Cyril Fletcher
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Cyril Fletcher (June 25, 1913 – January 2, 2005) was an English comedian. He was most famous for his Odd Odes, which was a section of the television show That's Life!. Fletcher had first begun performing the Odd Odes in 1937, long before they first appeared on television. He came up with the idea when he was short of material for a radio show. The first Odd Ode was a comic, yet sentimental, reading of Edgar Wallace's war poem Dreaming of Thee. Following this broadcast he was given a regular programme on Radio Luxembourg; it was this show that brought him to national attention.
Fletcher was born in Watford, the son of a Solicitor, who was the Town Clerk. He himself was a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was also a successful businessman, believing it to be important to diversify in such a fickle business as show business. He was the founder of Associated Speakers, an agency for after-dinner speakers, on whose books were the likes of the Duke of Bedford and Lord Longford, as well as himself.
His wife, Betty Astell, died in July 2005. They had a daughter, Jill.
