Dame June Rosemary Whitfield was an English radio, television, and film actress.
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).
Arthur Bowden Askey, was an English comedian and actor. Askey was known for his short stature and distinctive horn-rimmed glasses, and his playful humour incorporating improvisation and catchphrases including "Hello playmates!", "I thank you" and "Before your very eyes".
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.
Comedy Playhouse is a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 127 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.
Arthur Ernest Mullard was an English actor and singer.
Patrick David Newell was a British actor, known for his large size.
David Freeman was a British film and television writer, working chiefly in comedy.
Love and Kisses was a black-and-white British sitcom that aired on ITV in 1955. It was written by Glenn Melvyn, who also starred in it. It was made for the ITV network by Associated-Rediffusion and was a spin-off series from the film The Love Match (1955) which was also written by and starred Glenn Melvyn.
Living It Up was a black-and-white British sitcom starring Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch that ran for nine episodes from 1957 to 1958. It was written by Sid Colin and Talbot Rothwell. It was made for the ITV network by Associated-Rediffusion. All nine episodes survive in the archives.
Anthea Shirley Askey was an English actress, particularly prominent on television in the 1950s.
The Arthur Askey Show was a short-lived black-and-white British sitcom starring Arthur Askey that ran for six episodes in 1961. It was written by Dave Freeman. It was made for the ITV network by ATV. The following year Askey appeared in another series Raise Your Glasses on the BBC.
The Tony Hancock Show is a black-and-white British sketch show starring Tony Hancock and was broadcast on ITV by the franchise contractor Associated-Rediffusion for two series in 1956 and 1957, either side of the first television series of Hancock's Half Hour. It was written by Eric Sykes, Larry Stephens, John Jose and Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. All the episodes were broadcast live.
The Adventures of William Tell is a British swashbuckler adventure series, first broadcast on the ITV network in 1958, and produced by ITC Entertainment. In the United States, the episodes aired on the syndicated NTA Film Network in 1958–1959.
Make Mine a Million is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Lance Comfort, starring Arthur Askey, Sid James, and Bernard Cribbins. The film parodies the stuffiness of the 1950s BBC and the effect of television advertising in the era.
Ramsbottom Rides Again is a 1956 British western comedy film produced and directed by John Baxter. The film features radio, film and stage star Arthur Askey in the lead role of Bill Ramsbottom, with Sid James, Shani Wallis, Betty Marsden and Jerry Desmonde in supporting roles. Pop singer Frankie Vaughan, in his film debut, sings "This is the Night" and "Ride, Ride, Ride Again." Anthea Askey, Arthur's daughter has a minor role.
Yus, My Dear is a British sitcom that ran for nineteen episodes over two series in 1976 featuring Arthur Mullard and Queenie Watts in the lead roles. It was written by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe, and produced and directed by Stuart Allen for London Weekend Television. It was screened by ITV during 1976, and marked an early regular TV appearance of the comedian Mike Reid.
Christmas Night with the Stars is a television show broadcast each Christmas night by the BBC from 1958 to 1972. The show was hosted each year by a leading star of BBC TV and featured specially made short seasonal editions of the previous year's most successful BBC sitcoms and light entertainment programs. Most of the variety segments no longer exist in accordance with the BBC's practice of discarding programmes at the time.
Before the Fringe was a BBC television series which ran for two series on BBC2 in 1967.
