Web Page 3035 8th June 2024 First Picture: The Worker

Second Picture: CD compilation

Third Picture; Charlie Drake at home

Fourth Picture Grave

Charlie Drake Charles Edward Springall was born on 19th June 1925 and died on 23rd December 2006 was known professionally as Charlie Drake, he was an English comedian, actor, writer and singer. With his small stature (5 ft 1 in), curly red hair and liking or slapstick, he was a popular comedian with children in his early years, becoming nationally known for his "Hello, my darlings!" catchphrase. He was born in the Elephant and Castle, Southwark, South London, he took his mother's maiden name for the stage and, later, film and television, achieving success as a comedian. Aged eight, he won a chorus place in a Harry Champion music hall production. He left school and home aged fourteen to become an electrician's mate while attempting to break into showbusiness. Drake made his first appearance on stage at the age of eight, and after leaving school toured working men's clubs. After serving in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, Drake turned professional and made his television début in The Centre Show in 1953. He then joined his wartime comrade Jack Edwardes to form a double act, named 'Mick and Montmorency'. In 1954 he appeared with Bob Monkhouse and Denis Goodwin in their BBC TV sketch comedy show, Fast and Loose. He appeared in the television shows Laughter in Store (1957), Drake's Progress (1957–58), Charlie Drake In… (1958 to 1960) and The Charlie Drake Show (1960 to 1961), being remembered for his opening catchphrase "Hello, my darlings!" The catchphrase came about because he was short, and so his eyes would often be naturally directly level with a lady's bosom. Because of this and because in his television work he preferred appearing with big-busted women. In 1961, his series was brought to an abrupt end by a serious accident which occurred during a live transmission. He had arranged for a bookcase to be set up in such a way that it would fall apart when he was pulled through it during a slapstick sketch. It was later discovered that an overenthusiastic workman had "mended" the bookcase before the broadcast. The actors working with him, unaware of what had happened, proceeded with the rest of the sketch which required that they pick him up and throw him through an open window. He fractured his skull and was unconscious for three days. It would be two years before he returned to the screen. He returned to television in 1963 with The Charlie Drake Show, a compilation of which won an award at the Montreux Festival in 1968. The centrepiece of this was an extended sketch featuring an orchestra performing the 1812 Overture, in which he appeared to play all the instruments; as well as conducting and one scene in which he was the player of a triangle waiting for his cue to play a single strike – which he subsequently missed. Television fame led to four films, none of them successful Sands of the Desert (1960), Petticoat Pirates (1961), The Cracksman (1963) and Mister Ten Per Cent (1967). He was the subject of This Is Your Life on two occasions, in December 1961 and in November 1995, when Michael Aspel surprised him. He starred in The Worker (ATV/ITV, 1965–70) where he played a perpetually unemployed labourer who, in every episode, was dispatched to a new job by the ever-frustrated clerk at the local labour exchange. All the jobs he embarked upon ended in disaster, The series was briefly revived by London Weekend Television in 1978 as a series of short sketches on Bruce Forsyth's Big Night, with Charlie Drake and Henry McGee reprising their roles of Worker and Labour Exchane Clerk. He made a number of records, most of them for the Parlophone label. The first, "Splish Splash", got into the Top 10 , reaching number 7 in 1958. In 1961, "My Boomerang Won't Come Back" became a mid-chart UK hit (No. 14). Later he turned to straight acting in the 1980s, winning acclaim for his role as Touchstone in Shakespeare's As You Like It , and an award for his part in Harold Pinter's The Caretaker. He also starred as Smallweed in the BBC adaptation of Bleak House (1985), and Filipina Dreamgirls, a TV film for the BBC. His final appearances on stage were with Jim Davidson in Sinderella, his adult adaptation of Cinderella, as Baron Hard-on. Charlie Drake was married twice. He was married to Heather Barnes from 1953 until 1971, and they had three sons. In 1976, he married his second wife, Elaine Bird, but the marriage was dissolved in 1984. He suffered a stroke in 1995 and retired, staying at Brinsworth House, a retirement home for actors and performers, run by the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund, until his death on 23 December 2006, after suffering multiple strokes the previous night. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com