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Eric Morecambe | |
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 Bronze bust by Victor Heyfron, 1963 | |
| Born | John Eric Bartholomew (1926-05-14)14 May 1926 Morecambe, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 28 May 1984(1984-05-28) (aged 58) Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1941–1984 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 (1 adopted) |
| Family | Jack Bartholomew (uncle) |
John Eric Bartholomew (14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984), known by his stage nameEric Morecambe, was an English comedian who together withErnie Wise formed thedouble actMorecambe and Wise. The partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984. Morecambe took his stage name from his home town, theseaside resort ofMorecambe in Lancashire.
He was the co-star of theBBC1's television seriesThe Morecambe & Wise Show, which for the 1977 Christmas episode gained UK viewing figures of over 28 million people. One of the most prominent comedians inBritish popular culture, in 2002 he was named one of the100 Greatest Britons in a BBC poll.[1]
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Eric Morecambe was born at 12.30pm on Friday, 14 May 1926 at 42 Buxton Street, Morecambe, Lancashire[2][3] to George and Sarah Elizabeth "Sadie" (née Robinson) Bartholomew. He was christened on 6 June as John Eric Bartholomew.[4] Sadie took work as a waitress to raise funds for his dancing lessons. During this period, Eric Bartholomew won numerous talent contests, including one inHoylake in 1940 for which the prize was an audition in Manchester forJack Hylton. Three months after the audition, Hylton invited Bartholomew to join a revue calledYouth Takes a Bow[5] at theNottingham Empire, where he metErnest Wiseman, who had been appearing in the show for some years as "Ernest Wise".[6] The two soon became very close friends, and with Sadie's encouragement started to develop adouble act.
When the two were eventually allowed to perform their double act on stage (in addition to their solo spots), Hylton was impressed enough to make it a regular feature in the revue. However, the duo were separated when they came of age for theirWar Service during the final stages of theSecond World War. Wise joined theMerchant Navy, while Bartholomew was conscripted to become aBevin Boy and worked as a coal miner inAccrington from May 1944 onwards.
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After the war, Morecambe and Wise began performing on stage and radio and secured a contract with theBBC to make a television show, where they started the short-lived showRunning Wild in 1954, which was poorly received. They returned to the stage to hone their act, and later made appearances onSunday Night at the London Palladium andDouble Six.[7]
In 1961,Lew Grade offered the duo a series for the London-basedITV stationATV. EntitledTwo of a Kind, it was written byDick Hills and Sid Green. AnEquity strike halted that show, but Morecambe and Wise were members of the Variety Artists' Federation, then a separate trade union unaffiliated with Equity. Green and Hills later appeared in the series as "Sid" and "Dick".
The sixth Morecambe and Wise series for ATV was planned from the start to be aired in the United Kingdom as well as exported to the United States and Canada. It was taped in colour and starred international guests, often American. Prior to its British run, it was broadcast in North America by the ABC network as a summer replacement for re-runs ofThe Hollywood Palace, under the titleThe Piccadilly Palace, from 20 May to 9 September 1967. All but two episodes of this series are now believed to be lost, with the surviving two episodes existing only as black-and-white copies, bearing the UK titles.
The duo had appeared in the US onThe Ed Sullivan Show. In 1968, Morecambe and Wise left ATV to return to the BBC.
The duo made three films for the Rank Organisation which were successful in Britain.[8]
While Morecambe was recuperating from a heart attack, Hills and Green, who believed that Morecambe would probably never work again, quit as writers. Morecambe and Wise were inBarbados at the time and learned of their writers' departure only from the steward on the plane.John Ammonds, the show's producer, replaced Hills and Green withEddie Braben. Theatre criticKenneth Tynan stated, Braben made Wise's character a comic who was not funny, while Morecambe became a straight man who was funny. Braben made them less hostile to one another.
Morecambe and Wise did annualBBC Christmas shows from 1968 to 1977, with the 1977 show having an estimated audience of 28,385,000.[9] They were one of the most prominent comedy duos inBritish popular culture and in 1976 were both appointedOBEs. (Morecambe's wife, Joan, received an OBE in 2015 for her work with children's charities.)[10]
The pair left the BBC forITV in January 1978, signing a contract with the London stationThames Television.
Morecambe suffered a second heart attack at his home inHarpenden,Hertfordshire, on 15 March 1979; this led to aheart bypass operation, performed byMagdi Yacoub on 25 June 1979. At that time, Morecambe was told he only had three months to live.[11]
Morecambe increasingly wanted to move away from the double act, and into writing and playing other roles. In 1980, he played the "Funny Uncle" in a dramatisation of theJohn Betjeman poem "Indoor Games Near Newbury", part of an ITV special titledBetjeman's Britain. Produced and directed by Charles Wallace, it spawned the start of a working relationship that led to a follow-up in 1981 forParamount Pictures titledLate Flowering Love in which Morecambe played anRAF major.[citation needed] The film was released in the UK withRaiders of the Lost Ark. In 1981, Morecambe publishedMr Lonely, atragicomic novel about a stand-up comedian. He began to focus more on writing.
They also appeared together recalling their music hall days in a one-hour special on ITV on 2 March 1983, calledEric & Ernie's Variety Days. During this time Morecambe published two other novels:The Reluctant Vampire (1982) and its sequel,The Vampire's Revenge (1983). Morecambe and Wise's final show together was the 1983 Christmas special for ITV.
Morecambe and Wise worked on a television movie in 1983,Night Train to Murder, which was broadcast on ITV in January 1985. Continuing his collaboration with Wallace, Morecambe also acted in ashort comedy film calledThe Passionate Pilgrim oppositeTom Baker andMadeline Smith, again directed by Wallace forMGM/UA. It was released in the cinema with the James Bond filmOctopussy and later withWarGames. Wallace and Morecambe were halfway through filming a fourth film when Morecambe died. It was never completed.
Eric Morecambe married Joan Bartlett inMargate,Thanet,Kent, on 11 December 1952. They held their wedding reception at the Bulls Head pub in Margate. They had three children: Gail (born 1953); Gary (born 1956) and Steven (born 1970).
Joan Morecambe died on her 97th birthday on 26 March 2024.[12]
In his leisure time, Eric was a keenbirdwatcher, and thestatue of him at Morecambe shows him wearing his binoculars. TheRoyal Society for the Protection of Birds named a hide after him at the nearbyLeighton Moss RSPB reserve in recognition of his support. In 1984 the RSPB bought the 459 hectares (1,130 acres) Old Hall Marshes Reserve nearTolleshunt D'Arcy in Essex for £780,000, helped by donations to theEric Morecambe Memorial Appeal.[13]
Morecambe was the nephew of therugby league playerJohn "Jack" Bartholomew.[14]
Alongside various other celebrities, Morecambe sent a message of support toMargaret Thatcher after she won the1979 general election, wishing her luck during the1979 European election campaign.[15] His message ended, "God bless you, Maggie, and good luck in the European Campaign and it is your round next."[16]
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In a diary entry from 17 August 1967, when Morecambe and Wise were appearing inGreat Yarmouth as part of a summer season, Morecambe observed: "I have a slight pain on the left side around my heart. It's most likely wind, but I've had it for about four days. That's a hell of a time to have wind."[17]
He suffered a near-fatal heart attack late on 7 November 1968 after a show, while driving back to his hotel outsideLeeds. Morecambe had been appearing with Wise during a week of midnight performances at theVariety Club inBatley, Yorkshire. Morecambe and Wise appeared there in December 1967 for a week, making £4,000 (equivalent to £92,000 in 2023[18]).
Since the beginning of the week Morecambe noticed he had pains in his right arm but thought little of it, thinking the pains weretennis elbow orrheumatism. That night, he headed back to his hotel, and recounted in an interview withMichael Parkinson in November 1972 that, as the pains spread to his chest, he became unable to drive. He was rescued by a passerby as he stopped the car. The first hospital they arrived at had noAccident and Emergency. At the second one, Morecambe admitted himself and a heart attack was immediately diagnosed. Morecambe was due to appear at theLondon Palladium with his partner Ernie Wise on 18 November 1968 but had to miss the performance as he was recovering in hospital. The comedianFrankie Howerd and impressionistMike Yarwood were both late stand-ins for them instead.
After leaving hospital on 24 November 1968 under orders not to work for three months,[19] Morecambe gave up his cigarette habit and started smoking apipe, as he mentioned that he was trying to do in August 1967. He also stopped doing summer and winter seasons and reduced many of his public engagements. Morecambe took six months off, returning for a press call at theBBC Television Centre in May 1969. On 27 July of that year, Morecambe and Wise returned to the stage at theBournemouth Winter Gardens, and received a four-minute standing ovation.
Morecambe suffered a second heart attack in March 1979[20] and underwent bypass surgery in June.[21]
Morecambe took part in a charity show, hosted by close friend and comedianStan Stennett, at theRoses Theatre inTewkesbury, Gloucestershire, on Sunday 27 May 1984. His wife Joan, who was in the audience, recalled that Morecambe was "on top form".[22]
After the show had ended and Morecambe had first left the stage, the musicians returned and picked up their instruments. He rushed back onto the stage to join them and played various instruments making six curtain calls. On leaving the stage for the final time as thehouse tabs fell, he stepped into the wings and collapsed with his third heart attack in 16 years. He was rushed toCheltenham General Hospital, where he died just before 3 a.m. on Monday 28 May.[23]
His funeral was held on 4 June atSt Nicholas Church, Harpenden, with the principal address delivered byDickie Henderson. There was a private cremation service atGarston. His ashes were later returned to the church for burial in the Garden of Remembrance.[citation needed]
Ernie Wise said in an interview, "I think I had two sad days, I think – when my father died and, actually, when Eric died."[24]
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