Ann Hamilton (British actress)

Last updated
Ann Hamilton
Born (1939-07-05) 5 July 1939 (age 84)
Orsett, Essex, England
Other namesAnnie Clayton
Occupation(s)Dancer, actress, dog trainer
Years active1957-present
Known forThe Morecambe & Wise Show
SpouseTony Clayton
ChildrenMichael Clayton (b. 1961)

Ann Hamilton (born 5 July 1939) is an English actress, best known for her numerous appearances with the comedians Morecambe & Wise.

Contents

Biography

Hamilton was born in Orsett, Essex. She began dance classes at the age of three, and attended ballet school. Her first job, at 18, was as a dancer at the Windmill Theatre. [1]

She married the theatre director Tony Clayton in 1959, and moved into stage acting, appearing in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in the West End in 1963, and Wind In The Sassafras Trees five years later. [2] She also worked with the comics Roy Hudd, Ken Dodd, and Bruce Forsyth — whose writers Dick Hills and Sid Green recommended her to Morecambe & Wise. [2]

Hamilton first appeared in their ATV show Two of a Kind in 1966, and became a regular cast member. When Morecambe & Wise moved to the BBC in 1968 for The Morecambe & Wise Show , Hamilton went with them. [2] She appeared with them more than 100 times, prompting Eric Morecambe to refer to her as "our Margaret Dumont". [1]

She appeared in The Avengers 1967 episode entitled The Positive Negative Man.

Hamilton retired from show-business in 1987 to work as a dog trainer and canine behaviourist. She has been a judge at Crufts, and appeared on TV as the presenter of Bring Your Husband To Heel (2005), and as a judge on The Underdog Show (2007). [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Morecambe</span> English comedian (1926–1984)

John Eric Bartholomew, known by his stage name Eric Morecambe, was an English comedian who together with Ernie Wise formed the double act Morecambe and Wise. The partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984. Morecambe took his stage name from his home town, the seaside resort of Morecambe in Lancashire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Des O'Connor</span> English comedian, singer and television presenter (1932–2020)

Desmond Bernard O'Connor was an English comedian, singer and television presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penelope Keith</span> Actress; High Sheriff of Surrey; Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey

Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith, is an English actress and presenter, active in film, radio, stage and television and primarily known for her roles in the British sitcoms The Good Life and To the Manor Born. She succeeded Lord Olivier as president of the Actors' Benevolent Fund after his death in 1989, and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the arts and to charity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernie Wise</span> English comedian

Ernest Wiseman,, known by his stage name Ernie Wise, was an English comedian, best known as one half of the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, who became a national institution on British television, especially for their Christmas specials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morecambe and Wise</span> Comedy double act

Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, known as Morecambe and Wise, were an English 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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonnie Langford</span> British actress (born 1964)

Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford is an English actress, dancer and singer. She came to prominence as a child star in the 1970s, when she had a notable role in the TV series Just William.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valerie Harper</span> American actress (1939–2019)

Valerie Kathryn Harper was an American actress. She began her career as a dancer on Broadway, making her debut as a replacement in the musical Li'l Abner. She is best remembered for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977) and its spinoff Rhoda (1974–1978). For her work on Mary Tyler Moore, she thrice received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and later received the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Rhoda. From 1986 to 1987, she appeared as Valerie Hogan on the sitcom Valerie, which she subsequently left for salary reasons. Her character was killed off, and the show was retitled Valerie's Family and eventually The Hogan Family. Actress Sandy Duncan was cast in a new role that served as a replacement for Harper's character. Her film appearances include roles in Freebie and the Bean (1974) and Chapter Two (1979), both of which garnered her Golden Globe Award nominations. She returned to stage work in her later career, appearing in several Broadway productions. In 2010, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as Tallulah Bankhead in the play Looped.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Braben</span> English comedy writer and performer

Edwin Charles Braben was an English comedy writer and performer best known for providing material for Morecambe and Wise. He also worked for David Frost, Ronnie Corbett and Ken Dodd.

Madeline Smith is an English actress. After working as a model in the late 1960s, she went on to appear in many television series and stage productions, plus comedy and horror films, in the 1970s and 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrie Ann Inaba</span> American television dancer, choreographer, actress, and singer

Carrie Ann Inaba is an American television personality, dancer, choreographer, actress, and singer. She is best known for her work on ABC TV's Dancing with the Stars for which she has served as a judge since 2005. She co-hosted and moderated the CBS Daytime talk show, The Talk from 2019 to 2021. She started her career as a singer in Japan, but became best known for her dancing, introducing herself to American audiences as one of the original Fly Girls on the Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color from 1990 to 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivy Benson</span> English musician and bandleader

Ivy Benson was an English musician and bandleader, who led an all-female swing band. Benson and her band gained prominence in the 1940s, headlining variety theatres and topping the bill at the London Palladium, and became the BBC's resident house band.

<i>Eric and Ernie</i> 2011 television film

Eric and Ernie is a 2011 British television drama film based on the early career of the British comic double-act Morecambe and Wise. The film was produced by BBC Wales, completed in 2010, and premiered on BBC Two on 1 January 2011. It was watched by 6.65 million viewers. Since then, it has been repeated several times on Gold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Flannery</span> American actress (born 1964)

Kate Flannery is an American actress. Following her early theatre work, Flannery had her screen breakthrough playing Meredith Palmer on the NBC series The Office, which won her two Screen Actors Guild Awards. She went on to guest star on CBS shows Magnum PI and Young Sheldon. She competed on the 28th season of Dancing with the Stars and voiced Barb on the animated series Steven Universe.

Fiona Richmond is an English former glamour model and actress who appeared in numerous risqué plays, comedy revues, magazines and films during the 1970s. She became Britain’s best-known sex symbol and she has been described as one of the "two hottest British sex film stars of the seventies", the other being Mary Millington.

<i>The Morecambe & Wise Show</i> (1968 TV series) BBC comedy sketch show

The Morecambe & Wise Show is a comedy sketch show originally broadcast by BBC television and the third TV series by English comedy double-act Morecambe and Wise. It began airing in 1968 on BBC2, specifically because it was then the only channel broadcasting in colour, following the duo's move to the BBC from ATV, where they had made Two of a Kind since 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bring Me Sunshine</span> 1966 song by Arthur Kent and Sylvia Dee

"Bring Me Sunshine" is a song written in 1966 by the composer Arthur Kent, with lyrics by Sylvia Dee. It was first recorded by The Mills Brothers in 1968, on their album My Shy Violet. In the UK, the song is associated with the popular comedy duo Morecambe & Wise, after it was adopted as their signature tune in their second series for the BBC in 1969.

<i>The Play What I Wrote</i> Comic British play

The Play What I Wrote is a comedy play written by Hamish McColl, Sean Foley and Eddie Braben, starring Foley and McColl, with Toby Jones, directed by Kenneth Branagh and produced in its original production by David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers. The show is a celebration of the British comedy double act Morecambe and Wise, and an irreverent and farcical exploration of the nature of double acts in general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Hamilton</span> English television presenter and property expert

Laura Jane Hamilton is an English television presenter, property expert and entrepreneur. She began her career on children's television, presenting shows such as Fun Song Factory and on Nickelodeon. She participated in series six of Dancing on Ice in 2011, finishing in second place. Since February 2012, Hamilton has been a presenter of Channel 4's A Place in the Sun and also co-presented Cowboy Builders & Bodge Jobs for Channel 5 in 2015. In 2022 she joined ITV's This Morning presenting Live features on location.

Eric, Ernie and Me is a 2017 television film based on the relationship between British television double-act Morecambe and Wise and their writer Eddie Braben. It starred Stephen Tompkinson as Eddie Braben, Mark Bonnar as Eric Morecambe and Neil Maskell as Ernie Wise. It was written by Neil Forsyth. The one-off drama premiered on BBC Four on 29 December 2017.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Show Wot I Starred In". Suffolk Magazine. 2009. p. 1. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Show Wot I Starred In". Suffolk Magazine. Morecambe & Wise. 2009. p. 2. Retrieved 30 March 2013.