Charlie Drake
Charlie Drake | |
---|---|
Born | Charles Edward Springall 19 June 1925 |
Died | 23 December 2006 | (aged 81)
Years active | 1954–2004 |
Spouses | Heather Barnes
(m. 1953; div. 1971)Elaine Bird
(m. 1976; div. 1984) |
Children | 3 |
Charles Edward Springall (19 June 1925 – 23 December 2006), known professionally as Charlie Drake, was an English comedian, actor, writer and singer.
With his small stature (5 ft 1 in or 155 cm tall), curly red hair and liking for slapstick, he was a popular comedian with children in his early years, becoming nationally known for his "Hello, my darlings!" catchphrase.
Early life
Born Charles Edward Springall 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.[1]
Career
Drake made his first appearance on stage at the age of eight, and after leaving school toured
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, the catchphrase was born.
Bookcase incident
In 1961, the later series was brought to an abrupt end, however, by a serious accident which occurred during a live transmission. Drake 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. Drake fractured his skull and was unconscious for three days. It would be two years before he returned to the screen.[2]
Comeback
Drake 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 Drake 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.
Through the series he played a gymnast doing a single arm twist from a high ring while a commentator counted eventually into the thousands and by the end of the series, Drake's arm appeared to be 20 ft (6 m) long. Other shows included Who Is Sylvia? (1967) and Slapstick and Old Lace (1971), but it was The Worker (1965 to 1970) that gained most acclaim.
Television fame led to four films, none of them successful[citation needed] — 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 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in a rehearsal room at the London Palladium,[citation needed] and in November 1995, when Michael Aspel surprised him at the curtain call of the comedy play Funny Money at the Playhouse Theatre.[citation needed]
The Worker
In
Recording career
Drake made a number of records, most of them produced by
In 1972 Drake recorded a spoof song called 'Puckwudgie' on Columbia records. It referred to a 2-or-3-foot-tall (0.61 or 0.91 m) being from the Wampanoag folklore. It reached number 47 in the BBC Top 50 in early 1972.
Peter Gabriel, after leaving Genesis in late 1975, produced a single "You Never Know" for Drake (UK Charisma), with Sandy Denny on backing vocals and Phil Collins on drums. It was not a chart success.
Later career
Drake turned to straight acting in the 1980s, winning acclaim for his role as
Personal life
Drake was married twice. He was married to Heather Barnes from 1953 until 1971, and they had three sons. In 1976, Drake married his second wife, Elaine Bird, but the marriage was dissolved in 1984.[5][6]
Retirement
Drake suffered a stroke in 1995 and retired, staying at
Discography
Singles
- "UKNo. 7
- "Volare" / "Itchy Twitchy Feeling" (1958) UK No. 28
- "Tom Thumb's Tune" / "Goggle Eye Ghee" (1958)
- "Sea Cruise" / "Starkle Starkle Little Twink" (1959)
- "Naughty" / "Old Mr Shadow" (1960)
- "Mr. Custer" / "Glow Worm" (1960) UK No. 12
- "My Boomerang Won't Come Back" / "She's My Girl" (1961) UK No. 14 ; US #21; Australia No. 1
- "Tanglefoot" / "Drake's Progress" (1962)
- "I Bent My Assegai" / "Sweet Freddy Green" (1962)
- "I've Lost The End of My Yodel" / "I Can, Can't I" (1963)
- "I'm Too Heavy for the Light Brigade" / "The Reluctant Tight-Rope Walker" (1964)
- "Charles Drake 007" / "Bumpanology" (1964)
- "Only A Working Man" / "I'm A Boy" (1965)
- "Don't Trim My Wick" / "Birds" (1966)
- "Who Is Sylvia" / "I Wanna Be a Group" (1967)
- "Puckwudgie" / "Toffee and Tears" (1972) UK No. 47
- "Someone opened the Watergate and they all got wet" / "'Ello Erf" (1973)
- "You Never Know" / "I'm Big Enough for Me" (1976) (produced by Peter Gabriel)
- "Super Punk" (1976) (spoof record)[4][9][Note 1]
Theme Tune from The Worker
Drake sang the theme song himself, based upon an old music hall song
- I gets up every mornin' when the clock strikes eight
- I'm always punctual, never never late
- With a nice cup of tea, a little round of toast
- The Sporting Life and the Winning Post.
- I gets all nice and tidy, then I toddles off to work
- I do the best I can
- Cos I'm only a-doin' what a bloke should do
- Cos I'm only a workin' man!
The song, "Only A Working Man", written by Herbert Rule and Fred Holt in 1923, was featured by Lily Morris on the music hall stage, and in the 1930 film, Elstree Calling, the original lyric being "He's only a workin' man".
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1954 | The Golden Link | Joe | ||
1960 | Sands of the Desert | Charlie Sands | ||
1960 | Charlie Drake Stirs it Up | Himself, with Cliff Richard | Pathé News Film i.d.1698.22. 28/11/'60. | |
1961 | Petticoat Pirates | Charlie | ||
1962 | What's Cooking | Himself, with Margaret Alden | British Pathé , (film i.d. 2275.05/2275.06) |
|
1963 | The Cracksman | Ernest Wright | ||
1967 | Mister Ten Per Cent | Percy Pointer | ||
1974 | Professor Popper's Problem | Professor Popper | ||
1992 | Burning Ash | Ethan Hawker | Short | |
1995 | Sinderella Live | Baron Hardon | Video | |
2004 | Sinderella Comes Again | Baron Von Hard-on | Video |
Television roles
Sources include The Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy,[10] the BBC programme index[11] and IMDB.[12]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Company |
---|---|---|---|---|
1954–1955 | Charlie Drake and Jack Edwardes | Montmorency | Children's sketch show | BBC |
1955 | Fast and Loose | Performer | Sketch show | BBC |
1955–1958 | Mick and Montmorency | Montmorency | Children's sketch show | Associated Rediffusion |
1956 | Tess and Jim | Performer | Stand-up comedy | BBC |
1956 | Jim Whittington and His Sea Lion | Idle Montmorency | Pantomime | Associated Rediffusion |
1956 | Beauty and the Beast | Wee Beastie (as Charles Drake) | Musical | BBC |
1957 | Laughter in Store | Self | Sitcom | BBC |
1957–1958 | Drake's Progress | Performer | Sketch show, 2 series, 12 episodes | BBC |
1957 | Pantomania: Babes in the Wood | Sherrif | Pantomime | BBC |
1958 | The Charlie Drake Show | Charlie | Sketch Special, 1 episode | ATV |
1958 | The World Our Stage | Performer | Variety, S1.E3: "The Driving Test" | BBC |
1958–1960 | Charlie Drake In... | Charles O'Casey Drake | Sitcom, 4 series, 22 episodes + special | BBC |
1960–1961 | The Charlie Drake Show | Charlie | Sitcom, 12 episodes | BBC |
1963 | The Charlie Drake Show | Charlie | Sketch show, 6 episodes | ATV |
1964 | The Ed Sullivan Show | Self | Variety, Episode 18.8 | CBS |
1965 | The Worker | Charlie | Sitcom, 2 series, 13 episodes | ATV |
1966 | Armchair Theatre | Joey | Play, Episode 6.9: "The Battersea Miracle" | ABC Weekend TV |
1967 | Who is Sylvia? | Charles Rameses Drake | Sitcom, 7 episodes | ATV |
1967–1968 | The Charlie Drake Show | Various | Sketch show, 11 episodes | BBC |
1969–1970 | The Worker | Charlie | Sitcom, 12 episodes + special | ATV |
1971 | Slapstick and Old Lace | Various | Sketch show, 7 episodes | ATV |
1972 | The Charlie Drake Comedy Hour | Various | Sketch Special, 1 episode | Thames |
1976 | Meet Peters & Lee | Self | Variety | ATV |
1979 | The Plank | The Delivery Man | Short film | Thames |
1980 | Rhubarb, Rhubarb | Golf Club Pro | Short film | Thames |
1985 | Masterpiece Theatre: Bleak House | Smallweed | Drama serial | BBC |
1988 | Ten Great Writers of the Modern World, Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment | Marmeladov | Documentary | LWT |
1988 | Mr. H Is Late | Short Delivery Man | Short film | Thames |
1991 | Endgame by Samuel Beckett | Nagg | Play | BBC |
1991 | Screen One, "Filipina Dreamgirls" | Lionel | Play | BBC |
1995 | 99-1, "Dice" | Freddie Windsor | Crime series | Carlton |
Notes
- ^ Some sources claim that Drake was responsible for the spoof "Gimme That Punk Junk" (1976), recorded under the name The Water Pistols, but this may be due to confusion with his "Super Punk" (1976) (spoof). Dave Goodman's website refers to the two titles as separate entities.
References
- ^ "Charlie Drake". The Independent. 26 December 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
- ^ "ATV bring in four new series". The Stage. 3 October 1963. p. 9. Retrieved 5 June 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 69. CN 5585.
- ^ ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Obituary in The Daily Telegraph 26 December 2006, accessed 15 June 2010
- ^ Obituary in The Guardian, 28 December 2006, accessed 15 June 2010
- ^ "Slapstick comic Drake dies at 81". BBC News. 24 December 2006.
- ^ Warm Tribute To Last Slapstick 'Great' Archived 24 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Davegoodman.co.uk Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 0563487550.
- ^ "Charlie Drake". BBC Programme Index. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ "Charlie Drake". IMDB. Retrieved 17 September 2023.