waste Traders' scrapyard to raise funds. 'A little urn for a Little Ern,' he explained. But that never got off the ground.

Bronze was out. So local sculptor Melanie Wilks was approached and agreed to deliver in Yorkshire stone for a mere £8,000. But still it was out of reach, until his widow, looking for a suitable way to commemorate her late husband, offered to pay. 'It's brought a ray of sunshine to Morley,' said Cockcroft. 'Absolutely brilliant. At last we can have Ernie here where he belongs.'

Not all agree. Morecambe has recently been speculating whether Ernie should be near Eric, though not all are in favour of commemorating a Yorkshireman in Lancashire. And others think it a shame the Pennines should separate the two.

'An act like that works because of what they did together,' said David Mitchell, comedian, actor, Observer columnist and one half of comedy duo Mitchell and Webb. 'In a way there shouldn't have been a statue of Morecambe at all. It should have been both of them.

'In those kinds of double acts, the straight man was, essentially, selfless. You have to give credit to both. And when the act is as brilliant as Morecambe and Wise , Wise deserves a hell of a lot of credit. And how odd to have a statue of Eric without Ernie next to him.'

But Cockcroft is satisfied. 'We're a town of northern grit. We're built on Yorkshire stone and I know Ernie would be proud of that. It's been a long journey, but we're finally there.'

As for the Ernie statue, it will take pride of place near the Morley New Pavilion, where he performed, and near the Railway pub where his dad would take him as a four-year-old to clog-dance on the tables.

• The Observer
• Morecambe and Wise

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