Ned Sherrin, producer of That Was the Week That Was more than forty years before, wrote in his review of the memorial service, in the magazine the Oldie, ‘Never before have I seen a eulogist “milk” a pulpit.’ He also commented that my box joke was more appropriate than I imagined. ‘Bishop William Walsham How, who wrote the first hymn, “For All the Saints …”, in the 1870s, was less than five foot tall. Being too short for most pulpits, he travelled with a specially built platform wherever he preached.’
Most of my tribute consisted of memories that I have already shared with you: our first meeting at the Buckstone and Ronnie believing that I was standing on a beer crate; Ronnie and Harry dieting and losing my weight between them; the sweet little poem he sent in thanks for the towel and hat in Australia; Ron and I in economy class on the way back from Montreux and Michael Grade sending his message, ‘Out front and loving it’; everyone laughing as the doors of the airport bus closed to leave me stranded outside; riding on to the stage in motorcycle and sidecar dressed as the Two Fat Ladies; Ron’s triumph at the Saints and Sinners Club – a little collection of our happiest memories. And one incident that I haven’t told you about.
It was when Ron was beginning to have worries about his heart, and he’d been sent for a very, very special cardiac examination to a private hospital in St John’s Wood, and he was anxious that the whole thing should be kept from the press and remain a total secret, and as he was being wheeled in a chair by a hospital porter, the porter said, ‘Oh, you’ve got no problems here, sir. This is a very, very discreet, private, secret, wonderfully personal hospital. We had Danny La Rue in here on Thursday.’ Then I used my old line, ‘When we were filming the principle would be that Ronnie would write a sketch, and I would queue for his lunch… simple really… a very simple formula.’ And I ended with my final farewell to Ron. ‘He was a dear, dear man, a wonderful friend, a talented artist, and whatever else we could say, you could guarantee that it was always going to be a very, very good night from him.’
As I descended the stairs – very carefully – and was escorted slowly back to my seat with great formality, there was a good round of applause. I’d like to think that it was because, unlike so many tributes at so many memorial services, everyone knew that on this occasion I had meant every single word of it.
22
Several months have passed now since Ron’s death, but I feel that he is with me still. Anne and I have, of course, visited Joy at the mill that she loves so much and that Ron loved so much, and it’s hard not to expect to find him there, cutting things out of old books or just wandering in the garden, enjoying the kind of peace and quiet that was always so important to both of us. There, in that very private place, Joy faces life without him with her usual courage and humour.
But our house, too, is full of him, just full of him. There is not a corner I can turn without seeing a still of him or a picture on the wall or a book or a biography or a sketch or a little note that he’d written to me.
There were often times, between series and after his retirement, when we wouldn’t see each other for a few months, but I haven’t seen him now for the best part of a year and I think the reality that I will never see him again is therefore beginning to have a stronger impact on me. I will hear some joke or watch some programme and think, ‘I must see what Ron thinks of that,’ and then realize that I can’t ask him. I have so much of him on tape, of course, and that is a very real consolation. He lives on in the glow of his talent.
I’ve often thought about the incredible depth of feeling that his death created. He would never have imagined such a thing. He couldn’t have imagined it. And yet – we don’t know – maybe one can know such things when one is gone. It would be good to think so.
I always realized that he was an absolute giant, but because
One of many thoughtful cards that Ron sent me over the years.
of his natural modesty as a person, only really after he’d gone did I fully appreciate the library of his work, which was immense. He was an everyday person, day to day. He wasn’t a spoilt, chauffeur-driven celebrity. He was a humble man, with huge talents and skills, but because I knew him so well and had so many ordinary, unpretentious moments with him, perhaps it’s only now that I can see the whole magnitude of it.
It was an immense privilege for me to work with him. I once said to him, ‘I always think to myself, Ron, that I can’t be all that bad, otherwise you wouldn’t have put up with me.’ He said, ‘Say that again.’ He couldn’t believe that I’d said it. He couldn’t believe that I felt it. I didn’t feel like that all the time; usually I was very comfortable working with him, but there were moments when I sought that consolation. It would have been impossible not to, when working with such a talent.
We were blessed to have been able to create such a legacy of family entertainment, to have been a part of making it, and to have left it. When I walk about I still get warmly thanked, from people that I meet, for all the fun that we have given them. Ron’s gone, Eric and Ernie have gone, so many have gone, so I am getting more than my fair share of all this gratitude for what is perceived to have been a golden age for family entertainment.
When I look back over our careers, and think of the ambiance within which we worked, both separately and together, I think that we must have had – how we arrived at it I don’t know – well-balanced lives. Our work never took us over, never drove us mad, never turned us to drink or drugs. We enjoyed our grub. We loved and enjoyed our wives and families. Our whole lives were really led in a very calm and measured manner. We were temperate. People find it hard to believe me when I say that we never had rows, never got frustrated with each other, but it’s true, and I think a lot of that was to do with the way we each allowed the other space, we didn’t intrude upon each other’s privacy. It was, truly, a very British friendship.
I know how much Ron meant to me, but when I look back on the last time I saw him, on the day when we recorded the news items for the Christmas special, I can see as vividly as ever his fragility, and I know how difficult it was for him to get through that day; I marvel at the strength of character that he showed, and I think that he made himself do it, for me. He didn’t say so, he wouldn’t have said so, but I think he did it for me, and that shows me how much I meant to him.
The world has changed in so many ways during our careers, but one thing in particular that has changed is the attitude to our kind of career. Helpful and encouraging though Ron’s and my parents were, there was an attitude in the country that if you wanted to act or write or generally be artistic, you were the black sheep of the family. Now everybody wants to do it. Everyone I meet tells me their son is doing media studies at university, or their daughter wants to be a director or has gone on a writing course. It’s as if the people who want to be chartered accountants are now the freaks, the black sheep of their families.
I think we were fortunate too, without wanting to sound like a grumpy old man and go on too much about the golden age of television, to work in a young industry that was still fun, and where artistic judgements could still be more important than financial ones.
What luck! That was the message of Ron’s acceptance speech on the occasion of his BAFTA award. I have to borrow it off him, and echo it. What luck to have been picked out from Winston’s and asked to join Ron in The Frost Report. What luck to have won the love of such a wonderful wife as Anne. What luck to have done fifteen years of The Two Ronnies together. What luck to feel that, if I was told that I could have my career all over again, and could choose what it would be like, I could with sincerity echo those words of dear Ronnie Barker in the Buckstone Club.
‘Same again, please.’
Sources
The author and publisher wish to thank all copyright holders for permission to reproduce their work, and the individuals who helped with the research and supply of materials.
Pictorial Sources
A special thanks to Joy Barker for allowing us access to her photograph co
llection.
p. 53 ‘Winning the Golden Rose’ © Ben Jones/Rex Features
p. 59 ‘Ron and me with Josephine Tewson’ from Frost on Sunday, reproduced courtesy of ITV
p. 60 Frost on Sunday, 1968, reproduced courtesy of ITV
p. 64 Frost on Sunday, 1968, reproduced courtesy of ITV
p. 106 ‘Asian Lovelies’ reproduced courtesy of Don Smith/Radio Times
p. 125 ‘As a couple of Welsh miners’ reproduced courtesy of Don Smith/Radio Times
p. 126 Nana Moussaka and Charles Azenough, reproduced courtesy of Don Smith/Radio Times
p. 128 ‘Me and Ron about to burst into song in a sketch called “Ball and Socket” (our version of Hinge and Bracket), from the Saturday night show’ reproduced courtesy of Don Smith/Radio Times
p. 182 ‘Fork Handles’ © Reg Wilson/Rex Features
p. 243 ‘In our last show, “Pinocchio II –Killer Doll”. Ron as Geppetto and me as Pinocchio. Christmas Night with the Two Ronnies, 1987’ reproduced courtesy of Don Smith/Radio Times
Photographic credits for the black and white inset section:
All images from Frost on Sunday reproduced courtesy of ITV
Photographic credits for the colour inset section:
‘The Country and Western Duo Jehosaphat and Jones’ © Reg Wilson/Rex Features
‘The Royal Command Performance at the Victoria Palace: making our entrance’ © Ken McKay/Rex Features
‘Ron and I with our lovely wives Anne and Joy’ © Julian McKay/Rex Features
Text Sources
p. 254 Extract from The Authorised Biography of Ronnie Barker by Bob McCabe © Essential Works Ltd 2004. Reproduced with permission of BBC Worldwide Ltd.
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders and we apologize in advance for any unintentional omission. We would be pleased to insert the appropriate acknowledgement in any subsequent edition.
Index
Figures in italics indicate illustrations.
Ackland, Rodney 25–6
Addington, Surrey 94, 148, 215
Adoo, Dennis 130
Alexandra Palace, North London 73
Alfredo 93, 94
Algarve, Portugal 168
All Souls church, Langham Place, London 26
Allen, Dave 158
Anderson, Moira 288
Andrews, Eamonn 65, 66
Annie Get Your Gun (musical) 32, 200
Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London 44, 160
Aristophanes: Lysistrata 160
Arts Theatre, Great Newport Street, London 44
Ascham girls’ school, Australia 199
Askey, Arthur 154
Aspreys jewellers, New Bond Street, London 70
Astaire, Fred 139
Attenborough, Richard (Lord Attenborough) 40, 289
ATV 58
Audience with Ronnie Corbett, An (TV series) 267–8
Australia 95, 152, 159, 160, 195–208, 213–14, 215, 235, 240–41, 257
Avengers, The (TV series) 55–6
Ayckbourn, Alan: Mr Whatnot 107
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire 38, 39
Babes in the Wood (play) 21, 39
BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards 45, 73–4, 76
tribute to RB 269–77, 278, 302
Bahrain 158–9, 184–5
Prime Minister of 158–9
Baker, Sir Stanley 2
Ballard, Beatrice 278
Ballesteros, Sevy 168
Bangkok 197
Barker, Adam (RB’s son) 48, 199
Barker, Charlotte (RB’s daughter) 48, 199, 200, 287, 290
Barker, Edith (Cis; RB’s mother) 35, 252
Barker, Sir Herbert 94
Barker, Joy (RB’s wife) 53, 108, 147, 237, 287
stage-manages RC in pantomime 3, 45
meets and marries RB 45–6
personality 46, 78, 299
and This Is Your Life 66–7
and RB’s Gerald Wiley persona 72
and The Two Ronnies 96, 135
trusting relationship with RB 99–100, 114
and RB in drag 105
friendship with Anne Corbett 140, 173, 199–200
in Australia 195, 199–200
and RB’s retirement 240
and RB’s heart bypass 256
supports RB throughout his television career 276
and RB’s funeral 292
RC and Anne visit her at the mill 299
Barker, Larry (RB’s son) 48, 199, 292
Barker, Leonard (Tim; RB’s father) 35, 252
Barker, Ronnie
similarities with RC 35, 37, 38–9, 43–7
born in Bedford (25 September 1929) 35
family background 35
personality 2, 78, 99, 153, 204–5, 242, 271–4, 291–2, 300–301
childhood 35–6
education 36–8
early interest in acting 35–6
works in a bank 38
fails medical for National Service 38
in rep 38–41, 42, 43–4, 43, 51, 109, 153, 262, 276
his revelation 38–9
appearance 2, 41, 135–6
affairs 41, 43, 46
first meets RC 1, 2–3, 297
meets and marries Joy 45–6
relationship with RC 9, 12, 99, 121, 148, 186, 254, 301
in The Frost Report 5, 9–12, 51–3, 53, 77
his children 48
in Frost on Sunday 58, 59–60, 60, 62–73, 64, 77
Hark at Barker (TV series) 62
only serious argument with RC 3, 63–4
and This Is Your Life 65, 66–7
Gerald Wiley persona 67, 69–70, 71–2, 91, 98, 129, 138, 171, 177, 179, 183, 192, 208, 231, 238, 242
joins the BBC 74–5
as a character actor 1, 78, 79
in The Two Ronnies see The Two Ronnies
love of saucy postcards 93, 136, 160–61, 183, 217
and food 100, 131, 162–3
at Montreux 142–3
health scares 144–7, 172, 200, 235
Porridge 150–52, 189, 237
the Arkwright stutter 152, 153–4
friendship with Glenn Melvyn 153
disappointments 154–5, 253
a passionate collector 159–65, 200
at a Crystal Palace game 166
occasional evenings with RC 172–3
awarded an OBE 184–7
at the London Palladium 189–93
and taxation 193–5
in Australia 195, 199–200, 204–8, 235, 240–41
weight loss 205, 283, 297
and RC’s breakdown 212
tells RC of his decision to retire 235–40
at Dean Mill 239–40, 241, 244, 252
BBC marks his retirement with a discussion programme 245–52
his parents 252
his antique shop 254, 257
heart bypass 255–6
returns to work (2002) 256–7, 262–3
at the Saints and Sinners lunch 260–61, 297
awards and tributes 264–77, 278, 286, 288–9, 302
good luck in his life 276, 302
The Two Ronnies Sketchbook 278–84
return of his heart problems 279, 284–5, 297
last Christmas special 285–7, 301
last conversation with RC 289
his death 290–92, 299
private funeral 292, 293
memorial service at Westminster Abbey 293–8
Barker, Vera (RB’s sister) 36, 38
Baron, Lynda 152
Barrie, Sir J.M.
Quality Street 38
The Admirable Crichton 101, 129
Bart, Lionel 6, 7
Battersea Funfair, London 52
Baxter, Stanley 142, 143, 156, 259
BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) 29, 56, 74, 113, 149, 226, 238, 278
and RB/RC as a double act 52–3
RB and RC join 75
bombarded with
jokes 82
and repeats 83
The Two Ronnies peak viewing slot 87
RB refused membership of the BBC Club 128–9
and Montreux 142, 143
and Sorry 157
rise in The Two Ronnies budgets 172
RB and RC in Australia 205–6
dressing rooms 207–8
Smith/Rhys Jones attack 215, 216
publicizes By the Sea 217
and RB’s retirement 235, 241
and BAFTA tribute to RB 269, 275
women executives 279–80
party after the last Christmas special 287
gift to RB and RC 287
and RB’s memorial service 293
BBC Books 255
BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London 165
BBC Centenary Programme 267
BBC Club 127–9
BBC English 22
BBC Light Entertainment 272
BBC rehearsal block, Acton, West London 77, 82, 111, 112
BBC Television Centre, Wood Lane, London 99, 123, 127, 208, 240
BBCI 90, 172, 278
BBC2 172
Beatles, The 61
Beckinsale, Richard 150, 152
Bedford 35
Ben Elton Show, The (TV series) 258–9
Bennett, Alan 70, 195
Bennett, Cyril 143
Bhowani Junction (film) 171
Big Show, The, Los Angeles 133–4
Birmingham rep 145
Bit of a Do, A (TV series) 266
Black, Alfred 94
Black, Cilla 227
Black, George 94
Blackburn, Bryan 6
Blair, Tony 135
Blue Mountains, Australia 206, 207
Blythe, Debbie 218
Blyton, Enid
The Famous Five 49
Noddy in Toyland 48
Borge, Victor 133
Boroughmuir School, Edinburgh 14
Bowness, Felix 134
Boys from Syracuse, The (musical) 32, 34, 45
Braid Hills, Edinburgh 19, 167
Bramhall, Greater Manchester 153
Bremner, Rory 232
Briers, Richard 270, 288, 296
And It's Goodnight from Him . . . Page 26
