Monday, June 25, 2007

Frankie Howard



Oooh no missus! Yes, getting desperate for uploads now and plumbing the depths of my CD collection as the ripping fascility is still beyond me at the moment (if anyone has a Sony CD recorder perhaps they could give me some tips on how to make it record from an analog source ). The CD is on the Tring label from 1995 and contains some awful disco tracks with Frankie "Ooohing" and "Oh No Missusing" through them but other tracks are from an earlier period where he duets with Margaret Rutherford ( Nymphs and Shepherds ) and sings a version of Three Little Fishes that was played alot on Childrens Favourites on the radio in the 50's and 60's.

Wikipedia says-

"Howerd was born the son of a soldier in York, England, in 1917 (not 1922 as he later claimed). He was "lightly" educated at Shooters Hill Grammar School (later to become Eaglesfield School) in Eltham, London. His early hopes of becoming a serious actor were dashed when he failed an audition for RADA. He got into entertaining during his wartime stint in the army. Despite suffering from appalling stage fright he continued to work after the war, beginning his professional career in the summer of 1946 in a touring show called For the Fun of It.
He soon started working in radio, making his debut at the start of December 1946 on the BBC Variety Bandbox programme with a number of other ex-servicemen. His fame built steadily throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s (aided by material written by Eric Sykes, Galton and Simpson and Johnny Speight). In 1954, he made his screen debut opposite Petula Clark in The Runaway Bus, which had been written for his specific comic talents, but he never became a major film presence. When he began experimenting with different formats and contexts, including stage farces, Shakespearean comedy roles, and television sitcoms, he began to fall out of fashion. After suffering a nervous breakdown at the start of the 1960s, he began to recover his old popularity, initially with a season at Peter Cook's satirical Establishment Club in Soho. He was boosted further by success on That Was The Week That Was (TW3) in 1963 and on stage with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1963–65), which led into regular television work. He was awarded an OBE in 1977."


Frankie Howard - Three Little Fishes

Frankie Howard - Song & Dance Man

Frankie Howard - Nymph's & Shepherds


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5 comments:

spice-the-cat said...

And not forgetting the risque, and ever popular, Up Pompeii.

Wastedpapiers said...

Yes ofcourse - I should have mentioned that. The photo is from that series I think where he played Lurcio? It was certainly of it's time . That "end of the pier" humour has gone out of favour.

Big Al Davies said...

It was written by Talbot Rothwell who wrote the Carry on movies.

I still have a fond regard for those days, I know it can never be like that again, I'm enjoying these tracks.

Wastedpapiers said...

Thanks Al. Heres a bit about Talbot Rothwell at Wikipedia.

len said...

Oo-er Missus, the name is Howerd.Also played Tony Lumkin at school.