Web Page No 2718

5^th September 2020

 

1st Picture Charlie Chester

2nd Picture. Sheet music

3rd Picture. Lions poster featuring Charlie

4th Picture. In broadcasting mode

Cheerful Charlie Chester

 

Like Ted Ray, Charlie Chester was among the last generation of comedy performers to come up through music hall. He was born Cecil Victor Manser on 26th April 1914 in Eastbourne, where his father ran a sign-writing business. His mother was a singer, and young Cecil followed her lead and was a boy soprano at seven years. By his late teens, he had tried his hand at comedy and also had his own accordion band.  After short engagements as a grocer's errand boy and then as an embroidery firm's messenger, he adopted the stage name Charlie Chester and made a bold attempt to make it in music hall. His was not an easy route to success, however, not least owing to his striking resemblance to top comic, Max Miller, who, sensing an imitator, had him banned from the circuit initially. Charlie Chester was not to be dissuaded, however. Charlie knuckled down to radio work and appeared regularly in pantomime. He supplemented his income at this time by writing songs, some of which were recorded by top artistes, including the Flanagan and Allen. As the Second World War progressed  "Cheerful" Charlie Chester became a member of ENSA and dedicated himself to entertaining British troops overseas, notably in France before the Dunkirk evacuation. He served the remainder of the conflict with the Irish Fusiliers and juggled this with starring in Stand Easy, a radio comedy show which he wrote and performed with fellow army personnel - among them future stars such as Arthur Haynes - broadcast to the troops and relayed back home to Britain. This proved a terrific springboard for Charlie, who was very much in demand as the war drew to a close. Stand Easy continued for several years after his return to civvies, and its popularity was such that crowd control was necessary when the show went on regional theatrical tours. Charlie Chester's involvement with It's A Knockout was limited to the first season. On the occasion of the show's tenth anniversary, he looked back, with his tongue somewhat in cheek: "Let me tell you about Cheerful Charlie Chester's own programme, Take Pot Luck, that ran for years back in the 1950s. It was the first programme ever, if you don't mind me saying so, based on competitive fun. Fun and gimmicks. Years before The Generation Game and Knockout. I'm an ideas man, y'see. Started all these things. I devised dozens of the first games in Knockout, did you know that? Before they started getting cleverer. Before all the Continental things. It was me and Ted Ray at the beginning, you'll remember. But we got the chop in favour, so they said, of multi-lingual compères. So we missed out on all those trips abroad. We would've loved that." Take Pot Luck is indeed credited as being the first 'give-away' game show, with television sets as regular top prizes. His claim to have devised the games for the original series was undoubtedly a little white lie from one of entertainment's great self-publicists, but It's A Knockout was clearly a programme that he enjoyed taking part in. His career high point was undoubtedly in the Fifties, but when comedy tastes moved away from vaudeville towards satire and 'university' humour, he showed great mettle and diversified. He wrote children's books, an autobiography - "The World is Full of Charlies" - and also thriller novels (under the pen-name Carl Noone); he appeared in Shakespeare and stage farces; he became president of the Grand Order of Water Rats, a theatrical organisation with a long history of working for charity. He would even go on to write a history of the organisation, which he had published in 1984. Possibly most notably, Charlie was also a fixture of Sunday afternoons on BBC Radio Two from 1969 for many, many years with his Sunday Soapbox, a request show which eventually became a kind of radio community, with listeners' letters, help for those in need and even a service for those who wished to renew contact with lost friends and relations. He opened the programme each week with the introduction "With a box full of records and a bag full of post, it's radio Soapbox and Charlie your host!" The programme was transmitted on Sunday afternoons until suffered a stroke, after which he could not walk or talk, in November 1995. Charlie Chester brought this all together with warmth and a genuine affection for and camaraderie with his audience. A rare talent which was rightly met with a loyal listenership. In 1990, Charlie Chester was recognised by the state, and was awarded the MBE for his services to entertainment and charity. It was an accolade he cherished. Charlie Chester died on Thursday 27th June 1997, aged 83. Stay in touch   Peter   gsseditor@gmail.com   You Write:   News and Views:   On this day 5th September 1960-1965   On 05/09/1960 the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story was Grandma Moses is 100-years-old.   On 05/09/1961 the number one single was Johnny Remember Me - John Leyton and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was TUC votes against Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament   On 05/09/1962 the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street  and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.   On 05/09/1963 the number one single was Bad to Me - Billy J Kramer and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Sussex win first One Day Cricket Tournament   On 05/09/1964 the number one single was Have I the Right? - Honeycombs and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.   On 05/09/1965 the number one single was I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher and the number one album was Help - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.