Eric Sykes Biography
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Eric Sykes, CBE (born May 4, 1923) was born
in Oldham, Lancashire and is a British comedic writer and actor. He is
widely regarded as an unsung hero behind much of the British comedy
scene over the past 50 years.
He is perhaps best known for his BBC
television sitcom with Hattie Jacques and Deryck Guyler, called Sykes.
However, he was well-known on radio during the 1950s, both behind the
scenes and in front of the microphone.
He also helped Spike Milligan with The Goon
Show after Milligan's depression. He had first collaborated with
Milligan on a radio special called Archie in Goonland, which was a
crossover between The Goon Show and the "radio ventriloquism" show
Educating Archie starring Peter Brough and his dummy Archie Andrews,
which Sykes had been writing. Archie in Goonland was not a success, and
all existing recordings and scripts have been destroyed, but Milligan
and Sykes collaborated on numerous Goon Show scripts and shared an
office for years afterward.
One of Sykes' best known creations is his
classic wordless slapstick routine, The Plank, which began as a sketch
in his TV series. It was later expanded into an enduringly popular
45-minute film in 1967, co-starring Sykes, Tommy Cooper, Jimmy Edwards,
Roy Castle, Graham Stark, Stratford Johns, Jim Dale, Jimmy Tarbuck and
Hattie Jacques. A third version was made in 1979 as a half-hour special,
with an all-star cast including Charlie Drake, Charles Hawtrey and
Wilfred Hyde-White. Edwards and Sykes also toured in their theatrical
farce Big Bad Mouse, which while keeping more or less to a script, gave
them free rein to ad lib, address the audience and so forth. More
recently, Sykes appeared as Mollocks, the servant of Dr Prunesquallor,
in the BBC's mini-series adaptation of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast. He
continues to act on stage, despite his advancing years.
Sykes became profoundly deaf as an adult.
His "trademark" spectacles contain no lenses, but are rather a
bone-conducting hearing aid.
In the New Year's Honours List published 31
December 2004 he was created a Commander of the Order of the British
Empire for services to Drama, following a petition by MPs after he was
left out of the Birthday Honours List.
In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's
Comedian, he was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow
comedians and comedy insiders.
Selected Filmography
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
The Others (2001)
Gormenghast (2000) (miniseries)
Sykes (1972) (TV series)
The Plank (1967)
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying
Machines (1965)
Kill or Cure (1962)
****
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URL of Original Article:
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Date Article Copied:
January 17, 2006
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