Dick Emery

Dick Emery
Born	Richard Gilbert Emery 19 February 1915 Bloomsbury, London, England
Died	2 January 1983(1983-01-02) (aged 67) Denmark Hill, London, England
Years active	1946-1983
Children	Gilbert Richard Emery, Nicholas William Emery, Michael Emery, Eliza Emery

Richard Gilbert "Dick" Emery (19 February 1915 – 2 January 1983) was an English comedian and actor. Beginning on radio in the 1950s, an eponymous television series ran from 1963 to 1981. He was the brother of Ann Emery.

Life and career

Richard Gilbert Emery was born in University College Hospital, Bloomsbury, London in 1915.^[1] His parents were the comedy double act Callan and Emery. They took him on tour when he was only 3 weeks old and gave him the occasional turn on the stage throughout his childhood, which was always on the move and disrupted, creating problems for the future, but at least setting the scene for eventually going into show business. His parents split up when he was 8 years old and he chose to stay with his mother, who gave up 'showbiz'.^[2] He tried a variety of jobs before the stage: mechanic, office boy, farm hand, and driving instructor.

During World War II he was called up to the RAF and rose to the rank of corporal.

However, due to family problems, he deserted and returned to London joining the chorus line of The Merry Widow at the Majestic Theatre, London. He was arrested and subsequently imprisoned for desertion.

While in prison, he was divorced by his wife, who later married an American. She returned to the USA after the war taking with her his first child, Gilbert Richard. He did not see his son again until 1976, when Gilbert came to Britain looking for his father.

It was while in military prison that he was recruited by Ralph Reader into the RAF Gang Show to entertain air and ground crew at bases in Great Britain.

At this time he created Vera Thin ('the Forces' Sweetheart'), loosely based on Vera Lynn, later saying, "I was better in drag than combat gear".^{[citation needed]} After D-Day, his unit toured forward airbases.

On leaving the RAF, he returned to the theatre as comedian. He worked at the Windmill Theatre, though his name does not appear on the plaque commemorating the acts that played there. He toured his fledgling act around the UK

He also auditioned for various parts and in 1952 he starred in a role in a 15-minute Radio Luxembourg series on Saturdays at 7pm called Chance of a Lifetime. This was a quiz sponsored by Marshall Ward in which merchandise to the value of £30 was given to contestants. Other radio work around this time included several appearances on Workers' Playtime on the BBC, a morale boosting show that had started during the war to entertain factory workers in their canteens.

During 1953 he briefly formed a double act with Charlie Drake.^[3] His TV debut came in 1950 on The Centre Show on the BBC. Throughout the 1950s he appeared on programmes including Round the Bend (BBC, 1955–56) and Educating Archie (ITV, 1958–59) and appeared with his friend Tony Hancock in several episodes of The Tony Hancock Show (ITV, 1956) and Hancock's Half Hour (BBC, 1957).

He enhanced his reputation on two series with former Goon Michael Bentine: After Hours (ITV, 1958–59) and It's a Square World (BBC, 1960–64). His role as Private Chubby Catchpole in the final series of The Army Game (ITV 1960) led to an exclusive BBC contract, and the long-running The Dick Emery Show (BBC, 1963–81) began.^{[citation needed]}

The show, which ran irregularly from 1963 to 1981, involved dressing up as various characters, "a flamboyant cast of comic grotesques". These included the buck-toothed Church of England vicar, sex-starved, menopausal, man-eating spinster Hettie, and Clarence, an outrageously camp man who coined the catchphrase "Hello Honky Tonk". Other roles were gormless denim-clad bovver boy Gaylord (in a double act with his long suffering father, played by Roy Kinnear) where, each week, he would mess up and utter the catchphrase "Dad, I think I got it wrong again", the crusty pensioner James Maynard Kitchener Lampwick, and Mandy, a busty peroxide blonde whose catchphrase, "Ooh, you are awful ... but I like you!" (given in response to a seemingly innocent remark made by her interlocutor, but perceived by her as ribald double entendre), preceded a hefty shove on the shoulder of the interlocutor, and a prompt about-turn walk-off with a leg trip. "It was clever, pure vaudeville, in a television form." (Michael Grade).

In a sporadic film career he made his début in the Goons' The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn (directed by Joseph Sterling, 1954). He also played bungling bank robber Booky Binns in The Big Job (directed by Gerald Thomas, 1965) and was known for vocal talents as an array of characters including "The Nowhere Man" Jeremy Hilary Boob, the Mayor of Pepperland and Max, one of the Blue Meanies in the Beatles' Yellow Submarine (directed by George Dunning, 1968)

Emery appeared in films including as Shingler inThe Fast Lady (1962), as Peter Sellers' neighbour in The Wrong Arm Of The Law, as Harry in Baby Love (1968), as Mr Bateman in Loot(1970) and Ooh… You Are Awful (1972), in which he played most of the characters he had portrayed in his TV series. The plot of this comedy centred on Emery hunting down a bank account number. The digits of the number are tattooed on the bottoms of four young women. The plot centres on Emery's ploys to see the girls naked, which requires disguises.

Emery also recorded several novelty records during his career, most notably "If You Love Her" which reached no.32 in 1969, and "You Are Awful" which just missed the top 40 in 1973.^[4] Other singles included "A Cockney Christmas" (1962), "You're The Only One" (1974) and "Rocking Horse Cowboy" (1979). In 1979, Emery moved to ITV for three one-hour specials before returning to the BBC in 1980 and resuming The Dick Emery Show.

By 1982, Emery was tiring of the format for his BBC series and wanted to do something different. Using a new format and character, Jewish private detective Bernie Weinstock, Emery had a new outlet - two series of comedy thrillers under the banner Emery Presents (BBC, 1982–83), Legacy of Murder^[5] and Jack of Diamonds^[6]

Personal life

Dick Emery had a very difficult childhood initially, however, following the departure of his father, Laurie Howe, when he was aged 8, things settled down. He was devoted to his mother for most of his life and helped support her once he was able to work. This devotion could and did cause problems in his first marriages.

He was very keen on 'long legs and blondes' and was often in the newspapers with beautiful women, and was in six long term relationships, marrying the first five. He also had numerous affairs throughout his life

He married Joan (sometimes known as Zelda) Sainsbury at the beginning of the Second World War and had one son, Gilbert Richard. After the failure of that marriage, he later met Irene (Pip) Ansell but the marriage barely lasted 6 months. While working in summer season in 1950 at the Winter Gardens in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight he met Iris Margaret Tully who was also in the show. at the end of the season, they returned to London and set up home together in Iris's flat in Shaftesbury Avenue. Iris changed her name to Emery by deed poll until 1955, when a year after she had given birth to his second son, Nicholas William, she married Emery in 1955.

This marriage was stormy as Emery had several affairs while away on tour. He met the woman who became his fourth wife, Victoria Chambers, in the mid-1950s. He was torn between the two women and in late 1958 left Iris and moved to Thames Ditton in Surrey to set up home.

In 1960, however, he returned to Iris and his son and moved them to Thames Ditton. He could never settle, though, and in 1962 he left Iris for Victoria. Iris divorced him in 1964. By this time, he had set up home in Cobham, Surrey. Vickie bore him a son Michael and a daughter Eliza. His last wife was Josephine Blake^[7] to whom he was still married at the time of his death but had left her to live with Fay Hillier, a showgirl, 30 years younger than him.

Outside of show business, he enjoyed aviation holding a pilot's licence from 1961 onwards, fast cars (it was a family joke that he changed cars when the ashtrays were full, motorbiking, scale model model-making (he was chairman of the Airfix Modellers' Club) and wrote a review feature for Meccano Magazine during 1971.

He died in Denmark Hill, London from heart failure and respiratory failure at the age of 67.^[8]

While the public took him to heart (voting him BBC TV Personality of the Year in 1972) Emery suffered stage fright and fear of failure. He underwent analysis, hypnosis and sedatives to try to cure these problems. He told Roy Kinnear: "I don't just envy the confidence that other comics seem to have, I resent it. I hate them for it, just like my dad did. If there's such a thing as a chip off the old block, it's on my shoulder."^{[citation needed]}

He is survived by his four children Gilbert, Nicholas, Michael and Eliza.^{[citation needed]}

The Dick Emery Show was re-aired in the UK on (the now defunct) Granada Plus, ITV4 and UKTV Drama. The show is now being screened on the G.O.L.D. comedy channel, but only in small snips lasting around 5 to 15 minutes.

Legacy

Emery's humour is still admired by comic actors such as Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse. His influence can be seen in "The Lovely Wobbly Randy Old Ladies" played by Kathy Burke and Harry Enfield, with their catch phrase "Ooh, young man!", and in the performances of David Walliams and Matt Lucas in Little Britain.

Selected filmography

Film

• The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn (short) (1956)
• Follow a Star (1959)
• Crooks Anonymous (1962)
• The Fast Lady (1962)
• Mrs. Gibbons' Boys (1962)
• The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963)
• The Big Job (1965)
• Yellow Submarine (1968)
• Loot (1970)
• Ooh... You Are Awful (1972)

Television

• The Dick Emery Show (1963-1981)
• Legacy of Murder (1982)

References

1. ^ GRO Register of Births: MAR 1915 1b 88 PANCRAS - Richard G Emery, mmn = Callan
2. ^ Dick Emery: the Comedy of Errors? BBC Radio 2 29/9/2009
3. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1537814/Charlie-Drake.html
4. ^ http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=2074
5. ^ Legacy of Murder, IMDb page
6. ^ Jack of Diamonds, IMDb page
7. ^ Dick Emery: the Comedy of Errors?, BBC Radio 2, 29 September 2009
8. ^ GRO Register of Deaths: MAR 1983 14 0006 LAMBETH - Richard Gilbert Emery, DoB = 19 Feb 1915

External links

Biography portal

• Dick Emery at the Internet Movie Database
• ClassicTelly.com Tributes to Dick Emery
• British Comedy Guide entry for Emery Presents

Persondata
Name	Emery, Dick
Alternative names	Emery, Richard Gilbert
Short description	Comedian and Character Actor
Date of birth	19 February 1915
Place of birth	Bloomsbury, London, England
Date of death	2 January 1983
Place of death	Denmark Hill, London, England