Big Red Book
Celebrating television's This Is Your Life
Norman WISDOM (1915-2010)
THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Norman Wisdom, comedian and actor, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews as he arrived at St Margaret's Tavern in Twickenham to celebrate his 72nd birthday with friends.
Norman developed his comedy skills while serving with the Royal Corps of Signals during the Second World War, and made his debut as a professional entertainer after the war. His rise to fame was phenomenally fast, and by the late 1940s he was appearing in London's West End to huge acclaim, displaying his skill for physical comedy with his character of the Gump - in his ill-fitting suit and cloth cap.
He made a string of popular and highly successful low-budget star vehicle comedy films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, which began with Trouble in Store in 1953. A Tony Award nomination in 1966 for his performance in the Broadway musical comedy Walking Happy, led to him being cast in his first Hollywood movie, The Night They Raided Minsky's.
Norman Wisdom was a subject of This Is Your Life on two occasions – previously surprised by Eamonn Andrews in December 1957 at the Playhouse Theatre in Manchester.
"But I came to enjoy myself!"
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Series 27 subjects
Bill Waddington | Robert Foote | Carl Davis | Gorden Kaye | Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson | Monty Fresco | Joe Johnson