This Is Your Life: Barry Cryer

Barry CRYER (1935-2021)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Barry Cryer, writer and comedian, was surprised by Michael Aspel at Thames Television's Teddington Studios, having been led to believe he was there to record a television programme with Barry Took and Willie Rushton.

Barry began his career in his home city of Leeds, at the famous City Varieties Music Hall, where he was spotted by a London agent and offered work in variety venues across the country. After moving to London, Barry went on to perform at the infamous Windmill Theatre, and was soon combining performing with comedy writing.

He became head writer at Danny La Rue's London nightclub where he was spotted by David Frost who employed him to write material for the BBC's The Frost Report. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Barry became a household name appearing regularly on television and radio, while continuing to write for practically every top comedian in the country.

"You swine!"

programme details...

Edition No: 904
Subject No: 887
Broadcast date: Wed 18 Jan 1995
Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
Recorded: Sun 20 Nov 1994
Venue: Teddington Studios
Series: 35
Edition: 12
Code name: Tag

on the guest list...

Barry Took
Willie Rushton
Terry - wife
Tony - son
David - son
Bob - son
Ruby - granddaughter
Jacqui - daughter
Gary - son-in-law
John Gledhill
Richard Price
Brenda Bishop
Denis King
Ted Dicks
Bernard Cribbins
Danny La Rue
Jon Pertwee
Tim Brooke-Taylor
Humphrey Lyttelton
Graeme Garden
Ronnie Corbett
Colin Sell
Russ Abbot
Rory Bremner
Jasper Carrott

production team...

Researcher: Mandy Nixon
Writer: Simon Booker
Director: Brian Klein
Associate Producer: John Graham
Executive Producer: Peter Estall
Producer: Malcolm Morris

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

putting pen to paper

Barry Cryer recalls his experience of This Is Your Life in an exclusive interview recorded in May 2015

Screenshots of Barry Cryer This Is Your Life

Barry Cryer recalls his experience of This Is Your Life in his autobiography, You Won't Believe This But... reproduced here with kind permission of the author...

Not everyone wants to be caught by This Is Your Life. Danny Blanchflower, the footballer, walked away when greeted by Eamonn Andrews. Richard Gordon, the author of the Doctor in the House books, uttered an expletive, but was persuaded to stay. Tommy Cooper, on the programme for the actor Bill Fraser, behaved as if the victim was Joe Frazier, the boxer. Much mirth ensued.

I appeared on it some seven or eight times, in a friend and colleague capacity, but I realised that I was beginning to look like rent-a-guest. When Bernard Cribbins was targeted, my wife and I were invited to be in the audience, but not on the programme. Afterward, Eamonn told me that, when my name was mentioned at a meeting as a possible participant, it got a laugh and I was barred from then on.

The phone rang; it was Willie Rushton. (He used to do an impression of a phone.) 'They want us to do a programme about double acts with old Tooky,' he said. I knew he was referring to my doppelganger, Barry Took. Nearly every day of my life, I am taken for the other Barry, on one occasion by Princess Anne – but that's a story involving heads of state and an international conspiracy that must wait for another time.

'That's fine,' I said.

'Do you really think so?' said Willie. He was playing his usual game of going against the tide.

'Yes, why not?' I said.

'Ah well, I'll do it, if you do,' he said.

I realised later that this was all an act: he knew that if he seemed too enthusiastic I would have been suspicious. I also realised that if I had agreed with him and said no the programme would have to be rethought or scrapped.

On the Sunday in question, we turned up at Teddington Studios to meet Barry. All that afternoon, my wife had been saying, 'You're not wearing those trousers are you?' As I was, it was a baffling question. We went into the studio. There was a simple, not to say awful, set. Willie and I sat on a settee. Barry began to introduce the show to the audience. He was reading from cards and I remember thinking it was all very offhand. But, then again, it was only a pilot for a proposed series. Suddenly, I became aware that someone had joined us. I thought at first it was the floor manager, but it was Michael Aspel with the red book. My second thought was that Willie was the victim, but then recalled that they had already done him and I had been on it. My third thought was apparently confirmed – it was going to be Tooky.

Michael said, 'Barry...' He paused and then said my name.

It's a strange out-of-body experience – totally unreal.

Jokes about my trousers proliferated; family and friends came on; Brenda from Leeds University all those years ago, now a postmistress in Suffolk, came back into my life and, glory of glories, I noticed a piano with a trumpet on top. Piano? Trumpet? On came Colin Sell, the definitive pianist, and then Humphrey Lyttelton. Colin announced that I was going to sing 'Show Me the Way to Go Home' accompanied by himself and Humph. My cup runneth over. I would sing with Humph before shuffling off this mortal coil.

Series 35 subjects