A great writer and comedy actor.
Very funny man. RIP
...isn't it strange, a week or so ago someone mentioned the British film 'The Plank' and Eric Sykes, and I wondered if he was still alive as I couldn't remember his passing.
My sympathy to his family, he was a fantastic writer and was at the forefront of much of the British comedy in my youth, and he influenced so may with his works and was of course the 'invisible' Goon, from The Goon Show.
RIP Eric and thanks for the many laughs - needle, nardle noo...
Always came across as a really nice man. Up there with Tommy Cooper in my eyes.
My Dad always told me he was a Fulham supporter .......?
Quote from: jms on July 04, 2012, 07:14:43 PM
My Dad always told me he was a Fulham supporter .......?
...Eric Sykes was from Oldham, but as Hattie Jacques father was meant to have played for Fulham (*) it is possible he came along because of her and as so many actors used to watch Fulham through Tommy Trinder's connection, not sure he was a fan but may have been to a few Fulham games...
* I can find no records of this, but I have a photograph of a Fulham team from 1919 where there are at least four players who are listed as 'Unknown' such was the haphazard nature of records so early post war. So Robin Jacques may well have played for us..?
He was a good actor as well
Sorry to rain on his parade but I played golf with him on a couple of occasions and he was an absolute p****. As I said, sorry but RIP nevertheless> 075.gif
Nothing like a good old bit of British honesty to kill the dinner party. Get Coat gif
Perhaps he was only a pr!ck on the golf course ? That silly game'll do that to ya !
RIP Eric.
Quote from: jarv on July 05, 2012, 03:56:56 AM
Nothing like a good old bit of British honesty to kill the dinner party. Get Coat gif
Should I lie just to keep you happy?
Quote from: Gozorich on July 05, 2012, 02:49:47 AM
Sorry to rain on his parade but I played golf with him on a couple of occasions and he was an absolute p****. As I said, sorry but RIP nevertheless> 075.gif
Careful Mr Rich – this is not the forum where you can afford to be iconoclastic. When he fell off the perch, I had the temerity to say that I thought that Norman Wisdom was about as funny as a wife swapping party with a couple of lepers. The result was that I was bombarded with hate mail that is usually reserved for a serial killer.
But here I go again. To compare Eric Sykes with Tommy Cooper is like comparing John Watson with Johnny Haynes. 075.gif
Nonetheless, RIP Eric.
And of course Tommy Cooper was in many ways not a particularly nice man. Funny as hell of course.
I met Eric Sykes in circumstances where, to be fair, he could not have been expected to be cheerful, amusing or particularly pleasant and he wasn't.
To change the tone somewhat...I sadly watched Teletubbies yesterday (for the sake of my 18 month old son) in the realisation that his small voiceover part in it was probably his last great work.
People can post what they like within reason. Jarv I thought has a funny response to Gozrich post. A lot of people are very funny and may have an off day or be a right so and so. Many of us grew up with Eric Sykes and his comedy. His off duty moments may not have been perfect and it is fair to comment. However it doesn't change his wonderful work. Except the teletubbies (?)
His autobiography, "If I don't write it, who will?" appears to be a very honest one, and it clearly shows that Eric Sykes was not the easiest person in the world to get on with. He seems to have fallen out with most of his friends at one time or another, was the beneficiary of some outrageously lucky events and always attributed his good fortune to the influence of his long dead mother (she died giving birth to him), who he felt was looking after him all his life.
He probably was not always a nice person, something I have seen written about many television greats, but so what? This does not detract from his immense contributions to the world of comedy and, to the best of my knowledge, he never pretended to be something he was not.
Not knowing them personally, nor having met them, I wouldn't know if Eric, Norman or Tommy were good guys or otherwise.
Humour is a very personal thing and some comedians have/had the ability to make me laugh whilst others leave me in a miasma of ho hum.
All I am saying is that it does not sit well with some people if you dare criticise the very people that they hold so dear – but that does not validate one person's opinion against another's. Surely we all have a right to express an opinion.
There was never any crudity with Eric's writing, I to read his biography. At Hattie Jaques' funeral her children banned him from coming.
Quote from: bog on July 05, 2012, 11:53:34 AM
There was never any crudity with Eric's writing, I to read his biography. At Hattie Jaques' funeral her children banned him from coming.
You can see their point.
That would have been completely inappropriate.
When you meet celebrities, first impressions seem to form opinions for life (probably because you will never meet him/her again).
Tommy Cooper used to use the same pub in Chiswick I often did. Lousy Watneys beer but it was at the end of the street. (I shared a flat with a bunch of others in the same street Cooper lived). He came across as a miserable so and so, not unusual for comedians.
Richard O'Sullivan, also a Chiswick man, came across as very nice, mildly amusing and quite self effacing. (I played football with his brother for 2 or 3 seasons so met Richard quite a few times).
Those impressions have never changed.
My wife and I met Ronnie Corbett at Nadi Airport in Fiji in the arrival lounge.
Ronnie was the epitome of good manners. When she asked him if he had a good flight he replied, "Well, I'm just relieved that we landed somewhere near the airport." He wished us a happy stay in Fiji, posed for photographs with other passengers and shook hands with lots of people who he had not obviously met before.
Being a comedian is a serious matter and as we know there have been many who have led abject lives, not the least of them, Tony Hancock, who took his own life.
But as with anyone who puts their work out there for public scrutiny you must expect that some people are going to warm to you whilst others are going to dislike you. Their passing should not influence your original opinion one iota. They are not suddenly more talented in death than they were in life and sad as you might be that they have died, that should be the sum of it.
Quote from: CorkedHat on July 06, 2012, 03:04:58 AM
My wife and I met Ronnie Corbett at Nadi Airport in Fiji in the arrival lounge.
Ronnie was the epitome of good manners. When she asked him if he had a good flight he replied, "Well, I'm just relieved that we landed somewhere near the airport." He wished us a happy stay in Fiji, posed for photographs with other passengers and shook hands with lots of people who he had not obviously met before.
Being a comedian is a serious matter and as we know there have been many who have led abject lives, not the least of them, Tony Hancock, who took his own life.
But as with anyone who puts their work out there for public scrutiny you must expect that some people are going to warm to you whilst others are going to dislike you. Their passing should not influence your original opinion one iota. They are not suddenly more talented in death than they were in life and sad as you might be that they have died, that should be the sum of it.
Yep summed it up - totally agree. BTW Bob Mortimer and myself nearly knocked each other over as we dashed across a crossing in Edinburgh, he was very friendly and we had a laugh about it. I actually never realised who I was giggling with until I had walked away he was so unassuming
