Ronald William George Barker was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as Porridge, The Two Ronnies, and Open All Hours.
Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business in 26a Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC in black and white from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974 in colour. The lead roles were played by Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett. The theme tune, "Old Ned", was composed by Ron Grainer. The series was voted 15th in a 2004 poll by the BBC to find Britain's Best Sitcom. It was remade in the United States as Sanford and Son, in Sweden as Albert & Herbert, in the Netherlands as Stiefbeen en zoon, in Portugal as Camilo & Filho, and in South Africa as Snetherswaite and Son. Two film adaptations of the series were released in cinemas, Steptoe and Son (1972) and Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973).
Galton and Simpson were a British comedy scriptwriting duo, who wrote for radio, television and film, consisting of Ray Galton OBE and Alan Simpson OBE. They are best known for their work with comedian Tony Hancock on radio and television between 1954 and 1961 and their long-running television situation comedy, Steptoe and Son, eight series of which were aired between 1962 and 1974, they had an association lasting 60 years.
Raymond Percy Galton was an English radio and television scriptwriter, best known for the Galton and Simpson comedy writing partnership with Alan Simpson. Together they devised and wrote 1950s and 60s BBC sitcoms including Hancock's Half Hour (1954–1961), the first two series of Comedy Playhouse (1961–1963), and Steptoe and Son (1962–1974).
Ronald Balfour Corbett was a Scottish actor, broadcaster and comedian. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show The Two Ronnies. He achieved prominence in David Frost's 1960s satirical comedy programme The Frost Report and subsequently starred in sitcoms such as No – That's Me Over Here!, Now Look Here, and Sorry!
Henry Wilfrid Brambell was an Irish television and film actor, best remembered for playing the grubby rag-and-bone man Albert Steptoe alongside Harry H. Corbett in the long-running BBC television sitcom Steptoe and Son. He achieved international recognition in 1964 for his appearance alongside the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night, playing the fictional grandfather of Paul McCartney.
Harry H. Corbett was an English actor and comedian, best remembered for playing rag-and-bone man Harold Steptoe alongside Wilfrid Brambell in the long-running BBC television sitcom Steptoe and Son. His success on television led to appearances in comedy films including The Bargee (1964), Carry On Screaming! (1966) and Jabberwocky (1977).
Comedy Playhouse is a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 128 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including Steptoe and Son, Meet the Wife, Till Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, Up Pompeii!, Not in Front of the Children, Me Mammy, That's Your Funeral, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served? and particularly Last of the Summer Wine, which is the world's longest running sitcom, having run from January 1973 to August 2010. In all, 27 sitcoms started from a pilot in the Comedy Playhouse strand.
George Alphonsus Cooper was an English actor and voice artist. He died in November 2018 at the age of 93.
The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins is a 1971 British sketch comedy film directed and produced by Graham Stark. Its title is a conflation of The Magnificent Seven and the seven deadly sins. It comprises a sequence of seven sketches, each representing a sin and written by an array of British comedy-writing talent, including Graham Chapman, Spike Milligan, Barry Cryer and Galton and Simpson. The sketches are linked by animation sequences overseen by Bob Godfrey's animation studio. The music score is by British jazz musician Roy Budd, cinematography by Harvey Harrison and editing by Rod Nelson-Keys and Roy Piper. It was produced by Tigon Pictures and distributed in the U.K. by Tigon Film Distributors Ltd.
Alan Francis Simpson was an English scriptwriter, best known for the Galton and Simpson comedy writing partnership with Ray Galton. Together they devised and wrote the BBC sitcom Hancock's Half Hour (1954–1961), the first two series of Comedy Playhouse (1961–1963), and Steptoe and Son (1962–1974).
Steptoe and Son is a 1972 British comedy drama film directed by Cliff Owen and starring Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett. It was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The film centres on a flashback to about four years earlier detailing Harold's short-lived marriage to Zita, a stripper.
Steptoe and Son Ride Again is a 1973 British comedy drama film directed by Peter Sykes and starring Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett. It was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Father Came Too! is a 1964 British comedy film directed by Peter Graham Scott and starring James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips and Stanley Baxter. It was written by Jack Davies and Henry Blyth.
Three Men in a Boat is a 1956 British CinemaScope colour comedy film directed by Ken Annakin, starring Laurence Harvey, Jimmy Edwards, David Tomlinson and Shirley Eaton. It was written by Hubert Gregg and Vernon Harris based on the 1889 novel of the same name by Jerome K. Jerome.
Nearly a Nasty Accident is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Don Chaffey and starring Jimmy Edwards, Kenneth Connor, Shirley Eaton and Eric Barker.
The Class sketch is a comedy sketch first broadcast in an episode of David Frost's satirical comedy programme The Frost Report on 7 April 1966. It has been described as a "genuinely timeless sketch, ingeniously satirising the British class system" and in 2005 was voted number 40 in Channel Four's "Britain's 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches". It was written by Marty Feldman and John Law, and features John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie Corbett.
Thomas James Harman Sloan was a British television executive. He was the BBC's Head of Light Entertainment in the 1960s.
Rattle of a Simple Man is a 1964 British comedy-drama film directed by Muriel Box and starring Diane Cilento, Harry H. Corbett and Michael Medwin. It was written by Charles Dyer, based on his 1962 play La Crécelle(Rattle of a Simple Man).
