Comedian Ronnie Barker Dies

[udon]

Comedian Ronnie Barker dies

British comedian Ronnie Barker has died at the age of 76.

A spokeswoman for the BBC says he died peacefully yesterday.

Barker had teamed up with Ronnie Corbett in the famous comedy duo, The Two Ronnies.

He also played the character Fletch in the prison sitcom Porridge and was in Open All Hours.

Barker was able to deliver tongue-twisting speeches without a stumble.

He once said he was "completely boring" without a script.

RIP

I have great memories of the Two Ronnies and the other series.

What was your favourite?

[Jockstar]

Comedian Ronnie Barker dies

British comedian Ronnie Barker has died at the age of 76.

A spokeswoman for the BBC says he died peacefully yesterday.

Barker had teamed up with Ronnie Corbett in the famous comedy duo, The Two Ronnies.

He also played the character Fletch in the prison sitcom Porridge and was in Open All Hours.

Barker was able to deliver tongue-twisting speeches without a stumble.

He once said he was "completely boring" without a script.

RIP

I have great memories of the Two Ronnies and the other series.

What was your favourite?

Sad to hear that. Funny as ######. Porridge, The 2 Ronnies, Open All Hours?. Classic comedy. RIP Ronnie. Surely a sad loss to the British comedy scene. Though he hasnt done much in the last few years. If you have never seen what he did. Do try. Funny man.RIP

Edited October 4, 2005 by Jockstar

[udon]

The "Fork Handles" sketch was one of the best scripts I had ever seen and heard.

They used the Georgian house next door to me to make a series but I cannot recall the name of it.

It was in Cheltenham.

[taxexile]

Ronnie Barker's remarkable versatility as a performer can be traced back to his time in repertory theatre, where he was able to play a wide range of roles and develop his talent for accents, voices and verbal dexterity.

It was during this time that he met Glenn Melvyn, who taught him how to stammer (something he would later use to great effect in the sitcom "Open All Hours"). Melvyn also gave Ronnie his break into television by offering him a role in "I'm Not Bothered".

During the 1960s, Ronnie became well-established in radio, providing multiple voices for "The Navy Lark" and working with comedy great Jon Pertwee. He also became a regular face on television, appearing in "The Frost Report" (perhaps most memorably in a sketch about Britain's class system, with John Cleese and Ronnie Corbett) and playing character roles in "The Saint" and "The Avengers".

In 1971, Ronnie teamed up with Ronnie Corbett again, this time for a BBC sketch series called "The Two Ronnies". This series proved enormously popular, continuing until the late 1980s.

In addition to "The Two Ronnies", Barker starred in the popular BBC sitcoms "Porridge" (as a cockney prisoner) and "Open All Hours" (as a stammering Northern shopkeeper). In fact, only Leonard Rossiter could be said to have rivalled him during this time for the crown of British television's most popular comedy star. In 1982, he revived silent comedy in "By The Sea".

Despite his extrovert performances on television, Barker remained a quiet, retiring individual in his personal life, much preferring to spend time with his family rather than mix with the celebrity crowd. This humility, combined with memories of his extraordinary abilities, meant that he continued to be greatly respected by his fellow professionals.

In a BAFTA special shown by the BBC in 2004, stars as diverse as Gene Wilder, Peter Kay and Peter Hall paid tribute to his contribution to comedy and British television in general.

sad news indeed. he was one of the greats .

open all hours was my favourite barker sitcom.

my all time favourite sitcom from the seventies era was "the rise and fall of reginald perrin" with leonard rossiter as reggie and john barron as CJ

the boss.

 

The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin

UK, BBC, Sitcom, colour, 1976

Starring: Leonard Rossiter, Pauline Yates, John Barron

The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin was quite unlike most other sitcoms: it employed a serial storyline and featured adult themes of disillusionment and loss, and a central character who was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It was also fantastically funny. David Nobbs adapted his 1975 comic novel The Death Of Reginald Perrin as the first series of this quintessentially British sitcom (it was retitled The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin for paperback) and, originally, the author wanted Ronnie Barker to play the part of Perrin, a middle-aged sales executive combating a mid-life crises with flights of fantasy. Instead, he was blessed with Leonard Rossiter, who delivered an outstanding performance in the role.

The plot centres on Sunshine Desserts, a confectionery company where Perrin is a desk-bound sales executive. The business is run by C J, a powerful figure full of impressive-sounding aphorisms that, on analysis, prove meaningless, comprising a heap of mixed metaphors and clichés piled one on top of another. C J has a quality of elusiveness that makes dealing with him frustrating, for it is impossible to decipher what he actually thinks about any given subject. Most of his statements begin with the all-purpose introduction 'I didn't get where I am today by...' followed by a baffling example of what he did or didn't do to arrive at his present status. He also has a penchant for whoopee cushions, so that meetings begin with a definite air of farce.

Perrin's colleagues, Tony Webster and David Harris-Jones, are equally superficial and lacking in original thoughts, meeting any suggestion with a simple one-word platitude, 'Great!' (Tony) or 'Super!' (David), so that the only difference between them is chemical: Tony bluffs that he is one of life's great kidders, amazingly confident and about to go places, whereas David is an intensely nervous individual, with zero confidence and a perpetually sweaty disportment. The dithering company doctor is no use either: he knows nothing about medicine and lives in hope that a sick female employee might be 'feeling chesty' so that he can have an opportunity to examine the problem area.

Then there is Reggie Perrin's secretary Joan, a middle-aged bundle of simmering sexuality, fatally attracted to Reggie and liable at any moment to pounce on him. At home, Reggie's wife Elizabeth is pleasant and understanding, but it's her very tolerance and unchanging reliability that grates on Reggie and adds to his malaise. Then there is Reggie's exceedingly boring son-in-law Tom, who makes appalling home-made wine, and his wildly off-centre brother-in-law Jimmy, whose military background seems to have cast him adrift in civilian life where he appears hopelessly out of his depth, using militaristic forms of speech to explain his predicament ('No food. Bit of a cock-up on the catering front').

From episode one, Perrin's life is brain-numbingly predictable and repetitive - the train ride into London is always 11 minutes late, whatever the excuse - but there are already signs that he is going off the rails with his lapses into surreal reverse logic and a bizarre habit of visualising a hippopotamus whenever thinking of his mother-in-law. In short, Perrin, at the age of 46, is questioning the meaning of life, and going through a real and quite terrifying mid-life crisis. Gradually his brain parts company with normality and madness becomes the order of the day. In a last-ditch attempt to preserve his sanity and escape the rat-race, he fakes his own suicide by leaving a pile of clothes on a beach and walking off into the sunset. (This plot was echoed in real life when prominent British politician John Stonehouse faked his own death in identical circumstances.) Wondering what it would be like to attend his own funeral, Reggie then wears a fake beard, calls himself Martin Wellbourne and falls in love anew with Elizabeth, who recognises his true identity but, for a while, pretends otherwise.

The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin proved sufficiently popular for the BBC to recommission, and Nobbs once again wrote a novel, The Return Of Reginald Perrin (published 1977), which he then adapted for a second TV series. In this Reggie soon jettisons his Martin Wellbourne persona, reveals that he's not dead and reacquaints himself with his relatives and old work colleagues. After a brief spell working at a piggery for a Mr Pelham, and warding off the advances of a dowdy spinster Miss Erith, Perrin sports a new devil-may-care attitude and launches a shop, Grot, dedicated to selling useless things, and even he is amazed when it becomes a massive global success. Reggie remarries Elizabeth, who has become a Grot business executive, and when Sunshine Desserts collapses he relocates his former colleagues at the Grot HQ. But still Reggie is numbed by routine and eerily finds himself taking on the traits and mannerisms of C J. The second series ends with Perrin, his wife and C J all faking their suicides.

The third and final book, The Better World Of Reginald Perrin (1978, once again written in tandem with the TV scripts), formed the basis of the somewhat inferior final series. Here Reggie has his most ambitious project to date: he gathers the usual crew and launches Perrins, a self-contained commune for the middle-aged and middle-class, where its members can learn to live in harmony and then set out to spread the gospel. The dialogue was still sharp but the Perrin idea seemed to have run its course and there was a distinct lack of energy about this third series. In following the first two, however, which contained some of the sharpest and funniest comedy ever aired on TV, it did have a hard act to follow.

[Spit the Dog]

I was never a great fan of the Two Ronnies but I thought he was great as Norman Stanley Fletcher in Porridge. Even 30 years on Porridge is still a classic.

He did retire for several years but made a comeback with Ronnie Corbett recently making the Two Ronnies series again.

R.I.P

[taxexile]

In a hardware shop. Ronnie Corbett is behind the counter, wearing a warehouse jacket. He has just finished serving a customer.

CORBETT (muttering): There you are. Mind how you go.

(Ronnie Barker enters the shop, wearing a scruffy tank-top and beanie)

BARKER: Four Candles!

CORBETT: Four Candles?

BARKER: Four Candles.

(Ronnie Corbett makes for a box, and gets out four candles. He places them on the counter)

BARKER: No, four candles!

CORBETT (confused): Well there you are, four candles!

BARKER: No, fork 'andles! 'Andles for forks!

(Ronnie Corbett puts the candles away, and goes to get a fork handle. He places it onto the counter)

CORBETT (muttering): Fork handles. Thought you said 'four candles!' (more clearly) Next?

BARKER: Got any plugs?

CORBETT: Plugs. What kind of plugs?

BARKER: A rubber one, bathroom.

(Ronnie Corbett gets out a box of bath plugs, and places it on the counter)

CORBETT (pulling out two different sized plugs): What size?

BARKER: Thirteen amp!

CORBETT (muttering): It's electric bathroom plugs, we call them, in the trade. Electric bathroom plugs!

(He puts the box away, gets out another box, and places on the counter an electric plug, then puts the box away)

BARKER: Saw tips!

CORBETT: Saw tips? (he doesn't know what he means) What d'you want? Ointment, or something like that?

BARKER: No, saw tips for covering saws.

CORBETT: Oh, haven't got any, haven't got any. (he mutters) Comin' in, but we haven' got any. Next?

BARKER: 'O's!

CORBETT: 'O's?

BARKER: 'O's.

(He goes to get a hoe, and places it on the counter)

BARKER: No, 'O's!

CORBETT: 'O's! I thought you said 'O!

(he takes the hose back, and gets a hose, whilst muttering) When you said 'O's, I thought you said 'O! 'O's!

(He places the hose onto the counter)

BARKER: No, 'O's!

CORBETT (confused for a moment): O's? Oh, you mean panty 'o's, panty 'o's! (he picks up a pair of tights from beside him)

BARKER: No, no, 'O's! 'O's for the gate. Mon repose! 'O's! Letter O's!

CORBETT (finally realising): Letter O's! (muttering) You had me going there!

(He climbs up a stepladder, gets a box down, puts the ladder away, and takes the box to the counter, and searches through it for letter O's)

CORBETT: How many d'you want?

BARKER: Two.

(Ronnie Corbett leaves two letter O's on the counter, then takes the box back, gets the ladder out again, puts the box away, climbs down the ladder, and puts the ladder away, then returns to the counter)

CORBETT: Yes, next?

BARKER: Got any P's?

CORBETT (fed up): For Gawd' sake, why didn' you bleedin' tell me that while I was up there then? I'm up and down the shop already, it's up and down the bleedin' shop all the time. (He gets the ladder out, climbs up and gets the box of letters down, then puts the ladder away) Honestly, I've got all this shop, I ain't got any help, it's worth it we plan things. (He puts the box on the counter, and gets out some letter P's) How many d'you want?

BARKER: No! Tins of peas. Three tins of peas!

CORBETT: You're 'avin' me on, ain't ya, yer 'avin' me on?

BARKER: I'm not!

(Ronnie Corbett dumps the box under the counter, and gets three tins of peas)

CORBETT (placing the tins on the counter): Next?

BARKER: Got any pumps?

CORBETT (getting really fed up): 'And pumps, foot pumps? Come on!

BARKER (surprised he has to ask): Foot pumps!

CORBETT (muttering, as he goes down the shop): Foot pumps. See a foot pump?

(He sees one, and picks it up) Tidy up in 'ere.

(He puts the pump down on the counter)

BARKER: No, pumps fer ya feet! Brown pump, size nine!

CORBETT (almost at breaking point): You are 'avin' me on, you are definitely 'avin' me on!

BARKER (not taking much notice of Corbett's mood): I'm not!

CORBETT: You are 'avin' me on! (He takes back the pump, and gets a pair of brown foot pumps out of a drawer, and places them on the counter) Next?

BARKER: Washers!

CORBETT (really close to breaking point): What, dishwashers, floor washers, car washers, windscreen washers, back scrubbers, lavatory cleaners? Floor washers?

BARKER: 'Alf inch washers!

CORBETT: Oh, tap washers, tap washers? (He finally breaks, and makes to confiscate his list) Look, I've had just about enough of this, give us that list. (He mutters) I'll get it all myself! (Reading through the list) What's this? What's that? Oh that does it! That just about does it! I have just about had it! (calling through to the back) Mr. Jones! You come out and serve this customer please, I have just about had enough of 'im. (Mr. Jones comes out, and Ronnie Corbett shows him the list) Look what 'e's got on there! Look what 'e's got on there!

JONES (who goes to a drawer with a towel hanging out of it, and opens it): Right! How many would ya like? One or two?

(He removes the towel to reveal the label on the drawer - 'Bill hooks'!)

[tutsiwarrior]

was "Open all Hours' the sitcom with a young David Jason? If so yeah he was funny...

[davethailand]

Great comedian, very very sad

[fatter than harry]

Ahhh, what a star.

Morecombe and Wise, The Goodies and the Two Ronnies were my favourites when I was a nipper.

Fork handles, rubber O's - classic, been trying to get that on DVD for years now. I can never remember the other ones in that sketch.

I liked the poppadom 1412 overture, or whatever it was, very clever.

Bless him

[fatter than harry]

Thanks Tax!

[Jockstar]

was "Open all Hours' the sitcom with a young David Jason? If so yeah he was funny...

Yes thats the one.

[TizMe]

Whats going on in the world? Gilligan, Maxwell Smart, and now Fletch....

[Kan Win]

Loved your work.

R.I.P.

From all of us that loved you.

[bkkmadness]

Another one bites the dust, still, good innings and I bet he had a good life.

Open all hours and Porridge were both great tv series and I liked the two ronnies too. Didn't he do some flop follow up to porridge?

Though I'll never be truly saddened when a famous dude dies until David Attenborough bites the big one. Morbid aint I.

[ProfessorFart]

The flop was 'Going Straight' which followed Porridge and the characters on the outside.

It only ran for one series and people felt at the time that because a part of Porridge's appeal was its confinement to a prison, that the characters of Godber and Fletcher became diluted on the outside.

Personally I thought that the series was a low key but poignant farewell to the characters. Not laugh a minute like Porridge but it had the freedom to develop the characters in a new situation and show them in a new light. If you liked Porridge then you really should check it out.

Ronnie Barker was a true talent and another of the greats who have now departed.

When I see some of the utter garbage on TV today that passes for comedy like 'My Family' and 'My Hero' 'Little Britain' and the talentless no marks like Julian Clary, Graham Norton, and <deleted> Ant and Dec, I wonder what happened to the next generation of Barkers, Morcambes, Rossiters, Coopers etc and my heart has bled for British Comedy since the 1970s with a few exceptions.

[The Gentleman Scamp]

Was never a huge fan but I always liked them both and oddly enough I had a dream about his death about 10 years ago that bore some significance, though God only knows what.

76 is not a bad innings and I hope he left a happy man.

[The_Moog]

oddly enough I had a dream about his death about 10 years ago

That's weird, like a harbinger of doom.

You should dress up as a Transylvanian gypsy and tell fortunes in your fair. Madam Scampova.

Ken Dodd remains UK's greatest living comic. He is immortal.

[udon]

Sorry Moog, I can't go along with Doddy.

My wife loved him, I had to leave the room whenever he came on.

I put Doddy in the same basket as Cilla Black.... just as droll.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Goodnight from 'im

[SiamOne]

The flop was 'Going Straight' which followed Porridge and the characters on the outside. When I see some of the utter garbage on TV today that passes for comedy like 'My Family' and 'My Hero' 'Little Britain' and the talentless no marks like Julian Clary, Graham Norton, and <deleted> Ant and Dec, I wonder what happened to the next generation of Barkers, Morcambes, Rossiters, Coopers etc and my heart has bled for British Comedy since the 1970s with a few exceptions.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh come on!! lots of good things have/are on TV. There always has been a lot of rubbish as well, of course.

League of Gentlemen, Monty P, anything John Cleese, News at 10

what more would you want??

mind you, Ronnies made me squirm, not my sense of humour

[lovejoy]

The flop was 'Going Straight' which followed Porridge and the characters on the outside. When I see some of the utter garbage on TV today that passes for comedy like 'My Family' and 'My Hero' 'Little Britain' and the talentless no marks like Julian Clary, Graham Norton, and &lt;deleted&gt; Ant and Dec, I wonder what happened to the next generation of Barkers, Morcambes, Rossiters, Coopers etc and my heart has bled for British Comedy since the 1970s with a few exceptions.

Oh come on!! lots of good things have/are on TV. There always has been a lot of rubbish as well, of course.

League of Gentlemen, Monty P, anything John Cleese, News at 10

what more would you want??

mind you, Ronnies made me squirm, not my sense of humour

i agree there was a handful of shows from then that you would call classic

and a handful of todays shows will be remembered the same way

i dont think people are less funny today

[taxexile]

76 is not a bad innings and I hope he left a happy man.

he should have been given another 5 years.

he deserved it.

as another poster said , there has not been much in the way of classic subtle uk comedy since the 70's and 80's.(league of gentlemen and the brittas empire excepted )

it was true family entertainment.

these days it only takes a four letter word or some simple sexual innuendo and the simple minded spoon fed uk viewing public are wetting themselves with laughter. i'd hate to think how they would react if they were ever presented with a real joke.

oh for some more of the genius of

doddy

hancock

round the horne

the navy lark

dads army

are you being served

perrin

allo allo

bernard manning

morecombe and wise

i'm sorry i havent a clue

victor meldrew

fawlty towers

etc etc.

Edited October 5, 2005 by taxexile

[Neeranam]

Sad news indeed. He and Leonard Rossiter were my 2 favourite comedians, now they are both gone.

My favourite series from the 70's were Porridge and Rising Damp.

Barker was a very clever guy.

[steveromagnino]

Taxexile

Nice list; haven't seen all of them, but know some....

Ronnies were funny, but not so relevant...compare that to the relevance of some classics of the last 10 years or so:

- Father Ted

- Harry Enfield

- League of Gentlemen

These draw inspiration (somehow) from the nastier side of life; depression, losers and all the things we don't like - and turn them into comedy. Kind of like Perrin, which is still eminently watchable.

Well, maybe not quite true life, but they are still classic.

The funny thing is that some classics like the Young Ones which I was sure (as a kid) were the funniest cleverest thing ever! now seem to be very aged.

Although I still do like

- Some mothers do have em - physical comedy from the Phantom

- Red Dwarf

There is indeed trivel coming from the UK, but also some brilliance as well. And over the last 20 years, the Yanks have at least stepped up with a few tastes of brilliance of their own:

- Seinfeld

- Trailer park boys

[fatter than harry]

Talking of good American comedy, try to find 'The Job' starring Dennis Leary. Very funny series, only made the one though.

[Abandon]

Goodnight from 'im

heh ... they should put that one on his grave.

End of an Era - there was never a year on British TV without RB. Part of the culture.

[peter_griffin]

I have "Fork Handles' and 'Mastermind' on mpeg. PM me and I'll send them by e-mail if you want

[taxexile]

Nice list; haven't seen all of them, but know some....

have to add "only fools and horses" and the amazing "blackadder" to that list.

from the u.s. i always liked bilko , soap , the one whos name i always forget, with bob crane (set in a german pow camp ) , get smart and frasier.

..............and better not leave out the late peter cook .

Edited October 5, 2005 by taxexile

[Rinrada]

Nice list; haven't seen all of them, but know some....

have to add "only fools and horses" and the amazing "blackadder" to that list.

from the u.s. i always liked bilko , soap , the one whos name i always forget, with bob crane (set in a german pow camp ) , get smart and frasier.

..............and better not leave out the late peter cook .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hogans Heros and Sergent Scholtz........know nothing

http://www.briantaylor.com/HogansHeroes.htm

[taxexile]

Hogans Heros and Sergent Scholtz........know nothing 

thanks , that programme was mentioned on a thread last week , by me , so i should have remembered the name!